2022

Mission Englise Chretienne Redemptrice

Standing on an empty lot, Pastor Poyis and I stared at the church’s walls. The roof hadn’t even been installed yet, but we expectantly discussed his vision for the church and the impact it would have beyond its physical building. Pastor Poyis shared with me that he wanted to name the church “Connect 2 Ministries.” “Let’s pull back.” I said, “The church needs to have a Haitian name, not an American one. The church’s name should be related to your heart for the community. What is your desire for this community?” Pastor Poyis said, “I would [...]

2023-04-06T16:30:46-07:00October 7th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , |
Read More

Walk for Restaveks (October 2022)

The title “restavek” has been used to describe an abused child who lives with and serves a family that is not his or her biological family. These children are either sold by their own family to another that is financially able to provide, or they are orphans with no family to care for them. The children are extremely vulnerable, living as modern-day slaves. The term, “restavek,” was once used as a verb. Meaning “to stay with,” it originally described the action of living alongside another, but it now communicates something very different. The majority of restaveks [...]

2023-10-31T12:03:01-07:00September 30th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , , |
Read More

Trip Memories

In June 2021, I drove our team back and forth from the compound to the Children’s Homes a few times. Most of the drive is on dirt roads, and because I grew up in Texas driving on ranches and farmland, I learned how to navigate these rugged areas. I have to say, these roads are extremely rugged. I learned why on Wednesday evening when it started to rain just as we were finishing. Within a few minutes, the roads were flooding. It’s only a half mile from the Children’s Homes to the compound, but each [...]

2023-04-06T16:34:11-07:00September 23rd, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , |
Read More

Ministry Partner Interview: Kimberly Vasquez

Kimberly Vasquez has served with Connect 2 Ministries for more than eight years, and she, along with her church (StoneBridge Community Church, Simi Valley), have faithfully helped and supported our Sheepfold Children’s Home over the years. We asked Kimberly to share today about her experience partnering with C2M. I first became aware of Connect 2 Ministries through my work with the Global Missions team at StoneBridge Community Church in Simi Valley. One of the team members is a friend and long-time neighbor of Greg Barshaw, and our whole team met Greg for the first time [...]

2023-04-06T16:37:13-07:00September 16th, 2022|Categories: Testimonies|Tags: , |
Read More

The Heart of Ministry

Each time I travel to Haiti, we have a half-day pastors meeting. This is an important part of the ministry at C2M, and it’s always a highlight of each trip for me personally. Greg, Poyis, and I are investing in these pastors because we believe that the best way to help Haitians is by sharing the gospel generally, and traininging men in Haiti specifically to love Jesus and be used by Him to disciple and grow the church. The problems in Haiti will not be solved by human solutions. Government, education, business, and humanitarian efforts [...]

2023-04-06T19:31:20-07:00September 9th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , |
Read More

Director’s House Construction

I shared recently about the start of our construction work on the Children’s Homes director’s house, and I want to share a bit more of that story today. C2M has built many buildings, and it has always been helpful through the years to have American teams come to volunteer on the crew. Very few Haitians ever work with wood—they build almost everything out of concrete and block—so it’s especially valuable to have team members familiar with woodworking. We build with wood because of the earthquakes Haiti has experienced over the years; everything from the frame [...]

2023-04-06T19:30:24-07:00September 2nd, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , |
Read More

Answers to Prayer

I want to share with you today about some work we did on a recent construction project in Haiti. We prayed for years for the means and opportunity to build our director’s house at the Mercy Home, and on this trip, the time had come. The team and I spent our first morning on site getting things set up for the week. We put the tools and a generator in a storage room and then started to lay out the area where we would build. Our plans were to build the house approximately 40’ by [...]

2023-04-06T19:29:16-07:00August 26th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , , |
Read More

2022 World Humanitarian Day

Shaina Grill has served with Connect 2 Ministries for more than eight years, and she currently serves as our Sponsorship Program & Special Events Coordinator. As we recognize World Humanitarian Day, we asked Shaina to share her thoughts on living life for others. My first trip to Haiti was my first outreach trip ever. I didn’t grow up in the church, so by the time I came to Christ, I had a young family and didn’t have an interest in serving outside of my local congregation. When our middle daughter was a senior in high [...]

2023-06-12T10:11:58-07:00August 19th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , , , |
Read More

A Testament to God’s Grace

Many mornings when I wake up in Haiti, I hear music from the church first thing. The songs are always a selection of hymns and Christian music; it is beautiful and a wonderful way to start the day. This Sunday in June 2021 was no exception. Our team walked over to the church around 7:15, and the 125 kids from our Children’s Homes were already seated; today, they were in the main service. When this happens, it makes the church even fuller. There were a few people from the community there as well, and the [...]

2023-04-06T19:26:48-07:00August 12th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , |
Read More

God’s Heart for the Broken

Poyis led a helpful devotional during a recent Mercy Network meeting where he discussed the topic of being a light in a lost community. He considered an array of social and practical elements, mostly focusing on the things he does as a pastor to “leave the building” and be among the people in the community. Some of these men practice this very well already, and it was a helpful reminder to all, wherever they’re at. We spent the rest of the discussion time thinking about these questions: What are some of the needs in Haitian communities? [...]

2023-04-06T19:25:52-07:00August 5th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , |
Read More
Go to Top