About Transforming the Map

Haiti has nearly 1 million orphans and close to another 1 million “street” kids in a country with a population of a less than 10 million.  There are 15 prisons throughout the Country, many if not all of them house women and children.  They are the most detestable, awful places that you could imagine. Many of the inmates, especially the women and children are incarcerated for unnecessary reason and their treatment is inhuman. 

As a successful attorney, Kevin began asking questions like “how can this system be fixed” and “what can we do?”  Kevin, along with two of our other Board members Schanon Caudle and Roody Joseph believed then and still do now that children (and others) are being unlawfully jailed and their treatment is horrific. Nothing is being done in local schools or churches to provide any misconduct prevention to the children. They are rapidly becoming statistics and eventually casualties. 

Countless orphans without misconduct prevention in a broke justice system is a fundamental problem throughout Haiti.  So, it was decided while on a short, three-day trip in July 2016, to attempt to ask questions.

Here is why Transforming the Map was created:   

On Wednesday, July 27, 2016, Kevin, Schanon and Roody visited a prison in Petit Goave, Haiti. The prison housed five juveniles and six women, and was a secondary location from the bigger Petit Goave prison. During that visit, a teenage boy caught their eye. They learned his name Jean Delsume, a 15 years old, born in Vialet, Haiti, a remote part of Petit Goave. He would come into town and do menial jobs to help support his family. Four months prior to their visit Jean was working and began getting harassed by some older teenagers. In an attempt to get away, Jean picked up some rocks and threw them at those harassing him. No one was hit with a rock and no property damage was done. But the local teenagers had connections, and Jean was put in jail.

In the Haitian judicial system no one notified his family, no one spoke up for him and unless Jean had cash, no attorney is made available. Even if an attorney is available, more money is required to get a magistrate to hear his case. He is basically stuck there until he dies, with his family having no idea where he is or what happened. He is rationed less than a cup of water and a portion of food, although food is not available daily. When they visited on a Wednesday, he had not eaten since Sunday. His only freedom comes at death and then there is the ultimate question. 

Kevin and Schanon left the following morning. After being completely overwhelmed and stunned by what they saw, they made their way back to Port Au Prince and visited with the Police Nationale/Direction Administration Penitentiaire (PNH/DAP). Roody shard the story with the head of the DAP and informed that an American attorney and a pastor expressed great concern about Jean and others. A letter was sent by the DAP to their equivalent of our Department of Justice. Then Roody went further -- Roody traveled to Petit Goave, located the boy’s family, arranged for a magistrate to hear Jean’s case and just a few weeks ago, Jean was reunited with his family and charges were dropped. Why? Their judicial system saw the concern of two American men who, for some unknown reason cared about the life of a young boy. 

That’s our first one – and Transforming the Map was born.

Holmes Bio

Kevin Holmes is a man of many titles – husband, father, attorney, football official – but disciple of Christ is the one that means the most.

Kevin did not grow up in church, but accepted Christ his junior year of high school. Through college, Kevin struggled with his faith, and was easily drawn away from the church focusing more on politics, relationships and alcohol. After graduating from the University of Arkansas School of Law in 2003, Kevin moved back to Van Buren and met his wife, Shannon, who was working in the Court system. Kevin and Shannon were married in October 2007, and have three children, Gracie Caroline, Reagan Walker, and Piper Lynn. Shannon now runs The Holmes Academy for Gifted and Exceptional Children, a Christian based home-school program.

Kevin had volunteered in numerous community based programs, and volunteered his legal services to several non-profit organizations, but he felt lead to do more. After much prayer, Kevin signed up to take a mission trip to Haiti, along with his pastor Schanon Caudle, to investigate areas where the church and community might help. It was during that trip that "Transforming the Map" began to take shape. Upon returning to the United States, Kevin and Shannon began to pray and the Lord formulated the scriptures and ideas that would ultimately be the mission statement for Transforming the Map.

Kevin is a general practice attorney in his home town of Van Buren, Arkansas. Kevin has argued cases before the United States Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals and the Arkansas Supreme Court. In July 2015, Kevin was appointed to serve as a Special Justice on the Arkansas Supreme Court by Governor Asa Hutchinson. Kevin also serves as a part-time Public Defender in Crawford County and previously served as City Prosecutor for the City of Van Buren.

Caudle Bio

Before Schanon calls himself anything, he calls himself a Christ-follower. Schanon has been involved in ministry for almost three decades. His passion is to move as many people as he can to the understanding of the importance of the Great Commission and spreading the gospel to the unreached and the unwanted. He has been on mission trips all over the world and each time he goes he is impacted more and more to do more and more. He has attempted to devote his last several years of local church ministry to transforming a church to become so outward in this world that if the church would disappear, it would be missed. That same devotion has carried over to those he has mentored as well. 

In July of 2011, Schanon and Kassandra started the process of the adoption of an orphaned boy from Haiti, Isaldo Joseph (Patrico). In March of 2014 He became Patrico Caudle. He came from the mission field and was only in the States for a few weeks before he was near the Arkansas River feeding the homeless (From the mission field to the mission field). 

Schanon doesn’t do ministry alone. His wife of 26 years, Kassandra is totally sold out to missions. She has served on the mission field in her home town, different States, and in countries where she feels like she can transform the lives of as many children that the Lord puts in her path. As a matter of fact, Schanon and Kassandra’s three biological children, Andrew (24), Nate (20), and Haley (17) have served on the mission field from the northern border of America to the southern border of America. They have been in several natural disasters doing relief work and involved in 7 World-Changers around the Mid-South. By the time Nate was 19 he had been on the mission field in America, Europe, Asia, Mexico, and two times in Haiti. Haley has been to Haiti two times. 

Schanon has served as Children’s Leader, Youth Pastor, Associate Pastor and has been the Lead Pastor in churches in Arkansas and Louisiana. He spent five years on the Arkansas Baptist State Convention’s Evangelism and Church Growth Team. He holds an Associate’s Degree in Divinity (M.Div.) from Mid-America Baptist Theological Seminary in Memphis, Tn., as well as a B.S. in Pastoral Ministries from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. He holds a Masters in Divinity (M.Div.) from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, and has engaged in post-graduate work at Mid-Western Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, Mo.

" Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain” (1 Corinthians 15:58),