A look back at 2025

January : Celebrating Independence Day and EEGC 5th anniversary

In January 2025, we shared a joyful and meaningful moment with the children in our community by enjoying a special meal of pumpkin soup, a powerful symbol of Haiti’s independence as the first free Black nation in the world. We also celebrated the 5th anniversary of EEGC.

Celebrating Independence Day

EEGC 5th anniversary

February: Python program & pressure washer at CERMICOL

Despite the uncertainty, we were blessed to launch the Python program at CCS and also to bring encouragement to CERMICOL through the donation of a pressure washer, helping make daily life in the prison a little cleaner.

Python Program

Pressure washer at CERMICOL

March: New perspective

Seeking a fresh perspective and a sense of revival, we brought Scheska on as a consultant this year. She provided the “new eyes” we needed to see our blind spots. Her impact was so transformative that we couldn't let her go; she has since transitioned into a permanent role on our leadership team.

April: Jesus film for CCS & Easter Celebration.

We rejoiced in the opportunity to share The Jesus Film with the CCS children in their own language and also enjoyed a wonderful Easter celebration at Haiti Awake, where every child received a warm Haitian meal and a care package.

May: Rome-Carmel’s graduation and Fritz moved into his new home provided by HA

What a blessing and significant accomplishment it has been: Rose-Carmel, one of our staff members and the CCS coordinator for Haiti Awake in Haiti, graduated from seminary with full support from Haiti Awake. In addition, this same month, Fritz Augustin, a young man we met through CERMICOL, moved into his new home which was provided by Haiti Awake. Glwa pou Bondye!

Rome-Carmel’s graduation

Fritz moved into his new home provided by HA

June : Interns in Haiti for the first time

Haiti Awake had always utilized interns for summer in the past. However, they were always Americans. This year for the first time we welcomed two Haitian young people as interns in Haiti. When they first came it was a learning period about Haiti Awake vision and mission. Furthermore, they participated in our weekly psychology class. 

Samuel has transitioned from summer intern to having a permanent staff position.

Our interns were a huge help.

July : Start of VBS (Vacation Bible School) and the graduation of some CCS Tabarre kids

VBS this year was such a blast. It was not only a moment of enjoyment and relaxation filled with challenges and prizes, but it was also a moment of learning.  This year, we implemented several learning clubs such as cooking and pastry, crochet, photography, and civic engagement. The kids chose the one they would like to be part of and had fun learning new things they would be able to use in the future. Also, 3 young ladies graduated from CCS Tabarre. We had a good farewell meeting with the other CCS children.

Summer camp participants

August : VBS at Caradeux

This month was a follow up to VBS. We started the learning club with the children at Caradeux.

Python learning at the VBS

September: Back to school

Among all that we accomplished this year, September stood out as one of the most amazing months. We are deeply thankful for the generosity of our sponsors, whose support helped bring bright smiles to the faces of parents and their children as they prepared for the back-to-school season. Glwa pou Bondye!

Back to school

October: Happy 11th anniversary to Haiti Awake and Farewell Phebe

Happy 11th anniversary to Haiti Awake! October was a month filled with mixed emotions both joy and sadness. We celebrated with joy as we marked our anniversary, while also feeling a sense of sadness as Phebe, one of the children who had been in our care at Kay Timoun, graduated. Though it was bittersweet, we are truly happy and proud of her. That is what made October a month of mixed emotions.

Happy 11th anniversary to Haiti Awake

See you soon, Phebe

November: Getting ready for Christmas

We could say that our Christmas began in November, as we started preparing packages for all our children, community members, the youth at CERMICOL, and our staff. We are deeply grateful to our dear sponsors for making this possible. November was also the month when we supported CERMICOL by providing solar panel lights, helping improve safety and living conditions for the youth there.

Getting ready for Christmas

December: Becky’s surgery and Christmas

We thank God for our dear friend, Becky Graves, who successfully underwent a surgery on December 10th. While we experienced moments of concern at Haiti Awake, we found peace and joy in the assurance that God was fully in control. We are also grateful to God for blessing us with a wonderful Christmas celebration at Haiti Awake.

Becky’s surgery

Christmas party

"Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think. Glory to him in the church and in Christ Jesus through all generations forever and ever! Amen.".

Ephesians 3:20-21

A message from Pastor Steeve

A message from Pastor Steeve:

For the past two Saturdays, a group of children came to one of the Haiti Awake centers and asked me how they could join our English class.

When I asked them how they knew we have an English class, one of them replied: “Because we saw some of our friends speaking English, and we want to speak English, too.”

I explained to them that the process is slow right now, but I will reach out to them when we can get more children in the program.

