INTERNATIONAL PROJECT PROPOSALPROJECT 0120

Canaan OrphanageStand in the Gap for Orphans and Vulnerable Children

— Montrouis, Haiti —

Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself

from being polluted by the world.James 1:27

We are a ministrythat mobilizes the global Church to transform the poor and their communities materially and spiritually for the

glory of Jesus Christ.

Rather than create new institutions to distribute aid, we support existing ministries and churches already serving

the poor. In addition to being the most cost-effective way of helping the poor, empowering these ministries

allows us to support the Church’s spiritual mission and its important position of leadership in poor communities.

We consider every gift we receive as a precious resource from God. We direct every donation to its

intended project, provide honest and accurate reports to our donors, and keep overhead costs to an industry

low. We handle funds with utmost integrity and hold our ministry partners in the field to the same high standards

by asking them to document costs and the impact of their outreach.

We invite you to join with us as we seek to transform the lives of the poor materially and spiritually — ways that

please the Father and glorify Him in Heaven and on earth.

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Canaan Orphanage | Project 0120

Project Synopsis

Project DescriptionThis project will provide orphans and vulnerable children with safe shelter, nutritious meals, quality health care, Christian education, a loving family, and daily exposure to the Gospel.Our PartnerGladys and her husband Pastor Henri Gaetjens began Canaan Orphanage in 1994. Since then, they have raised hundreds of children at their 93-acre campus known as Canaan (named for the Promised Land in the Bible).LocationMontrouis, on Haiti’s western coast.Cost$77,000 will provide food, Christian education and living expenses for 147 resident children, ages 0 to 19.Project Summary

• The communities surrounding Canaan are plagued by malnutrition, disease and extreme poverty.

• As a result, many orphaned and vulnerable children have little or no access to basic necessities or hope for the future.

• Founded over two decades ago, Canaan Orphanage has a proven track record of rescuing Haiti’s orphans and vulnerable children and raising them in a loving Christian environment.

• Gladys and Pastor Henri’s ministry is holistic, meeting the material and physical needs of children in their care and the needs of families in the community.

• Join Cross International to give these children a transformed life by equipping them with the food, education and spiritual guidance they need to become healthy, self-sufficient and Christ-centered adults who will one day make a difference in their poor communities.

See what great love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are!

1 John 3:1

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Canaan Orphanage | Project 0120

Children Falling Through the Cracks

Several years ago, a little boy named Chibelson arrived at the Canaan Orphanage malnutrition clinic dying of severe hunger. His mother didn’t have the financial means to care for the 9-month-old, and she was desperate.

“When Chibelson arrived at Canaan, he was like a corpse,” said Gladys, co-founder of the orphanage. “He had so many medical problems.”

Even after Chibelson was given food and antibiotics, his condition just kept getting worse, and when he was taken to the hospital in Port-au-Prince, it was discovered he needed an emergency kidney stone operation.

“When we took him to the hospital here they could not help him because he was too small,” Gladys explained.

She discovered there was a doctor in the U.S. who could perform the surgery, but time was running out — and mountains of paperwork stood in the way.

“I told the embassy, ‘We have to go now! He is dying!’ I knew he wasn’t going to make it if we waited much longer,” she said.

Unfortunately, extreme needs like this are tragically common in the impoverished communities surrounding Canaan Orphanage. There,

families struggle to care for their children, and many boys and girls are severely malnourished and exposed to numerous health problems. Because of these challenging conditions, children are sometimes abandoned and others tragically become orphaned.

That’s why Cross International describes Canaan as a lifesaving ministry. It regularly steps forward to meet these local challenges and extend Christ’s love to those who need it most. In Chibelson’s case, travel paperwork was miraculously processed in just a few hours, and he was immediately flown to the U.S. for treatment. Chibelson returned to Canaan Orphanage a healthy boy, but because his mother could not provide him with adequate care, he remained at the orphanage to grow up with the healthy foods, medicines and loving care he needed to thrive.

In Christ’s name, Gladys and Pastor Henri want to continue to welcome children of all ages and circumstances, whether orphaned, abandoned or severely impoverished. They want to remain a source of unconditional love and provide a family-like environment for children with few other options for survival. Will you help them show these precious little ones God has a plan for their lives? With your support of the Canaan Orphanage, children like Chibelson can have their lives and hope restored.

When children come to Canaan’s medical clinic, many of them are suffering from severe malnutrition.

Once near death, Chibelson was rescued by the ministry of Canaan Orphanage.

The Need

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A Loving Family

Canaan Orphanage is more than just a safe shelter for orphaned and abandoned kids; it is a holistic ministry that operates like a family. Each child can rely on three meals per day, loving support from a Christian community and all of the comforts of home, including a personal space to call his or her own. For many, Canaan was the first place they received shoes, new clothes or a real bed to sleep in at night.

