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What a great summer we had in California! I can’t say
it was very restful…but we did get a lot done and we
had a great time with many of you! We were able to accomplish
so many things over the summer. We were able to finish up
the NDLL web page (if you haven’t seen the “new
look”,
check it out!). We also spent many hours designing and writing
a booklet about Niños de la Luz that explains the entire
ministry. Thanks to Jesse Snipes and his computer savvy, my
wife and her artistic ability, some editors who healed the
suffering text, and a very generous donation of printing,
it turned out excellent! We were also able to pull off our
second Surf-a-Thon that helped to raise some much needed funds.
The day was a huge success full of fun and waves, and of course,
lots of food and prizes.
On
the administration side we did some housekeeping as well.
We are happy to have brought on Greg Burch, our former Venezuelan
director, to be our new U.S. Director. He will oversee and
give some much needed help to the operations here in the U.S.
Christina, Greg’s wife, will run our child sponsorship
operations. Greg has his first book out called, “Community
Children”; drop us a line and we’ll tell you where
you can pick up a copy.
As for the Haslett’s, we are back in the Dominican
Republic and have hit the ground running. We were happy to
come home to a roof and dry belongings! After last year’s
hurricane, it is amazing what you are thankful for. The expression,
“At least we have a roof over our heads”, took
on a whole new meaning. We have had a different sort of trial
to deal with this year. There has been a string of robberies
in our neighborhood. Well, they came by and paid us a visit.
We had not yet arrived from California, but Paul (the guy
who works with us) was here. The two robbers tied up two of
Paul’s friends while Paul managed to sneak away and
go to a neighbor’s house for help. They let off a couple
rounds of a shotgun in the air and the guys took off running.
We are very thankful that no one was hurt and that nothing
was taken except for a set of keys. The locks have been changed
and we are taking some new precautions, but we sleep well
at night knowing that it is God, and He alone, that we depend
on. “Some trust in horses and chariots, but we trust
in the Lord.”
There
are some exciting new developments here in the DR. The Lord
has enabled us to acquire a small house right next to our
current property. We already have some plans and are going
to start remodeling it to make four small apartments for the
boys that will be attending the next “Life Navigation
School”. We hope to have the next school at the beginning
of the year. We have several work teams from various churches
planning on coming down to help with the construction. If
you are interested in participating in one of these teams,
you can get in touch with our work team coordinator, Chris
Dyer, at (714) 612-6088.
We are also looking for people interested in sponsoring boys
who want to attend the school. It would be a short-term sponsorship
for three months – the duration of the school. If you
would be interested or would like more information on what
sponsorship involves please email us at sponsorship@ndll.org.
We also need people who would be able to donate air-miles
to help get the boys to and from the school. They will be
coming from all over Latin America. Please let us know if
this is something you would like to do.
Our
Prayer Needs:
-Please pray for the school and all the preparations that
need to take place before the end of the year.
-Pray that we find qualified staff and or missionaries to
help us with this school.
-Pray for the finances to cover the needs of all the boys
that we hope to have in the school.
-Pray for Venezuela, the boys there, and the staff.
-Pray that God would continue to give us wisdom to do His
will
To recieve this monthly newsletter via mail please
fill out the form on our contact page.
Niños de la Luz officially presents its new ministry,
“La Baliza” (The Light Beacon). We just finished
our second “Life Navigation School” here in the
Dominican Republic. Though these were small practice runs
until we have bigger facilities to handle more boys, it was
an incredible time of learning and growing (both for the boys
and for ourselves!). It was exciting to see the boys involved
in activities that were preparing them for their futures once
they set out on their own, a very scary thought for these
guys! By the time they left, they were better equipped and
actually looking forward to what lies ahead for them as adults.
We covered things from cooking, goal setting, budgeting and
finances, filling out applications for employment, conducting
successful interviews, parenting/marriage classes, discipleship
topics and many others! One of our students, Victor, told
me that it was the first time he had had the responsibility
to make sure that his food lasts for the whole week (not an
easy task for a boy who is used to eating everything in sight!).
To be ready for our next school,
we will need three things: to expand our housing facilities
for the boys, to hire personnel and/or take on missionaries
to help run the school and finally to raise the finances to
run it. We also still have an outstanding debt of $60,000
for our property here in the Dominican Republic. Please pray
with us that God will provide for these needs as we continue
to trust Him for everything.
Helping Hands:
We have been very fortunate to
have had the help of two short-term missionaries over the
past few months. Jesse Snipes has helped in so many ways that
it’s hard to list them all! He’s helped with everything
from redesigning our web page, building the roof, teaching
the boys
English, building furniture and
general construction on the property. Suzanne Carr has helped
us get organized on the administrative end and been a blessing
to our family by helping out with home schooling. We can’t
begin to thank them enough and we will definitely miss them
when they’re gone!
A letter from Summer – 9 years old:
I made a friend in the Dominican Republic whose name is Lulu.
She is a Haitian. She’s eight years old. I met her when
she came to our house with her Dad. At that time, she didn’t
know any Spanish. She only spoke Creole, which is the Haitian
language. The next time I saw her, she spoke some Spanish.
I was really surprised that she could learn it that quick.
One day we went to her house to visit her sick mother. Her
house was made of pieces of wood that were just thrown together.
The whole house was smaller than my bedroom. The inside was
one room divided by a curtain. On one side they had an old
table and on the other side was a bed that they all slept
on. The only toy I saw was a doll. They sang a song for us
on the guitar and they were very excited for us to be there.
If I had enough money I would build them a house. It makes
me want to share a lot with them. Seeing Lulu’s house
makes me thankful for what I have and it helps me remember
not to complain when I don’t have something. I pray
that someday she’ll get a better house and that her
mom will get better. What makes Lulu’s family special
is that they are always happy even though they’re poor.
Plans For Venezuela
I just returned from an awesome time in Venezuela. What a
great feeling it is to see God at work in the new national
director, Marisela.
I was happy to see the ranch thriving with life and excitement!
With each visit I see more and more growth. During my time,
I met with the director and staff. We had some very fruitful
discussions about future plans. We are looking at a few ways
to make Venezuela more financially self-sufficient. One of
these ways is by a large production of eggs. Currently we
have 100 egg-laying chickens as a prototype that has worked
very well so far. They have produced eggs for the ranch and
brought in some income with the extras that we sell. Now we
are looking at the possible construction of two large coops
that will house 3000 chickens and provide almost half of the
current financial needs to run the ministry in Venezuela.
Please pray that if God is in these plans that He will bless
it by providing the funds to build it, and that He will bless
us with very productive chickens!
Venezuela highlights:
- Received two more boys at the Lighthouse ranch
- Started new location in Valencia
- Greg and Cristina are moving back to the U.S. in May
- New national ranch director Marisela, doing great job!
Dominican Republic highlights:
- Completion of 2nd Life Navigation school
- Construction continues for the next school
- Two short-term missionaries came to help out
- Niños de la Luz receives its official corporate status
in DR
US highlights:
- Planning starts for our 2nd annual Surf-a-Thon
- U.S. board has new member - Casey Hale
- Updated web page – check it out!
-Jon Haslett (International Director)
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fill out the form on our 
