Mission
The Christian School of New Vision is a non-profit Christian mission dedicated to creating caring communities for children who are victims of poverty, neglect or abuse. The program is operating in the communities of La Jeune, Hide, Donne, and Sylvain in the mountains of Northern Haiti.
History of Christian School of New Vision
Ludner St. Amour of La Jeune, Haiti is the son of a farmer and he also farms to feed his wife and five children. He raises sugar cane and has a sugar cane press to make syrup. He learned English as a child playing with missionary children who lived nearby. They taught him English and he taught them Haitian Creole. While he had only a few years of formal education, he showed great promise and was taught to type by a missionary. He typed and translated letters for her. He is frequently used as a translator for visiting pastors.
In 1995, Lunder started the Christian School of New Vision to provide a Christian education and a meal for the poor, orphan children in his area. He believes that through education, people can escape the anquish of poverty and provide change for the small corner of the world in which they live.
Meet The Board of Directors
Marcia and Paul Fisher Powell, TN – Marcia met Ludner St. Amour in 1995 when she went to Haiti to work at a hospital. He began the Christian School of New Vison (CSNV) and she began sponsoring a child in 2001. By 2005, several other families in my church, Powell Presbyterian, were also sponsoring children. She knew that Orchard Park Presbyterian Church was also sponsoring children in CSNV. Marcia was on the Advisory Board of Little Children of the World (LCW) and felt that CSNV fit in with their program philosophy; HELPS- Health/housing, Education, Livelihood, Peace of Christ, and Sponsorship. Six people gathered in August, 2005 at the LCW headquarters and with the help of Bettie Elwood, Founder and CEO of LCW, they established a US Board of Directors for CSNV. Our purpose is to support the needs of the Christian School of New Vision as it seeks to raise the standard of living in the communities it serves.
Betty Elwood Etowah, TN – Betty is the Ex-Officio President/CEO of Little Children of the World (www.littlechildren.org) and is on the board of directors for CSNV. She was very instrumental in getting Christian School of New Vision started and sheltered under LCW non-profit status.
Al Atz Noblesville, IN – Al has been working in foreign mission since 1990. He started with World Aid, working in Laos, Thailand and Burma. His church asked him to find projects closer to home so that other members could have an opportunity with foreign projects. They settled on Covenant Hospital in Mombin Crochu, Haiti in 1995. Al met Ludner when he was an interpreter there and when he started a school in La Jeune they supported his effort, and have ever since. In addition to this board he is currently on the Board of Covenant Hospital Network.
Becky Blanton Noblesville, IN – Becky began working in Haiti approximately 14 years ago with a mission trip to Covenant Hospital in Mombin Crochu. she is a retired RN. At the hospital, she met Ludner StAmour who was then the interpreter for the staff missionaries there. Soon, he left and started the Christian School of New Vision in LaJeune, Haiti. Now Becky works to get sponsorships and support for the school and usually goes once or twice a year to the school. This year (2010) Becky has been to Haiti twice, once to Port au Prince following the earthquake with a first responder medical team and in April with a pediatrician doing a medical clinic at the school and at the hospital.
Dan and Jody Jarvis – Fellow members of Powell Presbyterian church with Marcia and Paul Fisher.
Joe Lay Powell, TN – Marcia and Paul Fisher, members of Powell Presbyterian Church, as well as other members had been involved initially with Haiti through Gene Sharp, a retired missionary who was a member of our church. Through mission trips to a hospital in Haiti, they became aquainted with Ludner St Amour and the Christian school (CSNV) that he was starting in La Jeune. Ludner visited our church, and my wife and I were led to become sponsors of a child at the school. When the board was organized, Marcia needed a treasurer, and because of my background in business, she asked if I would agree to do that task. That was in late 2005, and I am continuing in that work.
Al Cito – Met Ludner St Amour and Marcia Fisher at a small church in Tennessee when he brought a friend to church for the first time.
Frank Bertrand Vienna, VA – Frank joined the board in March 2005 after having talked with Al Cito during a routine computer pickup from the AOL warehouse in Dulles Virginia. Frank was only going to be a donor, but after visiting the Christian School of New Vision in May 2005 he was enchanted by the beauty and spirit of the Haitian people.
Karen Stevenson – Began working with Haiti Mission through the Church of the Good Shepherd in Vienna, VA and now has moved to a small town in South Carolina where she is on Mission Committee.
Dan Bertotti Boca Raton, FL – Dan met Ludner St Amour on a flight to Miami and became interested in serving in Mission to Haiti. He has encouraged others from his church to do likewise.
The Destructive EarthQuake (As of January 12, 2010)
The Southern half of Haiti was devastated and the people of that area have suffered and are suffering unimaginable horror, injury, shortages of food and water. There was little to no damage in the Northern half of Haiti and again the Lord’s providence prevailed. Ludner’s Christian School of New Vision together with other faith based organizations in the area responded with an immediate outpouring of food, water, clothing and offers of shelter even as the survivors were still moving out of the damaged areas to rejoin families in the outlying countryside. There are currently 4,000 resettled refugees from areas close to the epicenter of the earthquake and more are arriving each day. CSNV has begun a program of taking in orphans as the 2 local orphanages reach their capacities. Supplies are available in the Dominican Republic, but they are more costly during this crisis. YOUR help is needed to help continue the outreach to survivors of this quake.
Statistics:
200 refugees from Port-au-Prince receiving food at the Christian School of New Vision
37 orphans being cared for, educated and fed
Staff required for orphans- 2 caregivers, 1 cook, 1 laundress (everything is done by hand)
Clothes & school supplies needed for the orphans
Dormitory to house the children
2000 lbs of food needed weekly (Cost-$5000 monthly)
Normal expenses for the Christian School of New Vision – $10,000/month provides a Christian education, a uniform, and one meal a day for 800 children.
Please send your tax deductible contributions to:
LCW-CSNV-Haiti Project and mark them Haiti Relief. The address is LCW-CSNV-Haiti Project, P. O. Box 435, Powell, TN 37849. The money will be used to feed and resettle refugees. 100% (minus a small wiring fee) will be sent directly to CSNV Emergency response teams.