Coastal Haiti Mission Newsletter
January 2024
DISCIPLINE – A Place Of Safety
What ever happened to the fear of God?
When I was a child and was caught breaking one of the rules handed down to us kids by our parents, it was distressing enough being scolded by my mother. But when, on some occasions, she would end her reprimand with a promise to tell my dad about my unsanctioned behavior when he arrived home from work that night, that’s when the fear of… well, let’s say the fear of my father would kick in. It wasn’t that he was a cruel man, or even a mean man. He wasn’t. But he understood that his children needed to be reared in the cradle and safety of discipline.
What about our Heavenly Father? He, too, disciplines His children. Do we strive to walk in the norms He has laid down for His people to follow? Do we behave in a way that is fitting for a family of aristocratic nobility? I mean, we are children of the King, are we not? Do we understand that it matters to our God when we willfully step out of The Way He has prepared for us to traverse as we forge ahead while in this world?
Or do we sometimes see our God as an all-seeing, all-knowing potentate who looks the other way when we revere our own way over His? Like an apathetic, casually indifferent, but ever-loving “patsy” in the sky?
Have you ever seen a fellow Christian choking on unforgiveness – and proud of it?
Have you ever seen a fellow Christian being unkind, rude, and arrogant?
Have you ever seen a fellow Christian being dishonest in business?
Not a pretty sight. WE KNOW BETTER! That’s not who we are!
Well maybe you haven’t seen it, but be assured that God has seen it. And so has the unbeliever seen it.
No fear of God.
Oh what blessing we withhold from the world when we don’t allow our Christ and His Holy Spirit to reign in our lives.
I want to share a story with you. Years ago my late husband Clint Goddard and I led a mission trip to Haiti. We had flown to the Turks and Caicos Islands from the states, and my husband was settling up with the airline that would soon fly us to Haiti. In addition to a copious amount of personal suitcases, we had a large amount of extra luggage containing supplies, gifts, etc. to be used in ministry in Haiti. Surely our bill for the supplies would be in the hundreds!
When we left the airline area my husband told me they had not charged us for the extra baggage. It looked like they had overlooked the charge because of all the action and commotion that happens with a team of ten people.
Sitting in the airline restaurant, Clint and I, exuberant over what looked like a certain blessing, began talking with each other about what had happened. We also knew that our Lord knew what had happened. And, deep down, both of us knew what we had to do.
Back we went to the airline agent. My husband began: “You didn’t charge us for our baggage.” Just then, another agent standing by came to the counter. He looked at Clint. “The reason we didn’t charge you for the baggage,” he said, “is because it is our gift to your mission.”
I can’t begin to tell you how relieved we were that we chose to do what we knew was the right thing. How very dreadful it would have been if we had decided to keep our mouths shut and gone on our way. And I know that the fear of the Lord had a part in us avoiding a relational disaster.
The airline agents would have been denied our deep appreciation for their gracious gift. They would have had to deal with the fact that a Christian mission had received a valuable gift from them and had then walked away without so much as a thank you. And, worse, they may have thought we were all too OK with cheating them out of what we believed was theirs. A consequential black eye for the cause of Christ.
“After all, when we were children we had fathers who corrected
us, and we respected them for it. Can we not much more readily
submit to the discipline of the Father of men’s souls, and learn
how to live?”
– Heb. 12:9 J.B. Phillips
Walking this Way with you,
Connie
A Special Message
Me, Lyvinx Joseph (Coty) and my wife Rosena Joseph, send a special thank you to you who support our work in Haiti, in the Village of Cahess, through Coastal Haiti Mission.
Your support makes our work so much more effective. You enable us to pay our teachers, feed our students, provide food for people unable to provide for themselves, provide encouragement for Christian education, and help our people to grow their own food in difficult conditions.
You have made life safer and more pleasant by providing lighting systems for homes.
We want to express our thanks for the Christmas party that we celebrate every year with the kids of the village.
May God keep His hands of blessing upon on you.
Again, thank you.
