February Newsletter - Happiness-now

QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER: A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER

FEBRUARY 2016

Merry Christmas from:

Teach a Man to Fish Giving teens the tools they need to begin to lift themselves and their communities out of poverty

The Proper Working of Every Individual Part What a blessing it was to partner with Joyce Meyer Ministries’ Hand of Hope in fulfilling the Great Commission on our latest mission trip! A Christmas to Remember is the name we came up with for our December 2015 mission trip. A team of five took flight to the Dominican Republic, leaving behind the comfort of home and the opulence of the season to experience firsthand the true meaning of Christmas. We sang, we danced, we loved, we sweat! The spirit of the season was tangible from beginning to end, and what a precious time it was. Only eternity will reveal what was accomplished, to Jesus be all the glory!

Hi-5 for Wi-Fi Connecting a Dominican one-room school house to Spanish students at Pine Lake Prep, our sister school in North Carolina

“For I am the LORD your God who takes hold of your right hand and says to you, Do not fear; I will help you.” (Isaiah 41:13) For a trip that was put together by the skin of our teeth, we couldn’t have possibly been more blessed by the outcome. Looking back, we can say confidently that God orchestrated every step. He ordained every person and connection we needed to get the 1,550 pounds of donations from our unbelievably generous followers to the Dominican Republic just in time for Christmas! We successfully stretched ourselves to hold three Christmas celebrations, and like always, God multiplied the loaves! We had enough donations for every child we celebrated with. We brought Santa and his helpers into the village and streets of Santo Domingo with the joyful and sweet message of the Gospel, and we witnessed 100+ children, teens and adults open their hearts to receive Jesus as their Lord and Savior! 

16105 Swingley Ridge Road #592 Chesterfield

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Gift of a Meal Bringing food and water to a school of 80+ Haitian refugee children

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QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER: A CHRISTMAS TO REMEMBER

FEBRUARY 2016

We Bee-lieve in the Sweet Things Coming! “Then Jonathan said, ‘My father has troubled the land. See now, how my eyes have brightened because I tasted a little of this honey.’“ (1 Samuel 14:29) It’s been such a beautiful blessing to see the Lord unravel and weave Gift of a Meal into the beautiful tapestry it’s becoming. When the seeds for Gift of a Meal were first downloaded into Jackie’s heart, she expected a pretty linear path to completion. We collect the money, we buy some chickens, put up a fence and boom!—the kids have food. But God had other plans for His children….

clean water, food, jobs, medical care, and a stable income to this community. Praise God!

“For children living in poverty, waiting is often one of the hardest things to do. They wait for food, clean water, and someone to care….” 

Thanks to a newly formed partnership with Congregación Cristiana, a well respected Dominican Church, we were put in contact with agricultural engineers that visited the Gift of a Meal site and helped us to formulate a sustainable plan to provide

LOVING THE LEAST OF THESE (MATTHEW 25:31-46) Poverty denies people the opportunity to improve their lives and contribute to their communities and countries. The 1.3 billion people currently living in extreme poverty on less than $1.25/day face cycles of exclusion and discrimination that perpetuate their low self-esteem while further limiting the few opportunities they have to escape their situation. Magalys (shown to the right) is a Haitian refugee who was displaced by the 2010 earthquake. She’s devoted the strikingly few resources and time she has to tend to the many needs of her community, from education to health care to spiritual leadership. By the grace of God, we were able to naturalize her and her husband as legal Dominican residents in 2015 (in the midst of a tumultuous political climate), thereby keeping the only cornerstone this community has safe, without fear of deportation.


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Moises

One of our Gift of a Meal kids tasting fresh water.

Jackie Chavez

Purchasing the new 600 gal. water tank that will provide clean water to our Gift of a Meal family

Boni

Another of our Gift of a Meal boys playing with his empty cup.

The engineers helped us conduct a chemical analysis of the community’s well water, which indicated their water was not only totally undrinkable, but also the source of many of the diseases children in the community were experiencing. We quickly realized how urgent it was to get clean water into this community. God quickly provided. Thanks to our partnership with Hand of Hope, we were able to purchase a 600-gallon water tank that will be used to collect rain water and fill with periodic deliveries. The next step is for us to tackle their hunger. Per the agricultural engineers advice, the arid, rocky nature of the land they live on is much more conducive to the construction of an apiary than it would be a chicken farm. The apiary can be set up quickly and will have lower operating costs for the community. Once we begin collecting the delicious, fairtrade honey, we will help them distribute and market it, while ensuring the profits are funneled back into developing the community. In addition, the miracle Moringa tree just so happens to be one of the few plants that can grow in their arid soil! Moringa contains proteins, vitamins, and minerals that act as antioxidants to protect cells from damage! We can teach them to grow and harvest Moringa leaves to become a source of both physical nutrition and economic prosperity for their families. We can’t wait to see what else the Lord has in store for our Gift of a Meal family.

