Seven members of First Christian Church went to Sonlight Ministries in Port-de-Paix, Haiti on a short-term mission trip from April 23 - May 1, 2010. The members of the team were Roye and Pat Wilson, Larry and Elanor Brawner, Chris Kiger, and Tom and Leigh Anne Schory. This was a wonderful experience to see God at work with the Alexander family (missionaries at work there) and the Haitian people.

While there, Roye and Larry worked on some construction on the new SonCenter building that Sonlight Ministries is building across the street from their academy, which educates students from pre-school through 12th grade. Once completed, the SonCenter will provide sanctuary space for 800 people for the growing congregation of Sonlight Church with an additional 300 seats in the balcony. In addition, it will provide extra classrooms and office space, a medical and dental clinic for visiting professionals, and the first-ever indoor baptistry in Port-de-Paix and possibly in all of Haiti.

At the Sonlight Academy, Pat, Elanor, Tom, and Chris all helped with one-on-one practice with conversational English for the students, and Leigh Anne did reading evaluations with the Kindergarteners. In addition, Pat and Elanor helped teach language classes, Chris taught some Bible classes, and Tom taught some Health classes. Elanor also helped organize the 4th grade classroom library. Leigh Anne helped out in the office getting things ready for graduation, including stamping seals on diplomas and putting them in their covers, designing the graduation programs, stuffing invitations, typing out scripts, etc. The team also participated in a career panel for the high school students where they talked about their different professions and the educational requirements of each. Overall, the trip was a huge success.

Sonlight Ministries in Port-de-Paix consists of a full-size Christian school, educating more than 300 students in pre-school through 12th grade. All subjects are taught in English since the native language, Creole, is very limited. Bible education is a major part of each day's lesson plans.

Roger and Norma Alexander are the founders of Sonlight Ministries. They ended a successful ministry in Morton's Gap, Kentucky to go to Haiti in 1983. One of their daughters had gone on a church high school mission trip to Haiti and came back encouraging her parents to go there. After she finished college she also joined them. Their original mission was to make strong church leaders, but they soon realized Voodoo was still the people's main focus.

The Alexanders changed their focus to the children and started a school and also included a church where students and their families could worship. Services, which are held in English and Creole, are growing at a very fast pace, as God's Spirit conquers hearts that were once loyal to Voodoo. Two of the Alexanders' daughters and their husbands are on the staff.

Sonlight is currently building a multi-purpose building to house the growing congregation of Sonlight Church. When completed, the building will have a worship center/gymnasium, offices, and classrooms. To learn more information on their ministry, you can visit their website at www.sonlightministries.org.

Roye and Pat Wilson recently returned from a short-term mission trip to Brazil from February 23 - March 8, 2010, where they joined up with Earl and Ruth Anne Haubner. While there Roye and 5 of the men in the group helped with the construction of a church building in one of the villages along the Amazon River. Pat worked on the medical and dental boat. Nearly 400 people from 8 villages along the River were treated in various ways by the dentist and the medical doctor. In Maunas they saw the new medical boat which is under construction and due to be completed within the year. Roye and Pat also spent 2 days visiting churches, projects, and members of Central Brazil Mission in Goiania, a city of 1.5 million people.

Earl and Ruth Anne Haubner have been dedicated missionaries in Brazil since 1969. After graduation from Cincinnati Bible Seminary they moved to Brazil to begin a ministry of evangelism, making disciples and establishing churches. This ministry has grown to over 45 churches and more than 6,000 members. All of the churches have National Brazilian preachers and leaders and most are self-supporting with their own property and buildings.

In 1999, the Haubners assumed the responsibility of a ministry in the Amazon Region of Brazil. God provided a boat that they remodeled and have used almost monthly for 10 day trips since March of 2000. This ministry reaches people living in remote villages along the Amazon and many tributaries. The boat provides medical and dental services to gain the confidence of the people. In the last two years, this ministry has treated more than 4,500 people in over 30 villages, distributed ½ million vitamins, given 18,000 doses of worm medicine, performed 200 dental procedures, provided 450 eye exams and glasses, and performed 90 surgical operations in a village hospital. Through the sacrifices of the Haubners, 13 churches have been established and over 800 people have come to know Christ in the Amazon Region. To learn more about their ministry, you can go to their website at www.cbm.org.br

G.O. Ministries, Inc. is a Christian non-profit organization dedicated to the ministry of short-term missions and the development of global partnerships of ministry. G.O. Ministries was incorporated in 1996 to send groups to support the work of Nationals and to develop Partnerships of Ministry to provide much needed encouragement and support. Its main ministry focus is on the people of Haiti and the Dominican Republic with stateside offices located in Louisville, Kentucky. With an already established line of communication and passage throughout the island, G.O. Ministries became a vital resource to deliver relief to impact people after the earthquake.

For two weeks, First Christian Church was a designated drop-off site for Hardin County for the G.O. Ministries relief efforts. Through the course of those two weeks, the semi was filled with supplies that were taken by plane to the Dominican Republic and distributed where most needed to the people in Haiti. Some of the collected supplies included medical supplies donated by some of our local medical practices her in town, over-the-counter medical supplies such as peroxide, pain relievers, and antibiotic ointment and bandages, food items including water, baby formula, protein bars and nutrient drinks, canned pastas, canned meats, and peanut butter, and other needed supplies such as blankets, sheets, candles, flashlights, etc. Thank you to everyone who volunteered the various scheduled drop-off shifts, as well as for those of you who donated supplies to help fill the truck. It is truly awesome to see God's church come together and step outside of the walls of the church to help those around us who need our help.