Coastal Haiti Mission
November 2025
-COMMUNITY-
The young boy stood shivering in the midst of the crowd. Shoved up against the side of the bridge that spanned the railroad tracks and joined the station platforms together, he clutched the freezing bridge railing, stamped his feet to keep warm, and turned around to make sure his mother and grandmother were still close behind. It was January 1940, in Blaydon-on-Tyne, in England. The crowd was there to say goodbye to their fathers, husbands, sons, uncles, and cousins who were going off to war.
Truckloads of rifle-bearing soldiers were periodically arriving at the station to await departure. “They’re going across the sea to France,” his grandmother told the boy, “to fight the German Army.” The five-year-old boy didn’t understand, but Winston Churchill had said that “This is our darkest hour.” And the boy knew “dark.” In the darkness of night as he tried to sleep in his grandmother’s house where he lived at the time, the sirens wailed as the attacking bombers with their high-explosive bombs flew overhead.
Standing on the bridge, it began to vibrate as the huge steam-powered engine brought the train into the station. It was time for the soldiers to go. The atmosphere was intensive as the men began boarding the train. Suddenly a young soldier, in the midst of all the chaos began to sing. His beautiful tenor voice rang out over the now-hushed crowd, song after song! Soon the crowd, strengthened in spirit, joined in and sang with him, many of them through tears.
“We’ll meet again, don’t know where, don’t know when
But I know we’ll meet again some sunny day!”
Well, some would, but many would not. Some of the all-ready boarded men leaned out the windows of the train and lifted their voices in song with the crowd as the train left the station. And then it was gone. They were gone.
The young boy and his mother and grandmother walked home together, each one alone with their own thoughts.
(The true story above was derived from the book “PAW TRACKS a Childhood Memoir”
by Denis O’Connor, Copyrighted in 2012, and published by Constable & Robinson Ltd
in London)
The crowd was anxious and fearful as they tried to fight off the negative and alarming thoughts assaulting their imaginations, as if by thought they could secure protection for their beloved. But when the young soldier stepped up and engaged the crowd in song, they entered another realm – COMMUNITY! The oneness of the crowd, united in their common cause. In that moment they were a mighty force drawing strength from one another.
The lesson here is that we need one another. Our God has set it up that way. Oh, we can choose to walk alone, but we will miss out on much sweet fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ. It’s not that we must be “best friends” with every Christian we know, but Jesus wants us to love every Christian we know!
(I know, that sounds impossible, but all things are possible WITH GOD.) We of all people have a common cause (the establishment of the Kingdom of God here on the earth) and a common purpose (to serve our Lord and Savior, Jesus.)
Many churches have small groups that meet together on a regular basis, one of the best ways to get to know the fellow-believers in your space. We must open our hearts to others. Put something into it! Be creative. We all need to know that someone has our, and our family’s back. I mean, like I said before: Our God has set it up that way.
“I give you a new commandment, that you should love
one another; just as I have loved you, so you too should
love one another. By this shall all [men] know that you
are My disciples, if you love one another – if you keep
on showing love among yourselves.” (John 13:34 & 35
TAB)
Walking this Way with you,
Connie
MERRY CHRISTMAS to every one of you, and may your NEW YEAR bring much blessing as you walk in His Way!
Food for the Needy Program
Pastor Coty Writes:
When we realize the amount of help the population receives from CHM, we come to understand that the mission goes far beyond what it initially thought it was doing. We cannot give life, because only God gives life, but we help people live the life that God has given them. We know that one day the Lord will ask us what we did with the work, resources, and talents He entrusted to us. For that reason, we want to be ready to show Him that we placed them at the service of others, especially those who could not help themselves.
Widows and orphans are two groups of people that the Bible specifically calls us to support, because many times they are left without help. In this sense, we go even further, because in the village where we serve, it is not only these groups who are in need. There are women who are not widows, but whose husbands have abandoned them with several children, and often these women have no one they can rely on. In such cases, we must intervene.
We do not have a formal program to receive people who have been displaced by gangs or those deported under harsh conditions from the Dominican Republic. Yet, every time such a case arises, we are compelled to intervene, because we realize that it is precisely for these situations that the Lord has placed us here.
This past month, we lost someone to eternity—one of the people we had been supporting for a long time. We realized her time had come, and she passed away. But what makes us proud is that during her life, we fulfilled our mission: she did not die of hunger, but rather because her time had come. Her name was Madame Ydevert.
Madame Ydevert who has transitioned to heaven.
The Saturday Sunday School
Pastor Coty Writes:
Every Saturday gathering with the children, is an appointment they never want to miss. I always bless the name of God who placed this beautiful idea in my wife’s heart to start this class. Last Saturday, there was no class because of the rain, and many children were completely unhappy about it. This made me realize just how much they love this class.
Both children and adults in the area may forget any date, but they will never forget January 1st. An astonishing fact: January 1st is Haiti’s Independence Day, but the majority of people in the village—if you ask them what that date reminds them of—they will all say: “Children’s Day”, because that’s what they have in mind, because this is what they have grown up with.”