Pastor Lyvinx (Coty) and Rosena (Nana) Joseph
Christmas Party
Year after year, the children’s party remains a tradition in the Village of Cahess. Even though this is a Christmas party, we hold this celebration on January 1. It is very popular in our village and the number of children that attend this celebration is increasing year after year.
Over 400 kids got a nice plate of rice and beans along with chicken meat. 120 of these children got a special gift because they faithfully attend the Saturday Sunday School, which is taught by my wife, Nana. The remaining children got at least one toy.
The parents were more than happy and thankful to my wife for the great party she hosted with their kids.
On behalf of the children, their parents, my wife Nana, and myself, I thank those who provided the finances for this wonderful celebration.
Pastor Coty Joseph
Food for the Needy Program
Pastor Coty Writes:
The Food for the Needy Program reaches some very vulnerable people in this area and gives them hope and strength to survive.
One of these people is Widelin Etienne. This man lost one leg some years ago. Since then, he has not been able to work to support his wife and children.
His two children are attending our school, but the family is still in need of more assistance. Being part of the Food for the Needy Program, takes some of the pressure for survival off of Mr. Etienne. Now he can breathe a little easier. He is one of the persons that fits the following saying: “if it wasn’t for this program, what would he and his family do to survive?”
His wife normally comes to get the food, but this time she was ill, so he came himself, hoping that someone would help him carry the food back to his home.
I want to thank God, and also, I want to give thanks to you, His people, for supporting these people in Cahess.
Blessings to you all.
Pastor Coty.
Heavenly Father, please show us how we can help this man.
School Lunch Program
Pastor Coty Writes:
After the Christmas holidays, here we are again, back to school.
The years are changing, the days go fast, but the routine of our school is not changing.
By God’s grace we still have enough to feed our kids on every school day. This is such a blessing for them. It was like they were counting the days to come back to school. A plate of rice and beans at school makes sure that they have something to eat that day.
I realize that our work is to teach and feed the kids of Cahess. The teachers do the teaching and we do the rest.
You, the Family and Friends of Coastal Haiti Mission are such a blessing to us.
We thank God for you!!!!
Pastor Coty Joseph
Drought Resistant Garden Project
The name of the group doing this project is The Solidarity Gardeners .
Project Leader Daisee Kangas Writes:
I am happy to share with you the progress achieved so far by the Solidarity Gardeners.
As you learned previously, Coastal Haiti Mission provided seeds to this group of 40 men and women and also provided a stippens to two agronomists named Jeff and Yamoutch. Their first crop consisted of tomatoes, eggplant, beans and spinach. I am happy to report that harvesting has begun. Along with harvesting the gardeners are being taught to collect and save seeds. For many of the crops this means they will no longer need to rely on CHM for their seeds.
I am also pleased to tell you that each member was given enough plants that there is an abundance and we are also now working on a marketing strategy. In the past, I have noticed that the vendors at the markets are all trying to sell the same things. We are going to start planning our crops to create a niche that brings alternate crops to the market.
We are also starting our next planting which consists of carrots, peppers, and cabbage.
Thank you for your prayers and support.
Daisee Kangas
Proverbs 19:17 ESV
Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.
A blessing for you from the scripture:
2 Thessalonians 3: 16
Now may the Lord of peace himself
give you his peace at all times and in
every situation. The Lord be with you all.
Thank you, Family and Friends of Coastal Haiti Mission, for all that you do to help the people in Cahess, Haiti. You are making a huge difference for these people.
Please remember, that CHM must continue to send our monthly commitment of $1700 to carry on the ongoing CHM ministry in Cahess. This is in addition to the cost of the School Lunch Program.
If you desire to help, please send your tax-deductible check to our address and tell us how you want us to use your donation:
Coastal Haiti Mission
C/O Constance Goddard
3048 Spring Fancy Lane
Indian Trail, NC 28079
Or For tax deductible “online donations”, please use our PayPal service. Also please designate how you want us to use your donation.
May the Lord our God, who knows your heart and sees your actions, grant you great joy as you serve Him. Connie, Esther, Pastor Coty, Carl, Dan, and Ken are very grateful for your sacrifice. Ken Johansson CHM Newsletter Editor