December 2010 Newsletter

 

Reflections On 2010 From Bart Smelley

 

Update on Global Effect's impact over the last 60 days and plans for fall announced.

 

Read Executive Director Bart Smelley's latest blog posting about his recent trip to Jacmel, Haiti and other happenings.
   

 

 

 


  


Dear Partners, Supporters and Friends,

As we write this newsletter, Scott has spent most of his summer in Grand Goave, Haiti leading teams on transformation projects. Bart has split his time in Haiti and the Dominican Republic (DR). They were able to briefly cross paths in Jacmel. They had only enough time to talk about how crazy, busy and great the summer has been, exchange hugs and laugh a bit before heading off in different directions. Bart has just arrived in Haiti
with a team of 13 from Alabama. They made the trip today from the DR on the beautiful open sea in a 24 ft. fishing boat! After a great time of service in the DR, the team is ready to spend some time at the beach with the kids at Kembe Fem before heading up the mountains of Basan Blea to do a ministry project and a feeding program. The group will
then head to Port-au-Prince to Cite Soleil and Champs de Mars tent city downtown before returning to America.

Scott has a great team from Louisiana who spent their week in Grand Goave putting on a Soccer Camp that involved clinics for kids and coaches and concluded with a tournament for over 200 kids. The vision is to see a league begin that will allow all kids to participate plus be a tool to disciple kids into being followers of Christ.

"Fast and Furious" might be the appropriate theme for Global Effect thus far in 2011. When we say “furious”, we mean full of passion, energy and intensity. So much is going on it's difficult to decide where to begin. In addition to continuing our 4 community transformation projects in the Dominican Republic and our clean drinking water projects in the DR and Haiti, Global Effect has embarked on 3 more incredibly exciting initiatives: 1)Project Grand Goave, 2)Cup by Cup, and 3)Business Development and Micro-Lending Program. We have also led 18 teams on short-term projects since January. It is so exciting to see how God is bringing strategic partners together with Global Effect to do amazing kingdom work in both these third world countries where most live in abject poverty on the back door steps of America. We would like to update you on our newest programs and ongoing projects.
 

Project Grand Goave  
It has been a great summer thanks to all the teams that came from Healing Place Church, Cross Timbers Community Church, The Life Church and Celebration Church. Each person made a huge Kingdom impact
on the people of Grand Goave and the objectives we have laid out. Some highlights of this summer include:
 

108 people participated in the project

Financial support was given to
Servants of All orphanage and school
in general offerings

Supported, and provided funds for the
youth of Servants of All and the
community to attend a youth
conference in August

Repairs were made to Servants of All
Vehicles

Meals were provided for the Men’s
Conference and Youth Conference

We were able to speak and minister in
six different schools

Men’s Conferences, Youth
Conferences, Marriage Seminars and
Pastor’s Meetings were held
throughout the summer.

Many Rain Catcher Systems were
installed

Soccer goals were built for Servants of
All and the community field

Soccer equipment was given to
coaches

Soccer Coaches Clinics were
conducted

Soccer camp and tournament was
held for over 200 kids in Grand Goave

Servants of All building and grounds
were cleaned and painted

Several Vacation Bible Schools were
held in different locations throughout
Grand Goave.

Through each of these events and activities we saw people give their lives to Christ, be encouraged, loved and equipped for leadership. At the same time, many people encouraged us through their love, faithfulness and total dependence on Jesus
Christ for their basic needs.

 
Business Development and Micro Lending

Global Effect has initiated a business incubation and micro-lending platform in the Dominican Republic. This is a clear need and a logical “next” step as Global Effect seeks to bring about deep transformation in the communities we are serving. The platform is designed to educate, equip, and support local entrepreneurs with the ultimate goal to be increased employment and a higher standard of living. Many loans were approved this summer ranging from $200-$1,000 (US) with a wide variety of businesses including retail clothing, woodworking, sewing co-ops, food distribution, a mobile convenience store, beauty shop, barber shop, and other small business ventures.
 