There are two types of arrangements made for the children. We hold the class on Saturdays, and Brother Ken calls it: Saturday Sunday School. Likewise, every year we celebrate Christmas with them on January 1st, where we allow them to spend a wonderful time together and receive beautiful gifts. This year again, the children of the village and surrounding areas have already started mobilizing because they cannot miss that date. With God’s grace and the help we receive from our supporters, we always have enough to provide them with food and gifts. We always reserve the biggest gifts for those who are always present at Saturday Sunday School, and for those who occasionally visit us, we give them a small gift, so they will not feel left out.
Thank you God, and thank you to our supporters.
Pastor Coty Joseph
The Children’s Christmas Party
The annual Children’s Christmas Party will be held on January 1, 2026.
In order for Pastor Coty and his assistants to have the needed time to plan the Christmas Party, CHM includes $1000 in the November 2025 money transfer to purchase the gifts for the children, and food for this festive celebration.
The photos below are from the Christmas Party last year.
If you would like to help with the cost of the Children’s Christmas Party, you may mail your check to the address at the end of this newsletter, and put in the memo line “Christmas Party”, or you may use our PayPal Service found at the end of this newsletter, designating it for the Christmas Party.
The School Lunch Program
Pastor Coty Writes:
This year, more than any other year, new children have been arriving at the school—families who came to settle in the area after being forced to leave their homes by gangs, in the cities of Port-au-Prince and Mirbalais. These are the two cities from which most people have come. They all chose our school for their children.
At first, we thought we had a local school where only children from our village would attend. But to our surprise, we now have students coming from other towns such as Trou-du-Nord and Caracol, which are nearby and have other schools. Yet families still come all the way here, to enroll their children. Surely, parents know what they are looking for. There are things they can only find in our school, regular lunch and honesty.
Some schools are part of the government’s food program, but these programs often don’t work well. Families never know when food will be available, because unfortunately corruption has invaded those schools—you can even be shocked to see the same food being sold in the marketplace.
This year we have enrolled more than 60 additional students, and we never stop enrolling because we don’t refuse children. Every time a parent comes with a child, we know exactly what drives them.
By God’s grace, we always have food every day for the children, and that is what they love.
THIS BRINGS US JOY, AND WE ARE VERY GRATEFUL TO YOU, OUR SUPPORTERS WHO MAKE IT POSSIBLE FOR US TO OPERATE AT THIS LEVEL.
Pastor Coty Joseph
Construction of 4 New Classrooms
Pastor Coty Writes:
After spending a long time under a hangar, where the sheet metal allowed the heat to fall directly on the children’s heads, and the noise from one class disturbed the other classes, we prayed and asked God to provide us with 4 new classrooms that would allow us to leave the hangar. The Lord heard our cry and is acting on our behalf. A friend decided to send $5,000 right away so that we could build one classroom. Instead of doing that, we began all four classrooms, and now we are waiting to see what the Lord will do.
We have learned that other people have also given contributions that will allow us to continue the work. We pray and we act, because God is doing for us, what we asked for. The plan is to build 4 classrooms for $20,000. If we build them one by one, it may cost more, which is why we are building them together. Whatever we receive, we put it into the work, and we hope to complete the entire project together.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this special project, because I know the burden is already heavy on you, due to other projects we have undertaken in CHM. May God continue to bless and protect you.
Pastor Coty Joseph
The project goal to build 4 new classrooms is $20,000
To date the construction fund raised through CHM is: $19,387
The initial gift is: $ 5,000
The total giving to date, for the classroom construction is: $24,387
We have met and exceeded our goal.
Thank you to our very generous donors!!!!!
As stated in our appeal for this project, funds exceeding our project goal, will be used to benefit the school.
Construction will now continue in December 2025
Whoever is generous to the poor, lends to the Lord
and he will repay him for his deed.
Proverbs 19:17
A prayer for you from the scripture:
Numbers 6: 24 to 26 NLT
24. May the Lord bless you
and keep you
25. May the Lord smile on you
And be gracious unto you
26. May the Lord show you his favor
And give you peace’
Thank you, Family and Friends of Coastal Haiti Mission, for all that you do to help the people in Cahess, Haiti. You are making a huge difference for these people.
Please remember, that CHM must continue to send our monthly commitment of $2000 to carry on the ongoing CHM ministry in Cahess. This is in addition to the cost of the School Lunch Program.
If you desire to help, please send your tax-deductible check to our address and tell us how you want us to use your donation:
Coastal Haiti Mission
C/O Constance Goddard
3048 Spring Fancy Lane
Indian Trail, NC 28079
Or For tax deductible “online donations”, please use our PayPal service. Also please designate how you want us to use your donation.
May the Lord our God, who knows your heart and sees your actions, grant you great joy as you serve Him. Connie, Esther, Pastor Coty, Carl, Dan, and Ken are very grateful for your sacrifice. Ken Johansson CHM Newsletter Editor