How it All Began
A group of chaplains visited Haiti immediately after the August 14, 2021, earthquake led by Dr. Asnel Valcin. The Chaplains offered emotional and psychosocial support to more than 400 people during their nine-day stay.
Asnel Valcin, director of Pastoral Care and Education at one of New York’s healthcare systems invited several chaplains from Haiti and from the French Antilles and French Guyana to participate. Since April, the chaplains have been receiving training in clinical and pastoral education, and it was fitting to give them an opportunity to provide much-needed assistance.
We prayed about this mission trip, and God opened the doors for us to fly to the commune of Les Cayes from Port-au-Prince thanks to donations from friends and colleagues as well as the help of several local church and government leaders who believed in our mission to Haiti.
What We Believe
I believe in restoration on all levels, emotionally, spiritually, and physically.
“This mission trip helped us understand how God truly used us in our humanity to connect with other people. I am humbled by this opportunity to serve.” The intervention in Les Cayes was only scratching the surface of the needs, Valcin pointed out. Still, it was one that will bring more awareness to the needs of the people in the aftermath of any disaster, Pierre Caporal, president of the Adventist Church in Haiti, said.
“This intervention by Dr. Valcin and the group of chaplains from the French Antilles-Gyana Union will for sure make an indelible impact on our church members and persons in the community who were helped, and on our chaplains, who took part in this important ministry.
In addition to providing emotional support, Valcin and local church leaders distributed 110 tents and 110 air mattresses to those still living out in the open air.
Humanitarian Causes
- Construction of an elementary school in Berreau – Cayes for disadvantaged children complete with a cafeteria
- Purchase 25 thousand school desks to donate to elementary schools throughout the country
- Financial support to the widows of fallen police officers who are left destitute after their husbands were killed in the line of duty
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Meet Dr. Valcin
Dr. Asnel Valcin is passionate about restoring people to wholeness. He spent the last two decades preparing himself to become an agent of personal change. He graduated from Graduate Theological Foundation with a Doctorate in Psychology concentration: Clinical Pastoral Psychotherapy.
His passion for helping children was born in the crucible of pain and adversity. He grew up with asthma as a child and remembered how he almost died because of a lack of medical care. Later, in pursuit of better life and safety for him and his brother, their mother gave them up to be adopted by a family 200 kilometers away from their birth town.
Dr. Valcin is no stranger to feelings of abandonment and rejection. After migrating to the United States, he got married to his current wife Dorcas Sumawang, and his first child was diagnosed with William syndrome, a rare heart condition that impacts development and cognition in a child. While learning to advocate for his daughter’s needs Dr. Valcin became an advocate for all other children struggling to climb out of conditions they had no control over such as poverty and insecurity. In 2010, while pastoring his first church district, Dr. Valcin started the “Learning to Succeed” initiative which provided after-school activities for disadvantaged children in the North Bronx. This program was a success but short-lived. It was during the same time that Dr. Valcin lost his niece in the first major earthquake in Haiti. His surviving nieces and nephews are all traumatized by this catastrophic event. He felt powerless then; thus, he decided that he will prepare for the next time such a catastrophe eventually occur to be able to make a real difference.
When, in August 2021 the south of Haiti was devastated by another earthquake, Dr. Valcin was ready. He quickly assembled a team of Chaplains to offer psychosocial help to those who experienced PTSD. Now he is passionate about finding ways to help restore children and youth to wholeness. Dr. Valcin’s passion for education and mental/physical health increasingly propelled him to redefine his life’s mission. Today, Dr. Valcin dedicates his life to making a real difference in people’s lives.
Dr. Valcin is a Diplomate Supervisor in Clinical Pastoral Education (CPE). He is a Board Certified Clinical Chaplain and Pastoral Counselor. Dr. Asnel Valcin is presently the Director of the Pastoral Care and Education Department for one of New York’s healthcare systems. He was the Executive Chair of the Certification Committee with the College of Pastoral Supervision and Psychotherapy (CPSP). Dr. Valcin is an international speaker and seminar presenter. Dr. Valcin is the Executive Director of AMI Haiti an organization dedicated to providing disadvantaged children the opportunity to fulfill their life’s purpose.