Aslan Newsletter of May 19, 2000

Dear friend:

I usually end my letters with thanks to all of you who support the work of Aslan Youth Ministries through your prayers and your giving. This month I want to break tradition and begin by thanking you for your love for this work. Each and every day we at Aslan try our best to be the Lord’s hands and feet in reaching out to a hurting world of lost children. The simple fact is that without your help, Aslan could not be here at all. From the bottom of our hearts, we thank you!

Last weekend, a group of our kids, staff and volunteers rode our annual 60-mile, round-trip "Cheesequake Challenge" bicycle adventure tour. And an adventure it was in the stifling and record-breaking 95-degree heat! Activities like our Cheesequake Challenge are both physically and emotionally challenging and test the limits of these kids. We purposefully push our young people to the breaking point, causing them to look beyond the shortsighted expectations society has of them (and those they nearly always have of themselves)!

But last week’s ride is a story for another newsletter. Right now, I want to share with you about another "adventure" that has so much impact on our youth in a relatively short amount of time. Since the summer of 1996, we have taken select Aslan teenagers to the remote village of Ouanaminthe, Haiti for ten days of brutal heat, no electricity and none of the amenities of life in America. Living in the worst ghetto in our country cannot prepare you for the level of poverty one experiences in Haiti. The per capita income is $350.00 per year. One in ten children die at birth and a remaining four of ten children do not reach the age of five. The adult life expectancy in Haiti is 52 for a woman and 50 for a man. Pictured above are Sharell, Alexus and KiKi, three Aslan teenagers from Long Branch who went with us last summer. Eleven teens (including these three girls) and ten adults will return to Ouanaminthe from July 17 – 28.

The experiences our young ladies had last summer changed them dramatically. Unfortunately, our society expects so little from urban youth. Aslan’s Haiti Project offers these kids the chance to give of themselves, as they actively participate in improving the lives of our Haitian friends. It boosts their self-esteem tremendously to realize they are making a real and lasting difference in someone else’s life! Another valuable lesson each of the Aslan kids learns in Haiti is there are many others around the world who live in far worse circumstances than anyone in America. After being in Haiti, our Aslan young people are never quite the same, and they can never look at the problems and challenges they face in the same way. This is not at all to say that their lives have somehow instantly become perfect! After seeing 75 Haitian children crammed into a small room with no materials, a painted blackboard on a concrete wall and rustic wooden benches to sit on, they better recognize the importance of working hard for their own education. After seeing multitudes of 4-year-old children (and younger) in rags or literally naked, they no longer find it quite as important to have the latest pair of designer sneakers. After seeing a family of 13 living in a 20 by 30 foot shack with no electricity and 100 degree heat, they are less eager to complain about their own living conditions.

During July, we will distribute 2,000 pairs of eyeglasses, conduct a summer day camp for about 200 Haitian children, work in a medical clinic and work on other challenging projects. On June 9^th and 10^th, our entire Aslan 2000 Haiti team will be putting our money where our mouth is with a Let It Growl For Haiti! Planned Fast. For a full twenty-four hour period, we will experience something nearly every Haitian child and adult experiences each and every day – real hunger! You will note that the enclosed card has a place for you to designate a special gift toward the support of this year’s Haiti trip. We have the willing hearts – the willing hands and feet. We need your help to get these willing hearts, hands and feet to Ouanaminthe!

All of us at Aslan thank you for your continued prayers and giving.

Many blessings!

Craig Bogard