Camp Hope 2010 Letter

I pray that from His glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through His spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow deep into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God.

Another year has approached, and we excited as this will be our third year of Camp Hope. When we completed our second summer in 2009, it was neat to hear people say, “We will see you next year.” Camp Hope has become a sweet blessing the lives of the children, the families, and the community of Passe Cataboise, Haiti. We believe that God is beginning to expand our borders with Camp Hope as He is bringing more people who support our vision and mission.

Camp Hope’s mission is to bring the joy of Christ to the children of Haiti through sport, art, music, and now dance and drumming. Additionally and more importantly, Camp Hope functions as a bridge between us, the children, the parents, the church, and the community. We hope that Camp Hope is God’s tool for transforming lives and making disciples of Jesus Christ in Passe Cataboise and beyond.

For the month of August 2010, a team of four people will be traveling to Haiti. We will be facilitating Camp Hope for three weeks. We have a couple of exciting additions to the camp—dance and drumming. We are overjoyed to see different specialties introduced to camp. We have seen how dance and drums have been misused with voodoo in Haiti, and we believe that God wants to redeem what has been used for evil and use it for His glory and His worship. We believe that the children will experience God in a new way through worship with dance and drumming.

Last year, we had five Haitian teenage camp counselors, and we are excited to empower the teens again this year. One teenager, Wilfet, has become like a younger brother to us, and it has been a blessing to watch his faith grow and mature as we walk with him. During our last trip, we were able to talk more deeply with Wilfet about faith, conviction of sin, and repentance. We now talk to him weekly on the phone. This past Christmas, we shared with him why he celebrates Christmas. We asked him in Creole, “You didn’t know why you celebrated Christmas?” And he replied, “I didn’t know, but now I do!” How beautiful it is to see a life transforming.

In addition to camp, Redemption Art (www.caitlinbeidler.com) will be going back to paint another mural with the community. In November, we went to Cite Soleil, Haiti where Caitlin completed a 480 square foot mural with the community there. The Cite Soleil mural project provided 10 young adults and men with work for a week and a few with education for the year. This next mural will provide similar opportunities in Passe Cataboise.

We are continually amazed how the Lord has orchestrated so much for us and our Haitian family. We would not be able to do any of this without you. On our last trip that we met a young teenage boy that could not go to school because his whole family died and he had no work. His story gripped our hearts, so we sent out one email to see if anyone would support him in school. We wrote the email in the early evening, and by 10:00 the next morning we had three people saying they would support him. We were amazed with their generosity and love. That is just one example of how we are continually astounded by you. We want to say thank you for continuing to pour into this ministry and for being God’s vessel for the transformation of lives.

We are asking again that you think about helping Camp Hope and Redemption Art’s mural project this year. Our biggest need is financial support (See the itemized list below). Your contribution will help us to facilitate this camp for 120 Haitian children.

You will notice that your contribution should be made out to 180 Degrees Church. In the past several months, we have been seeking God’s direction for a non-profit to identify our work with. We began with Camp Hope, and now we have collaborated with Redemption Art, Help Tammy Help Haiti (the Canadian charity we partnered with in Cite Soleil), The Global Awareness Project (a non-profit that promotes service through art in Myrtle Beach), and other schools and churches. Seeing that our borders and hearts are expanding, we recognize the need for accountability in our work.

We believe that The Church is the hope of the world, and we want that to be at the foundation of what we are doing. Caitlin has been a part of the 180 Degrees church plant in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina for five years. The mission of 180 is our heartbeat as well: To make disciples of Jesus Christ. In January, we met with Stuart Royall, the pastor of 180 Degrees, and shared our hearts with him. He and 180 have come alongside our vision, and we believe that this is a unique opportunity for all of us to co-labor for transformation of lives through Christ. We are so excited to be partnering with 180 as we grow, develop, and expand.

With our expansion, we have rooted Camp Hope, Redemption Art’s mural projects, and the other developing branches under one name called Making Roots. Making Roots’ vision is to see the whole person transformed through the love and power of Christ. We wrote Ephesians 3:17 above, and The Word sums up our vision well. Making Roots is about the hearts of the Haitian people being rooted deep into God’s love so that they might be fully formed and completed in Christ. Our mindset is that one person fully transformed in Christ is worth it all. It will be made up of branches to help the transformation of the whole person. The branches of Making Roots will include holistic development in the areas of discipleship, education, vocation, arts, health, family, and community service.

Each project we do will be part of the branches above. For example, currently we have put 17 children and young adults in school. Recently, we came up with the name Planting Project for this branch of what we are doing. You will see in the budget attached an allocated amount for keeping these children and youth in school next year and to get each of them a bible. We realize that we cannot just put these children and youth in school for one year and give them bible and expect change, but that we need to sustain their education and spiritual growth over their lifetime so that they can be fully formed.


If your heart feels led to contribute to our projects in Haiti, please write Haiti on the lower, left line of check. Please send with your check the small form included. Again, we are honored for all you have done thus far, and we are eager to partner with you again and in the future.

Overall, we are so excited for this moment in time and what God is doing. We hope that you will continue in His move with us. Your part is essential in the Body of Christ and His work. This is about people. About lives changing, including our own. If you have any questions about 180 Degrees Church, please contact Caitlin at caitlinbeidler@gmail.com or visit the 180 website at www.180-degrees.net. If you have any questions about Camp Hope, please feel free to contact Leah at leahbeidler12@yahoo.com. If you are interested in supporting a child in their education, please contact Leah for detailed information. You can also visit our blog at: http://camphopehaiti.blogspot.com.

For His Glory,
Leah Beidler and Caitlin Beidler