Restaveks

2023 World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

World Day Against Trafficking in Persons resonates with the heart of Connect 2 Ministries. Each year on July 30, we join the global movement to end human trafficking as an extension of our ongoing ministry during the year. More than 120 children rescued from trafficking now call our Regency and Mercy Children’s Homes their home, living in an environment where they are loved, educated, and given a hope-filled future. Over the last two years, Haiti has experienced a prolonged period of social and political crisis. Today, we asked our founder, Greg Barshaw, to share what happens to restavek children [...]

2023-07-26T11:30:37-07:00July 30th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , , , |
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The First Five Years

Connect 2 Ministries got its start because of a God-given burden for the church in the US. Over my years in ministry, I came to believe that the church in North America had lost its passion and purpose. Church activities thrived, but outreach ministries struggled. Through many providential conversations, I came to see that some of the pastors I knew and loved felt the same about their own congregations. So, in partnership with them, C2M was born. The goal from the beginning was to help churches take people overseas. This cemented itself when a good friend of mine, a church [...]

2023-07-13T10:04:20-07:00July 14th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , |
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2023 World Day Against Child Labor

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.” —Romans 12:2 As Christians, it’s easy to do things that aren’t wrong in themselves, for no reason other than that they’re familiar to us. It’s easy to get caught up in the culture. But if we take Romans 12:2 literally, the patterns of this world are at odds with biblical truth. If that is true, then the question for us becomes what are [...]

2023-06-12T10:05:48-07:00June 12th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , , |
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A Future for Restaveks

One of the questions we often encounter is, “Why do we make our Children’s Homes into a permanent home for restavek kids rather than pursuing adoption?” It’s a fair question. In an ideal world, every child would have a stable family with loving parents. But that’s not our reality. Adoption is not always reliable or feasible. It can be an extremely long and expensive process which is a challenge for many families, let alone those already struggling to provide for themselves. In addition, many children have complex medical, emotional, or social needs that make adoption difficult. In either case, [...]

2023-06-21T15:33:59-07:00April 25th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , , |
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Walk for Restaveks Recap (March 2023)

One of the causes closest to the heart of C2M is caring for restaveks. Restaveks are children (usually from poor families) who are sent or sold by their parents to live with and work for wealthier families in Haiti. They are usually expected to perform domestic chores in exchange for food and shelter. Restaveks are often mistreated and denied basic human rights such as education, medical care, and the freedom to leave the household they work for. Many are subject to physical and emotional abuse, and some are forced into child labor or prostitution. “Restavek,” meaning “to stay with,” [...]

2023-06-21T15:53:56-07:00March 17th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , |
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How Should We Respond to Poverty?

Every day, 16,000 children die from starvation around the world. That means 16,000 died yesterday, 16,000 will die today, and another 16,000 tomorrow. By contrast, we live in a place where we throw away enough food to end child starvation. Statistically, if we took all the money we spend on dog food alone, we could stop world hunger. Can you imagine that? When we think in those terms, it’s especially shocking that child slavery still exists only 700 miles off the coast of Florida. We see a dramatic need to fill that gap and say, in very practical terms, “This [...]

2023-04-06T15:35:05-07:00February 24th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , |
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Let’s Pray Together

What a treasure to hold my children’s small hands in mine, watch them grow, and enjoy their childhood. It’s not something I take lightly. Especially since I know not every parent or child has the same privileges. I’m wearing these bracelets my daughter and I made together at the Simi Walk for Restaveks last October. They remind me to pray for Mickenson, our sponsored child, his brothers and sisters in our Children’s Homes, and all the restaveks in Haiti. They remind me to pray for Haiti’s broken government, broken economy, and broken people. I’d like to be candid that it [...]

2023-04-06T15:37:14-07:00February 17th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , |
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VBS 2022 Recap

During the last week of 2022, Pastor Poyis organized multiple VBS programs for the communities around Onaville. He asked all of our Mercy Network pastors to participate, and we were so excited to hear that each of the ten VBS programs was successful. The churches were full! The older children in our Homes are once again serving children in their surrounding communities. While it’s encouraging to watch these kids grow from a distance, it’s a special blessing to see them serving meals, leading worship and acting out Bible stories for 250 children who need the light [...]

2024-06-08T06:43:33-07:00February 3rd, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , , |
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Stories of Rescue

It’s a new year, and we couldn’t be more encouraged! As we look forward to what God has in store for 2023, we also want to pause and remember the amazing work He’s done already. Below are stories from two former restavek kids—child slaves—who have found safety, peace, and hope through the ministry of God’s church in Haiti. Fabian We teach in our Mercy Network churches that abuse, in whatever form it takes, is unacceptable—to the degree that if you have a neighbor who's abusing a child, you need to be involved in putting an end to it. Well, [...]

2023-04-06T15:54:22-07:00January 6th, 2023|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , |
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“Children’s Homes” v. “Orphanages”

“Children’s Homes” v. “Orphanages” If you’ve been around Connect 2 Ministries for long, you know that one of our primary ministries is caring for rescued restaveks in our Children’s Homes. The title, “restavek,” describes an abused child who lives with and serves a family that is not his or her biological family. The children have either been sold by their own family to another that is financially able to provide, or they are orphans with no family to care for them. Either way, they find themselves without stable parents before they ever come to our [...]

2023-04-06T16:15:07-07:00December 2nd, 2022|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , , |
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