“My main goal is for these children to know what love is,” Gladys said.

That’s why she treats them just as she would her own children. They all have chores and homework to complete, but they also have the freedom to play with their friends and grow in their relationship with God. Christ is at the center of all they do at Canaan, and Gladys and Pastor Henri develop this through a personal relationship with each child, where they can foster their unique talents and invest in their individual needs.

“We are making ‘Kingdom Kids.’ Kids who are raised at Canaan have integrity and they know the Lord,” Gladys says. “We are raising a new generation of Haitians. They have a vision for Haiti and they are working and studying to improve their lives.”

Ministering to the lost, hopeless and forgotten has been a priority for Gladys and Pastor Henri throughout their Christian lives. Following the Lord’s calling, they founded Canaan Orphanage more than 25 years ago and have since ministered to thousands of orphans, abandoned and vulnerable children in the impoverished coastal town of Montrouis in west Haiti. In this wasteland of broken families, dilapidated housing and hunger, the couple developed an oasis in which orphans and vulnerable children could find a loving and safe place to call home.

“It is a hard life we live here in Haiti,” said Gladys. “But we do everything we can to help the kids — because others don’t. Feeding them is only one part of a much bigger goal. Kids need more than food, they need love.”

As their ministry has grown, Canaan has become well-known in the area for its high standard of care for children and its Christ-like love for the community. This has resulted in Canaan becoming one of Haitian Social Services’ most trusted partners — which means new babies, toddlers and young children are often brought to its doorstep by those seeking help.

This creates a unique opportunity for ministry. By responding in love, Canaan can give lost and vulnerable children a wonderful opportunity to escape pain, heartache and rejection, and instead root their lives in the firm foundation of Jesus Christ.

Gladys (center) has committed her life to caring for Haiti’s orphans and vulnerable children.

Ministry Description

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More Than an Orphanage

More than an orphanage, Canaan has a number of outreach programs to provide the children with the best life possible:

• Orphanage: This includes a nursery for children under the age of 5, as well as dorms for older boys and girls.

• Church: Canaan has a chapel on-site where the children meet for daily devotions and prayer, as well as weekly chapel. Children are encouraged to commit their lives to the Lord, and many ask Jesus to be their Savior!

• Canaan Christian School: A Christian preschool through 12th grade that uses ACE curriculum, an American-based homeschool program, allowing children to learn together, but at their own pace.

• Vocational School: At the age of 15, Canaan’s youth are taught a marketable trade such as baking, sewing or masonry.

• Medical Clinic: The on-site clinic has two nurses who are available 24/7 for the resident children and staff. The facility also serves a vital need in the poor community through the pharmacy and malnutrition program.

Each morning, the older children lead the younger ones in devotion.

Canaan Christian School provides a top-notch education for poor children, giving them the skills they need to succeed in adulthood.

“At Canaan, I feel closest to God. There’s something special here. When I came, they received me with an open heart. They didn’t judge me. I want to build a foundation for other kids now, so they

can feel like they’re somebody.”

Lindsay Louis

600 SW 3rd Street • Suite 2201 • Pompano Beach, Florida 33060800-391-8545 • www.CrossInternational.org

Copyright Cross International. Cost-effectively written, designed and printed in-house.

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Our Promise to You!Proceeds from this campaign will be used to cover any expenditures for this project incurred through June 30, 2018,

the close of our ministry’s new fiscal year. In the event that more funds are raised than needed to fully fund the project, the excess funds, if any, will be used to meet the most urgent needs of the ministry.

Canaan Orphanage | Project 0120

Your gift to Canaan Orphanage will provide more than food, education and safe shelter — it will welcome orphans and vulnerable children like Chibelson into a loving family. With your help, the dedicated Christian leaders of the ministry can wipe away tears and heal broken hearts through the redeeming power of Jesus.

“When you give, you are investing in lives,” Gladys said. “When you give, it multiplies.”

After years of ministry to Haiti’s orphans and vulnerable children, Gladys knows this to be true. We invite you to partner with Cross International and Canaan Orphanage to invest in Haiti’s vulnerable children and equip them for a future filled with hope.

“On this side of heaven, you will never know what your gift accomplishes in the lives of these kids,” Gladys continued.

Be the difference in the lives of these children. Help Gladys rescue them from a future of loneliness and give them the loving, Christ-centered upbringing they deserve. There could be no greater way to glorify the Lord and demonstrate His redemptive power!

“Whoever welcomes one of these little children in my name welcomes me; and whoever welcomes me does not welcome me but the one who sent me.”

Mark 9:37

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Welcome Children Into the Canaan Family!