What is Child Sponsorship? Quite simply said…it is HOPE! If you follow our blog for any amount of time you will see firsthand what it is and how it works through the personal accounts we will be recording.

It is easy to get involved and easy to make a difference! By sharing a monthly gift (currently $30 for an individual student or $125 for an entire school) you can give a child in a third world country the opportunity to receive a Christian education including a uniform, books and supplies. More importantly you can give a child HOPE that they can rise above their present circumstances as well as the true HOPE that can only be found in Christ! In many cases schools remain open simply because of the sponsored children in attendance. For more information, visit this link: http://www.acworldrelief.org/sponsorships/

 Waiting for school to start! Some have walked several miles!

On our recent orientation trip to Haiti we visited seven schools and also witnessed two lunch programs in progress. We will share a few special stories from those visits in future posts!

 Everything is finished off in a hurry!

Mike grew up in Illinois and Susie in Ohio and we have raised our family in the wonderful community of Smithville, Ohio for the last 17 years. Evan is 20 and in his second year of nursing at Malone University in Canton, Ohio. (He will not be relocating but he will be coming as often as his schedule allows!) Grant is 17 and taking post-secondary classes as he finishes his senior year early this Fall so he can move down with us. Trinity is 14 and is giving home schooling a try for the first time in her freshman year. Grace is 7 and enjoying first grade and being social to the max!

The question is invariably asked…why Haiti? Over the past few years God has slowly and surely impressed on our hearts that there is kingdom work to do. One day Susie reached the point where she was totally available to whatever God had planned, and she asked for a sign…something related to a change in my work situation. That very afternoon it became very clear that it was time for me to move on. When I called Susie she was not surprised! So, it was clear to both of us something else was ahead. It was scary but also an opportunity to do what we have always wanted to do. I had always wanted to start my own business and work in real estate. We also seriously considered missionary service for the first time because about that time we were invited on a work team to Haiti, which we went on in January 2013. We already felt a change was coming up, but we went to find out for sure what God was saying to us. So we prayed about everything and handed the future to God. As it turned out, the mission trip was life changing! We returned home and immediately felt the call to serve full time (Proverbs 3: 5-6, and Mark 8: 34-35 figured heavily into it). We feel God has asked us to sell all and “lose” our life for His sake and the sake of the gospel in order for us to truly “find” it.

Now we are in the process of relocating to Les Cayes, Haiti at the end of 2013 to be administrator of the child sponsorship program under the oversight of Apostolic Christian World Relief. We will be explaining exactly what that means in coming posts…as we find out more ourselves. We are looking forward to the opportunity for our family to serve and bring hope and the light of Christ to many!