Serving in Haiti Family Christian Ministries James 1:27
God’s Littlest Angels Haitian Baby Ministry
God's Littlest Angels is a Haitian orphanage located in the mountains above Petion-Ville, close to the village of Fermathe. The majority of the children brought to the orphanage are between the ages of newborn and seven years old. GLA also has some older children, sibling groups, and special needs children waiting for adoptive parents.
GLA has ministered to the children of Haiti since 1994 and has been involved in international adoptions since 1997. They also are involved in several children's ministries in the local community. In the year 2000, GLA implemented a school sponsorship program for children unable to attend school due to the lack of funds. Today, almost 400 children attend school sponsored by people in North America and Europe. God's Littlest Angels is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit Christian ministry which focuses on three primary areas of ministry to the people of Haiti:
Adoption Ministry Medical Ministry Outreach Ministry
Psalm 82:3 Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless; maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
John 14:18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you.
The summer of 2013 found GLA in a difficult season of high operational expenses and lower revenue. They were in deep need of help for daily operating expenses to care for their many precious orphans. Family Christian Ministries was honored to respond with $25,000 in emergency funds to help GLA weather the storm.
The goal: Raise $500,000
So many children in Haiti were born prematurely, are malnourished or abandoned. Family Christian’s ministry partner, God's Littlest Angels (GLA), is an independent, non-denominational ministry dedicated to providing nursery care for these children. Their orphanage in PÊtionVille, Haiti, currently serves 160 children but is a temporary location with inadequate space and equipment. The development of a new orphanage allows for more children to be cared for - and be adopted. What is exciting about partnering with GLA is their history: Over the past 20 years, more than 1,000 children have been adopted by loving Christian families. GLA has a 100% adoption rate, so every child will be placed in a forever home! Family Christian gathered donations from customers during the 2013 Thanksgiving weekend with the goal of raising $500,000 to help build and supply this new orphanage. In addition, Family Christian matched donations, doubling the impact on these children!
to build an orphanage
The Haiti Challenge gives these orphans what they need most: shelter, safety and love.
Founders, John and Dixie Bickel, along with their three older children, went to Haiti in 1991. The family is originally from Illinois. In 1995, the Bickel family adopted two of the children at the orphanage, Mark and Steeve. Mark currently attends a university in Colorado and Steeve is finishing his last year of high school in Haiti. Dixie is a registered nurse and has 36 years of experience in pediatrics and intensive care nursing. She serves as the Mission Director and is responsible for working with the Haitian government and the daily running of GLA. John is the Plant Operations Director for the mission and serves as the President of the GLA American Board.
Creating Ripples Family Christian has sent employees and customers on mission trips to serve orphans in Haiti. God will use each TOUCH to create ripples in the lives of the GLA family.
Psalm 68:5-6 A father of the fatherless and a judge and protector of the widows is God in His holy habitation. God places the solitary in families and gives the desolate a home in which to dwell‌
Perspective Haiti is such a beautiful country giving us a chance to see the Power and Majesty of God. For a day and a half, we chopped rocks attempting to remove them for the construction of the children’s houses. We worked so hard, we could hardly move the next day. All of this to say, with one breath, God created all of this, and with much labor, we could barely put a dent in it. Working on the construction part, we weren't able to see the end results. However, when we played with the children, we realized that we were helping to make a place for them to enjoy to the fullest, in love and safety.
Family Christian Ministries is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded by Family Christian to meet the needs of orphans and widows in the communities it serves and around the world. Family Christian, through the Foundation, partners with their customers in a shared mission; reaching out to orphans and widows, showing them the love of our Heavenly Father. Through the Foundation, Family Christian customers participate in various in-store promotions. The ministry serves orphans and widows in four primary ways: • adoption assistance programs • hands-on orphan and widow care work • quality of life improvements for orphans and widows • encourage the Church to fulfill God’s commitments to orphans and widows