I can tell they left feeling sad, but with hope that one day they will be accepted to our program.

A big thank you to our sponsors for continuing to support Haiti Awake. If you know someone who wants to invest in expanding a child's world, please e-mail Kynda at sponsorship@haitiawake.org or visit haitiawake.org. We would love to welcome these children into our program, but first they need a sponsor.

Good news from Haiti!

Some positive updates from our friends in Haiti!

We have recently had more children return to Port au Prince and re-enter our community. We have also been able to resume many of our normal activities, such as English lessons, music classes, and sports. Another piece of good news is shipments from MFI are able to be made and received again, so packages are able to be brought to the children’s home and into the community.

While times are still uncertain, and there is still immense suffering happening in Haiti, small victories and little bits of progress remind us that there is always hope.

Continue to pray for Haiti.

Celebrating a fantastic summer

As the summer of 2022 draws to a close, we look back with thankfulness for all that we were able to experience and enjoy. Here are just a few hightlights.

Glwa pou Bondye.

May

A trip to Les Cayes to see projects Haiti Awake has completed post-earthquake

The Your Pie Pizza Fundraiser

June

Graduation of the oldest four from Kay Timoun

July

Summer camp in Haiti

Kids Week at The Bridge, Wilmington, NC

August

The Sponsor Appreciation Picnic

A food distribution and a meeting to establish future outreach at the Les Cayes Prison

A soccer tournament at the CERMICOL prison in Port au Prince

A parents’ meeting to start the new school year

Thank you for your faithful support of the ministry of Haiti Awake. May we continue to see our Provider do exceeding abundantly above all that we might ask or think. He is able! (Ephesians 3:20-21).

The Depth of the Riches

In just 5 short months, Idelmy, Antonide, Cesnel, and Lorvens will transition out of our care and into their next phase of life. We look forward to this day with hopeful anticipation, acknowledging the challenges they will face but fully trusting that God has a perfect plan for each of their lives.

When we first met in July of 2013, we could never have anticipated the journey we would walk together, the way God would orchestrate events.

As we approach June 30, 2022, we ask that you pray very specifically for each of the children. Cesnel has a firm plan in place that includes where he will live and where he will be employed after he leaves. Lorvens, Antonide, and Idelmy are in various stages of making their plans, and by March they understand that they should have their plans in place. If you sponsor one of these children and want to know specifics of where they are in planning, contact our child sponsorship coordinator, Kynda Colson, at sponsorship@haitiawake.org

Saturday’s meeting to discuss the future

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God!
How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways!”

— Romans 11:33

Our 2021 Year in Review

Life in Haiti has never been easy, but this year life reached a new level of difficult.

As one friend put it:  “It’s like you’re in the middle of an ocean, and while you’re trying to swim and keep your head out of the water, others count on you to take them out of the water - to rescue them. Some are even pulling you down the water because of their own panic.  It’s just the sad reality that we are facing.”

People from our community were kidnapped.   We faced day after day of no electric power.  Finding what we needed to just function day-by-day became almost impossible at times.  This was our reality.

And yet, by God’s grace, we continued to walk on.   And in walking, we found another reality - what a beautiful year we had at Haiti Awake.

We wish we could tell you everything, but that would be impossible.  So we have chosen to work together to give you one bright spot we experienced each month.


January

In January our friends Michelle Carr and Lauren Risedorf came to visit.

February

In February we started having monthly meals together as part of English class.

March

In March we celebrated Becky’s birthday together and the anniversary of the Graves’ family’s first trip to Haiti in 2012. (We won’t tell you how old Becky is, but let’s just say it was a significant birthday. Oh, wait! Does Hudson’s photo give away the answer?)

April

In April we celebrated Caleb’s 6th birthday, remembering all that God did during that special week in 2015.

May

In May we celebrated Haitian Flag Day by taking the CCS children out to a local restaurant.

June
In June Michelle, Alexandria, and Ethan came to visit.

July

In July we had our first fully Haitian-run summer camp. The children had so much fun every day. Snacks, games, stories, songs, instruction . . . and so much more!

August

In August Steeve went to the US for a visit, and while he was traveling home, an earthquake shook the southern peninsula of Haiti. We had the opportunity to do outreach in Les Cayes, Camp Perrin, Pestel, and Jeremie in the weeks that followed.

September

In September,  we began rebuilding in Camp Perrin.

October

In October our friend Keverly came to visit. It’s not easy for people to come to visit any more, so it meant so much to have her here. She encouraged us so much.

November

In November,  the extreme fuel shortages nearly closed down Port-au-Prince,  but by God's grace,  we pressed on and did what we needed to do day-by-day.

