the children. I also help

with the school at the chil-

dren’s home and manage

the everyday operations at

the orphanage. Please

pray for God to guide me in

taking care of the children

of the orphanage. It is only

through Christ that I am

able to do this amazing

work.

My name is Melissa

Young. I am 34 years old

and I have a teaching de-

gree in Early Childhood

Education. I am very in-

volved at my church help-

ing with worship and youth

activities. Almost two

years ago God blessed me

with the most amazing op-

portunity. Through my

friends, Shiloh Mountain

Trio, and missionary John

Hawthorn, I was able to

travel to Haiti. Since that

first visit in February of

2009 my life has not been

the same. I fell in love with

the children, people and

country of Haiti. I have

been to Haiti more than ten

times since, and am in awe

of the journey God has laid

out before me. I am hum-

bled by John’s confidence

in me to continue the work

he started many years ago

with his father. I will be

traveling to Haiti frequently

and living at LOCC Chil-

dren’s Home with the chil-

dren as a full

time mission-

ary. I will

continue to

do everyday

parental du-

ties and most

importantly

show love to

I N T R O D U C I N G M E L I S S A Y O U N G

O U R N E W N U T R I T I O N / E D U C A T I O N S P O N S O R S H I P P R O G R A M

Imagine Missions is intro-

ducing a sponsorship pro-

gram in which you and one

of the children here at the

Loyal Oaks Children’s

Home will share a special

bond. The small monthly

donation will be used to

improve the diet and edu-

cation of a specific child,

chosen by you. Sponsors

will receive a picture and

information about their

child and a letter two times

a year from their child.

Sponsorship is $30 a

month or $360 a year. We

have 125 children waiting

to be sponsored.

If you are interested in im-

proving the diet and edu-

cation of a child, you can

contact Melissa Young by

email, melissa9222424

@yahoo.com.

W I N T E R 2 0 1 1

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

I N S I D E T H I S I S S U E :

A N U P D A T E

F R O M L O C C

2

W H O I S I M A G I N E

M I S S I O N S ?

3

M E E T E L O U

J U L I E N 3

U P C O M I N G P R O J E C T S /

S A V E T H E D A T E

4

Serving Christ through the Children of the Loyal Oaks Community Chapel Children’s Home, Despinos, Haiti

We’re on the Web!

www.imaginemissions.com

Greetings from LOCC Chil-

dren’s Home. January has

brought a lot of change

here but we are very ex-

cited to see where God is

leading us. In January I

meet with all the staff and

gave them the news that

John was retiring. They

were sad that he would not

be returning. I explained

that Imagine Mission and

myself had been asked to

take over. After four hours

and taking the time to talk

to everyone I am happy to

say that all employees

have decided to stay on

here. The same meeting

was held with the children,

and at this meeting Rosel,

our Haitian director, and

myself set some routines

in place. Changes is al-

ways difficult but I ex-

plained to the children that

I may not always make

them happy but I do what I

feel is best for them. This

month we celebrated birth-

days for the first time ever.

I bought cakes and we had

candles and sang happy

birthday. It was so amaz-

ing to see how these

children responded

A N U P D A T E F R O M L O C C C H I L D R E N ’ S H O M E

C L O T H I N G D R I V E

We are always in need of

personal hygiene and bath

items such as antibacterial

wipes, hand sanitizer, liq-

uid hand soap, feminine

products, shampoo, body

wash, bar soap, tooth

paste and brushes, body

lotion/cream, razors, shav-

ing cream, stick deodorant

and pull-ups.

Linens such as twin

sheets, bath towels and

wash clothes and school

supplies are always

needed and appreciated

as well.

Please contact April

Linard, 330-432-0038, or

by email, linard4

@yahoo.com with any

questions you may have.

Thank you!

Imagine missions is cur-

rently holding a clothing

drive for the children of the

Loyal Oaks Children’s

Home. We are looking for

new or gently used sum-

mer outfits for boys size

2T— adult and girls size

2T—large 12/14.

The girls need knee length

shorts, skirts or Capri's;

short sleeve shirts and t-

shirts (please no spaghetti

strap or tank tops). They

also need pajamas, under-

wear, bras, socks and

shoes.

The boys need clothing

with a waist size or 24—

32”, length 30-34”, knee

length shorts, short sleeve

shirts and t-shirts, jeans,

dress pants, pajamas, un-

derwear, socks and shoes

as well.

Page 2 I M A G I N E M I S S I O N S

to being made to feel spe-

cial for just one evening.

As for Haiti in general, po-

litically things have been

quiet the last few weeks.

February looks to be a

trying time with the elec-

tion, so please keep that in

your prayers.

Shipping items to

Haiti costs about

$1.50 a pound. If

you would like to

contribute to the

shipping cost for

your donated items,

it would be greatly

appreciated.

U P C O M I N G P R O J E C T S

urday, February 26, at 1:00.

There will be more details

soon.

We will also be applying for

grants from the Reeves

Foundation and the Sisters

of Charity Foundation. If

anyone knows of any other

grants, or has grant writing

experience, or if you have

any fund raising ideas,

please email Chris and

Beth @ bethand-

chrishostetler@yahoo.com.

Leading our fundraising

efforts are Chris and Beth

Hostetler of Canton, Ohio.

