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Our History
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It’s a story of hope, not only for hopeless Latin American
children living on the streets, but for the average person
who wonders what kind of difference they can make in the world.
The history of Ninos de la Luz is a story of inspiration to
everyone who has a dream; it tells of a divine passion that
God put on a young couple’s heart and how He turned
that passion into a reality.
Early in his twenties, Californian Jon Haslett began taking
short-term mission trips to the Philippines, helping in medical
clinics and assisting a ministry that worked with children
living on the streets of Manila. Jon’s heart went out
to these children. How could it be possible that children
as young as five years old were living on their own in an
environment of drugs, prostitution and crime? On each trip,
as he would feed and minister to the kids, God would tug a
little harder…Who will help these young ones find a
way out of their plight?
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In 1986, Jon’s mission-mindedness took him to Kenya.
There he met his wife, Shannon, who shared the same passion
to help needy children in poverty-stricken countries. God
added vision to their passion and in 1992, the Hasletts were
led to Caracas, Venezuela, a city that wanted to deny the
existence of or ignore these “throw-away” children
who were thought of as a nuisance beyond hope, or even criminals.
There was only minimal Venezuelan support for a ministry whose
purpose was primarily viewed as taking the “trash”
away. Starting a ministry like this was not going to be easy,
but Jon and Shannon were to learn, in the words of Hudson
Taylor, "God's work done in God's way will never lack
God's supplies."
 In
1994, the organization Ninos de la Luz or Children of the
Light, was officially founded. The ministry quickly grew into
a collaborated effort between local and international churches.
God touched many people’s hearts to become involved
in the ministry, and slowly but surely the Venezuelan staff
was formed. Now, several years later the ministry has grown
throughout Venezuela, spread into other Latin countries and
has seen many miracles over the years. The hope we wish to
share is that God uses his ordinary, humble servants to accomplish
much when we find that passion that He’s put in our
hearts and allow Him to bring it to life.
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