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January 2005 Dear friend of the poor in Haiti, As you probably know, 2004 was a particularly difficult year for the children and their families in Haiti. At two different times during the year storms devastated various communities, leaving thousands dead and tens of thousands homeless. A civil war earlier this year, that saw the president flee the country, led to inevitable upheaval. Even with thousands of U.N. troops present, various factions still control their individual turfs, creating an atmosphere of continued foreboding and instability. Such has been the legacy of Haiti’s bicentennial. One can only hope that 2005 will be a better year for Haiti. We have such hope because our hope is in Jesus. And we have that hope as we witnessed the school in Petit Goave once again filled with children during our visit last month. However, there is a serious problem looming for this ministry that threatens the blessing it has been for so many impoverished children. We are writing specifically about the feeding program at each of the three schools currently involved with the Haiti Friendship Ministries. Two issues have combined to lead to this concern: 1. The escalating cost of rice and beans, which are the main staples of the Haitian diet, due to the above mentioned crises that have occurred over the past year. 2. The loss of faithful child sponsors. It is normal for sponsors to drop out of the program as their circumstances change. What has been different this past year is that we have not had the opportunities to replace them with new sponsors. We can pray about the first problem, but we can do something in addition to prayer regarding the second. But first let us briefly explain why so many children are negatively impacted, and in doing so remind you how this ministry works. Children with sponsors never have to worry about being expelled from school for not being able to pay the small amount of tuition required. However, finances donated by a sponsor do not go directly to the individual child being sponsored. Instead, the money is given to the school where the child attends, primarily paying the salaries of Christian teachers and funding the lunch program. Depending on how much money is donated each month, every child in the school will eat between one and five times per week. That’s about 400 children in Marchasse, 500 children in Petit Goave, and 100 children in Bananier: A total of about 1000 children. This way every child in each school is blessed, instead of singling out only the individual sponsored children to eat while the rest of the school looks on. The more children sponsored, the more days each week that all the children can eat. But now with fewer sponsors and the higher prices for food, the children are in danger of losing the lunch program altogether. So, what can we do? And what can you do? First, we want to thank you for the faithful support of this ministry. Because of you the schools continue to operate. But we would like to ask for an additional favor. Do you have any family members or friends who might be interested in sponsoring a needy child? Perhaps your pastor would be open to having us come and share about this ministry with his congregation. Maybe you know someone who is not interested in sponsoring a specific child, but would like to help with a feeding program in a third-world country like Haiti. If anyone needs more information, we would be happy to send brochures, or provide a short video on this ministry which we plan to have available this coming March. By communicating with others this opportunity to help a needy child, you can become an advocate for these children. There are many fine, upstanding Christian child sponsorship organizations. We feel that this one is unique in some very important ways, which again may be a reminder for you. First, 100% of the money you give for this program involving the three schools mentioned above goes through the books at Missionary Ventures to the designated school in Haiti. Not one penny goes through us, or is taken out by Missionary Ventures. And in regard to accountability, we will cont inue to offer sponsors each year the opportunity to come with us on a mission trip to Haiti and see how the money is used firsthand. Of course, if you cannot take us up on that offer we will continue to bring back new photos and letters and updates on each child. We have been taking mission trips to Haiti since 1988, and have directed the Haiti Friendship Ministries since 1995. This is the first time in all these years that we have made an appeal like this. We have wrestled with whether to do it at all. But we feel the stakes are too high, these children too important to lose such an essential necessity. We would like to close this letter by thanking you for taking the time to read it, and for taking a moment to pray for these children as you do so. Let us continue to work and hope together that 2005 will be a blessed year for the children and their families in Haiti. For the least of these, Joel