Chris and Beth made their

first trip to Haiti in October

of 2010 and are returning

again in March.

The newly formed fundrais-

ing committee met on Janu-

ary 15, and they have come

up with a few ideas.

They are working out the

details for a bowling fund-

raiser at Alpa Lanes on Sat-

Christele, Mirlande, Chabien (behind

Melissa) and Melissa serving some

birthday cake.

Imagine Missions is a

group of volunteers from

all walks of life with a

common goal, to help

people in need and to

show them the love of

Christ. During our first

trip to Haiti we saw much

of the need that is in this

beautiful, yet hurting

country. Also during that

trip, we sang and wor-

shiped at churches, did

prison outreaches and

were introduced to a chil-

dren’s home in Despinos,

Haiti. Our hearts went

out to the children of this

children’s home as we

spent much of the week

with them. During that

time a bond was devel-

oped that will never be

broken. Our role now as

Imagine Missions is to

help raise funds and

awareness for the chil-

dren’s home and sur-

rounding community.

We look forward to lead-

ing teams to do mission

work in Haiti. Moving

forward, we require that

all trips to the children’s

home be coordinated

through Imagine Mis-

sions. If you are thinking

of planning a trip, please

contact Susi Cox. Her

email address:

susi@imaginemissions.

com . Susi will send you

a copy of our short term

mission trip packet that

outlines all procedures

and guidelines for visiting

and working at the chil-

dren’s home.

As we go through this

time of transition, we

want to let you know that

we are willing to come

visit your churches and

share what exciting op-

portunities God is giving

us in Haiti. We would

love to update you on the

children and changes

that are taking place at

the children’s home. If

you would like a repre-

sentative from Imagine

Missions to come, please

contact Melissa at her

email address: melis-

sa9222424@yahoo.com.

is 13 years old. My fa-

vorite thing to do at the

LOCC Children’s Home

is to go to school. My

favorite subject is math.

When I grow up I want to

be a doctor.

Elou needs your prayers

and support. Would you

like to sponsor him?

Hi! My name is Elou

Julien. My birthday is

November 10 and I am

12 years old. I am from

Jacmel. I have a father,

but my mother died. I

have one brother who

lives with me at LOCC

Children’s Home. His

name is Merson and he

WH O I S I M A G I N E M I S S I O N S ?

I N T R O D U C I N G E L O U J U L I E N

Page 3 V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

Email Melissa to sponsor Elou

melissa9222424@yahoo.com

On the way home after our first trip in 2009

As everyone may envi-

sion, or knows first hand,

maintenance and im-

provements are a con-

stant issue anywhere

over 125 children are

living, sleeping, learning

or being fed.

We are working towards

a kitchen improvement

project in the very near

future. Currently there is

no refrigeration at the

children’s home, nor is

there an oven to bake

anything. Having an

oven at the home will go

a long ways towards im-

proving the quality and

variety of the children’s

diet.

As you can see in the

photo on the right, we

need to make some

plumbing updates as

well. We are still raising

funds for this project,

hoping to make signifi-

cant upgrades to the ap-

pliances.

We are hoping to plan for

a trip in March for the

remodeling project, but

do to the political unrest

in Haiti, we have not

been able to lock down

an exact date. If you are

interested in going to

Haiti in March, please

contact Susi Cox at susi-

cox@yahoo.com.

fortably house teams of

up to 20, dormitory style.

Mikala, our housekeeper,

and Tliamore, our gate-

man, are going to make

the move to the new

team home with us and

we are so glad to be able

to retain their invaluable

Imagine Missions is very

happy to announce that

we have been able to

rent a brand new team

house closer to the Chil-

dren’s home. This home

has been constructed

since the earthquake and

is very nice. It will com-

services. The cost to

stay at the team home is

$30.00 a day which in-

cludes meals, transporta-

tion and fuel to run the

generator. This also

helps towards the rent of

the team home and the

salaries for our guest

house personnel.

U P C O M I N G P R O J E C T S — T H E K I T C H E N

T E A M H O U S E N E W S

Page 4 I M A G I N E M I S S I O N S

S A V E T H E D A T E

At 6:00 pm on February 15 there will be a carry-in dinner at Park Christian Church

for all those interested in an update from Haiti.

On February 17 the Presentation Committee will be meeting at 6:00 pm at Park

Christian Church in Dennison, Ohio, for anyone wanting to learn more about going

out and speaking about Haiti and Imagine Missions.

Alpa Lanes bowling fundraiser at on February 26 at 1:00.

The New Team House

The kitchen at the children’s home is in need of an update.

Imagine Missions is host-

ing a bowling fundraiser

at Alpa Lanes on Febru-

ary 26, 1:00 pm to raise

money for new mat-

tresses for the children.

We are requesting a mini-

mum donation of $10 per

bowler. Sponsor sheets

are also available if you

would like people to spon-

sor you per pin. (If you

have someone sponsor

you for 25 cents/pin, and

you bowl a 100 game,

they will owe you $25.)

We just need you to be

able to cover the $10.

This will pay for two

games and your shoe

rental.

Alpa Lanes is located at

5213 Spanson Drive, Uh-

richsville, and we thank

them in advance for their

generosity! Call Chris or

Beth Hostetler for more

information. 330-432-

0070 or 0071.

B OW L I N G F O R B E D S