Anna’s Field Report “Love more… Our world is scary, the news is traumatizing and hatred runs wild. I want to focus on love and spread it. God calls us to be the light of the world, and that’s my mission. I want love to be contagious, I hope in 2016 more people catch on!”    

Steve Corgan

A missionary with Rich Harvest International playing music with some of the GoaM kids.

Bugs, mosquito bites and sweating a whole lot are only part of the adventure of serving as a missionary. I moved here in July and it has been a fun time of learning, growing closer to God and living a life for Him. I am Happiness Now’s first on site, full-time missionary and it is amazing seeing how God is working in the Dominican Republic. There’s a lot to be said for five months of work as our God is big and He works in many ways. I first came here and was awakened by culture shock and realizing how to serve God and His people when the needs are so high. I learned that with faith, God will guide us and lead us to victory.


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B e f o r e

a n d

The biggest goals of this first semester were to establish myself within the programs, look for leaders to train, and to provide assistance for physical and spiritual needs. God did not limit me to just these things as I felt him using me in ways I didn’t even know I was capable of.

A f t e r

The girls and the pastor leading them are full of hope that God will put His hand down and bless them while they live in such extreme impoverished situations. The girls have been meeting regularly to sew new hats and headbands which we are selling back in the United States.

KINGDOM CONNECTIONS It’s been such a blessing to see how our Father has been directing our steps. A relationship we developed with Mayor Manuel Perez during our last Growing in Grace Prom has opened a door for the city of Boca Chica to possibly help provide water to regularly fill our Gift of a Meal kids new water tank. Can we get an Amen?!

In Boca Chica, we have been a presence in the community and are starting to establish a curriculum for day-long Bible schools. I have had the opportunity to see many of our Gift of a Meal kids get enrolled back into school along with getting some new clothes. The most exciting of all has been seeing the completion of the bathrooms that are a part of the school and church in the community. I never thought I would say this, but they are some good looking bathrooms!

Jackie and Anna with the Teach a Man to Fish girls

It has been a whirlwind of adventure that God has sent me on down here and I am blown away by His mercy, protection and never ending love. Remember the huge part you play in this as you pray for us, support us and send us your love! You’re a vital part to this team!

In the Guaricanos, where our Teach a Man to Fish girls are located, I have seen God start to piece together a vision for us on how to be a blessing to these people. This community is certainly not glamorous, nor do these people have much. But they out-do most of us in America in one major area: their faith.


KEEP UP WITH ANNA’S ADVENTURES! Check out www.happiness-now.org/blogs to keep up with future updates on the beautiful work Anna is doing in the Dominican Republic.

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How Can You Help? Our goal for the first quarter of 2016 is to raise $25,000 to build an operations center. With a school and clinic only steps away from the two teachers and registered nurse in the village, this presence in the community will provide more favor and credibility with the Dominican government and other organizations, both nationally and internationally. It will also allow us to register the school and qualify us to receive support from the Dominican Department of Health, which has already offered to provide essential health supplies if we can provide the infrastructure. In addition, we will then have a safe and clean place for our on-site missionaries to work, train leaders, lead bible study, and spend time with the kids. The building will function as a place for us to start the apiary, and double as a refuge in the village in the event of a natural disaster. Upon completion, we will begin helping one family at a time build homes for themselves. Together, we can help get this community back on their feet and walking in the dignity they deserve.

Your support with any of the following would be greatly appreciated by so many: • • • • • •

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Assisting Happiness Now with meeting our goal to raise $25,000 Donation of construction materials Donation of equipment and supplies for the school Donation of equipment and supplies for the clinic Sponsoring a teacher, nurse, or pastor salary ($200/month) The purchase/donation of a minivan or pick up truck (there is no transportation in the village, and some of the children currently walk miles, in many cases barefoot, to attend school) Go on a missions trip with us! More details on our website!

www.happiness-now.org/donate Follow, Like & Share

Support Teach a Man to Fish

@HappinessNowDR

/HappinessNowDR

Email [email protected] to order one of our girls’ hand made, fair trade beanies!

Thank you for your time and we look forward to joining together to make a big difference for the Kingdom! 16105 Swingley Ridge Road #592 Chesterfield

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(317) 943-3549