Introduction

Greetings to all friends and acquaintances of Mission to Haiti Canada; whether you have been a long time associate of the organization or are a first-time reader, we are privileged and excited to share what has been going on as we seek to continue coming alongside our Haitian brothers and sisters to share the gos-pel message in Haiti. In this issue you will hear about some changes to the upcoming January short-term mission trip, a report on the 10th annual golf tournament that was held this past June, updates on other future events and some important news regarding MTHC board restructuring.

January Short-Term Mission Trip

In January 2013, MTHC was planning to host two short-term mission trips as we had done last year to accommodate a high volume of interested volunteers. This year that number did not reach the same volume and there was an insufficient number of qualified medical applicants to have a full contingent for a med-ical team. As such, the board has made a de-cision to amalgamate the two teams into one for January 2013. An email has been sent to the volunteers who have signed up for the first trip and they are being asked to join the team that is scheduled to leave on January 21st and return on February 1st. This was not an easy decision to make and the board of MTHC apologizes for any inconvenience this may have caused. Please note that the orien-tation meeting for the January trip will be at Maranatha CRC on December 2, 2012 at 2:30pm.

Local Initiatives

Mark your calendars for vitamin Sunday which is scheduled to take place on November 25, 2012. We ask that you would consider donat-ing a bottle of prenatal or adult multivitamins, low dose aspirin (81mg), powdered baby for-mula, and eye or ear drops; these are very commonly dispensed medications that get used on a regular basis during short-term mis-sion trips to Haiti. Your donations go a long way to help effectively deliver much needed medical attention to a greatly underserved group of Haitians.

Mission to Haiti Canada

Karen Rudd, a friend for whom we are grateful

Thanks to Rick and Lisa Correia from Woodstock Sports-

wear Company and the entire Hettinga Family for their

most generous donation of 40 new Hockey bags.

OCTOBER 2012 NEWSLETTER

A shipping container has been loaded with a number of donated items and it is currently be-ing shipped to Haiti. Items that are currently in transit include approximately 700,000 soup meals from the Ontario Gleaners as well as 388 - 5lb bags of dried apples. 1200 pairs of shoes (see following story), construction materials, medical supplies, 100's of braided milk bag mats (the Gleaners and personal donations), school supplies, black boards and cork boards and a great deal of clothes. Thank you to everyone who made the donations that will help many people in Haiti. As mentioned above, there is an interesting sto-ry behind the 1200 pairs of shoes that were do-nated to be loaded into the shipping container destined for Haiti. Karen Judd, President of ”Moms and Moms to Be”, a Baby outlet store in Scarborough, was so impacted after participat-ing on the November 2011 Mission Trip - when the playground was assembled for the Cabaret School community - that her business and a local Scarborough school worked together to collect over 1200 pairs of shoes. The shoes were shipped in September, and Karen along with her husband, will join the November 2012 team to distribute the shoes to many needy people in Haiti. This was Karen’s first mission trip of any sort and she was so moved by the number of people that she had met in the surrounding vil-lages who were not wearing shoes, that she took it upon herself to undertake this shoe drive ven-ture. This is another example of how MTH Cana-da works with people within the local communi-ty who are interested and driven to make a dif-ference in Haiti using the resources and relation-ship that MTH Canada has with Presbyterian Mission in Haiti. Ontario Gleaners will be hosting an International Marketplace event on November 17 from 10am-4pm where they allow missions organizations to

Loading the shipping container

function of the board.

This year, Joanne VanAmersfoort indicated her desire to complete her term as child sponsorship co-coordinator. In addition, Jack Streef is completing his term as presi-dent of Mission to Haiti Canada at the end of this year.

The board of MTHC would like to formally thank both Joanne and Jack for their ex-tensive contributions of time and energy and for leading with great character and integrity. We pray that they will be sup-ported by our local community to help them complete their term with both joy and satisfaction knowing that they have helped to facilitate significant progress in Haiti on many fronts. Thanks again for all that you both have done! At this time we would like to welcome our two newest board members Aaron DeRaadt and Jeff Klasen who will begin their three year term in 2013.

display and sell the works of artisans from around the world to support the poor in de-veloping countries. MTHC will have a table set up at this event and all proceeds will be used specifically to benefit local needs in Hai-ti. The event is being held at 1550 Morrison Rd in Cambridge; there is likely to be many interesting items for sale at this event, so please consider attending and supporting this awesome initiative. MTHC Board Restructuring

The board of MTHC has recently established term limits on board positions to help to maintain fresh perspectives, transparent ac-countability, and facilitate opportunities for oth-ers to be considered to become members on the board. Each position on the board will have as a basic expectation that a three year term will be served with a one-time option to continue on for 3 more years. As such, every year 2 board mem-bers will be replaced by 2 new board members via an electoral process; reassignment of posi-tions may occur as necessary to best serve the

Joanne VanAmersfoort

Jack Streef and Pastor Charles

need to be packed appropriately; as such, all boxes must be received by December 30, 2012 at either Maranatha CRC or Emmanuel Reformed Church or be given to a board member. Thank you for your consideration in this matter; your child greatly appreciates the gifts, toys, supplies, notes and trinkets that you gift to them.

In Closing

We would like to thank you for taking the time to read this newsletter and familiarize yourself with what has been going on with our organization as we seek to support and empower the people of Haiti. We ask that you would keep Haiti in your prayers and also our organization as we seek to do His will. Thanks to all the volunteers who have been part of a mission trip, fundraising event or served in some other capacity. We are excit-ed for the upcoming trips and opportunities to meet with you. God bless you all. Upcoming Dates

Mission trips: Nov. 5-17, 2012 (full) Medical, construction (35 people) Nov. 19-30, 2012 (full) Construction, VBS / possible youth camp & small medical (35 people Jan. 21- Feb 1, 2013 (full) Construction, medical, sponsorship and possibly VBS (40 people)

Golf Tournament:

Saturday, June 15th, 2013 at 12:00 PM. Burford Golf Links

Golf Tournament

This year marked the 10th annual Mission to Haiti golf tournament fundraiser; the weather really co-operated again this year and we had a great turnout for the golf. Thanks to everyone who participated in the golfing and to all of the volunteers who helped to make this event a great success. This year 124 golfers were regis-tered to play and $37,875 was raised! The golf tournament continues to be pivotal in raising funds to allow MTH to make an important dif-ference in Haiti. Please mark your calendars for next year’s tournament on June 15, 2013.

Child Sponsorship

The child sponsorship program continues to be a significant vehicle for helping the children of Haiti. This month 22 new sponsors began to support this program and we pray that interest in this initiative will continue to grow. If you are interested in sponsoring a child, please visit our website at: www.mthcanada.org or speak to one of our board members or to Lynn Reinders who is the new child sponsorship co-coordinator. Please note that gift boxes for sponsor children will be going to Haiti with the January team and

2012 Golf Tournament Fundraiser

Mission to Haiti Canada P.O. Box 39

Norwich, ON. N0J 1P0 www.mthcanada.org