December
December was a month of celebration - celebrating being together, celebrating the birthdays of Handy and Wesly, celebrating the birth of Vorb’s new daughter, celebrating Christmas.

5 Things on a Thursday

It’s hard to believe it’s been an entire month since I wrote that last update, so I wanted to give a quick summary of what’s going on at Haiti Awake right now.

• Back to school is in full swing. Some of the children have gone back already. Some will return in October. As we plan toward the transition out of care for the older children at Kay Timoun, their educational plans have changed and include vocational training and night school for several of them. Sponsors, Kynda Colson, our child sponsorship coordinator, has sent out updates to keep you informed.

• Kynda Colson is doing a great job as child sponsorship coordinator. She has been a blessing to me personally, and I encourage all sponsors to reach out to her with your questions and comments. She will do a much better job than I will do in answering questions, as child sponsorship is her focus. She has helped all of us at Haiti Awake become better organized and productive, and for that we are so grateful. Her email is sponsorship@haitiawake.org

• Rebuilding continues in Camp Perrin post-earthquake. Vorb and I are hopeful to be in Camp Perrin in October and be able to give a first-hand report of how work is progressing. We are thankful for community participation in the construction efforts and for the faithful supervision of Frè Jacques, our trusted friend.

• We are one step closer to our dream of having a computer lab at the community center. Through partnership with Aprann.org, ten laptops have been secured, and we are now gathering other needed items like software licenses and accessories, as we make plans for classes to begin in 2022.

• Next week Pastor Steeve and I will be in Missouri for training with a Gospel-focused ministry called Concilium. We will be learn basic security principles, hostage survival, and first aid, and be trained in how to respond in a variety of situations, including active shooter, through extended immersion experiences. We are thankful for this opportunity, and Pastor Steeve is looking forward to taking the things he will learn in Missouri back to Haiti to teach others. The lack of security in Haiti has created a desperate situation, and we want to be proactive in stewarding our opportunities well.

It is hard to describe the difficulties facing our Haitian friends day-by-day. Fuel shortages, kidnappings, gang violence, inflation, dwindling resources, the assassination, the earthquake…

There are days I don’t even know how to pray for our friends, but the events of recent years have given me a deeper understanding of what true Hope is - and how to rest in it. This is my constant prayer for Haitian believers - that they will rest in Hope despite all of the uncertainty around them.

Hebrews 6:18-19 says: “It is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us. This hope is a strong and trustworthy anchor for our souls.”

The hope that lies before us. Amen.

A CCS Update

Hi Friends!

We couldn’t wait to give you another CCS update! You may already know most of our regular activities, but we would like for you to see some adjustments.

1- Sports day every Wednesday

Right now, Sports Day on Wednesday has become a  rendezvous for all of the children in CCS,  Big has started helping each week along with other staff members.  He truly loves the children..

What we are doing on Wednesday, it’s more than just doing sports. Every Wednesday, a theme is chosen for the sport day, such as: Patience- Love- Kindness- Wisdom- etc… and we always pray together.

2- Bible study 

Every Thursday,  some of those children continue to join our Bible study to learn the Word of God, even though it is not an obligation for them. We praise God for that.

3- English class 

English class is every Saturday. We can see how the children continue to learn and improve their English.  Sponsors, one day, we hope your child will be able to communicate with you in English!

3- Children’s church department 

Every Sunday, about 20 children come to children’s church.  Most of them are from CCS.

4 - Medical assistance 

Beside all of these activities, we were able to provide medical assistance to some of our children who needed a physician’s attention.

5- Big event

On the Haitian Flag Day, May 18, Haiti Awake  took all of the CCS children to a restaurant  for ice cream.   Going to a restaurant nor having ice cream is a regular thing for the CCS children.  In fact,  I believe most of those children experience this  for the first time in their entire lives.

Thank you, Sponsors, for your contribution to that event. 

6- School assistance:

We continue to assist some of the children with their school tuition, as well.

7- Thankfulness.

Sponsors, we want to express our gratitude by saying, thank you

Thank you for the change you are making in the lives of our children.

Thank you for helping our children to thrive, not to just survive.

Thank you for your faithful support.

Six years ago today

Six years ago today.

Six years passed in the blink of an eye.

Six years ago today we took the first step toward a purposeful relationship with the children of Kay Timoun. Six years ago today we moved them into a house close to Steeve’s house.

Little did we know six years ago today what God would do. We didn't have much money (the kids had one sponsor total!), we didn't have big plans (we were simply taking the next step), but our God who is faithful and true knew it all.

Now all glory to God, who is able, through his mighty power at work within us, to accomplish infinitely more than we might ask or think.

Ephesians 3:20