Cup by Cup
Global Effect has partnered with Amavida coffee to make a difference! Global Effect and Amavida Coffee have come together to create "Cup by Cup" coffee which offers 100% organic, fair-trade coffee and brings about sustainable change in impoverished communities. Amavida joins the Spanish words "amar" (love) and "vida" (life). Our coffee is purchased directly from growers with whom Amavida has personal relationships around the world. This partnership allows Global Effect to take the proceeds from every coffee purchase and return it to the impoverished communities where we are serving and equipping them to transform their socioeconomic, physical and spiritual conditions. This is done through our community transformation projects that create sustainable change.
 

Kembe Fem Children's Home
We are so excited about bringing Danny and Leann Pye and their family under the Global Effect umbrella. Danny, who serves as our Haiti in-country coordinator, founded and has run a children’s home for abandoned and abused kids for 7 years. He and his wife have a deep passion to raise Godly kids who can make a difference in the future of Haiti. They currently have 22 Haitian children. He also leads some of our mission teams and conducts various ministry projects in Jacmel.
 


Water For Life Filter Distribution
Global Effect continues to be totally committed to providing safe, clean drinking water to those in need. In the areas where we serve in Haiti and the DR, water is a major issue. To many families it is the difference in life and death. We have provided thousands of filters this year to families in desperate need. Filter distribution allows us and our teams to create relationships, educate the community regarding health and hygiene and also share God's love with the people. Thank you so much for your continued commitment to this incredible cause we are deeply passionate about.
 

Dominican Republic Community Transformation Projects
We have seen tremendous progress and a great spiritual awakening in the communities we serve in the Dominican Republic. Through the on-going transformation projects focused on social, economic, spiritual and physical needs, we are witnessing families being restored, jobs created, schools being impacted and most importantly spiritual growth. This is a long term commitment and change doesn’t happen overnight but we are thrilled about God blessing our efforts.
 

Jacmel, Haiti Service Projects
We are very excited about our projects in Jacmel as we continue to serve in the city, rural areas and tent cities with feeding programs, filter distribution, prison ministry and children’s ministries. Our goal is always to share God’s love as we meet the community’s needs.


Sports Camps and Clinics
Camps and Clinics continue to be a major factor in impacting the youth of the communities where Global Effect is serving. They have not only had a huge impact on increasing the skill level of the players but also brought great encouragement and training to the coaches and league directors.
 

Character Counts Public School Programs
A lot of excitement has been generated this year with the introduction of “Grain Games”. This program uses games, activities and interaction among students to promote Godly character and was greatly received by Principals, Administrators and Students. This program allows us to discuss important things with kids such as: God, relationships, family and life. We will soon be wrapping up our summer projects. This Fall we have numerous trips planned to the DR and Haiti to continue our ongoing projects. If anyone would like to accompany us or schedule a trip for your group, please contact us at info@globaleffect.org.
 

Fundraising
Fall is our season for fundraising. Although we don’t necessarily enjoy soliciting support, we absolutely love to share our vision and talk about how God is blessing Global Effect and changing thousands and thousands of lives each year. This would not be possible without your prayers, support and encouragement. We hope to see you at a function or fundraiser this Fall. We will be releasing a schedule very soon. If you are interested in hosting a fundraiser in your home or community, please contact us. We have a very simple plan that allows you to promote and raise funds for our projects very easily. Our staff would love to come and conduct the entire presentation. It makes for a very heartfelt and uplifting evening.


THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU!
We can’t express our gratitude enough for those of you who make it possible for us to travel, serve and minister to some of the most needy people in the world. You may not realize until eternity, the lives you have touched, impacted and literally save from disease and death. We want to thank our terrific and committed board members as well as our corporate and church partners for all you do. We pray that God will richly bless you for your generosity and sacrifice to make Global Effect possible.

With Love,
The Global Effect Team

 

  

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