Restaveks

How Do We Rescue Restaveks?

Most children who become slaves were not born into it. A parent dies, and the remaining parent gives their child to a family who promises to take care of him or her. Or a rural family with a lot of kids sends one of them with people who say they’ll take the child to Port-au-Prince—for a price. The kid might then be sold to an intermediary before being sold again to a family looking for a house servant. Although they were born to free parents, they find themselves in this situation because slavery is an [...]

2023-04-06T16:25:10-07:00November 4th, 2022|Categories: Medical Clinic|Tags: , , , , |
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A Greater Healing

One of the first things we do when a new child comes to our Children’s Homes is give them a medical examination. Because our kids come from situations where they were enslaved, we make it a priority to meet any physical needs as soon as possible. The first eight kids we brought to the Regency Home were lovingly and carefully examined by a medical team which consisted of three U.S. nurses who had volunteered their time and skills to help in this ministry. These nurses were seasoned professionals (each one had more than twenty years of [...]

2023-04-06T16:27:30-07:00October 21st, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , , |
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Walk for Restaveks Recap (October 2022)

In Haiti, the Connect 2 Ministries main campus finds its home in Onaville, on the outskirts of Port-au-Prince. About a mile down the road from this compound, you’ll find our Children’s Homes, where we provide education, food, housing, and community for rescued restavek children. Last Saturday, we hosted our first ever Walk for Restaveks in Simi Valley to raise awareness about the struggles these kids face and the need they have for physical and spiritual rescue. More than 120 individuals, some with their families and friends, came together to pray for and support the [...]

2023-06-12T10:19:59-07:00October 14th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Highlights|Tags: , , |
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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: , , , , |
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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: , , , |
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2022 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. Listen to these testimonies from our children and be encouraged by the work God is doing in Haiti. Our ministry team and the [...]

2023-04-06T19:24:42-07:00July 30th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , |
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The Gospel Is Bigger

Poyis and I spent an hour together one evening as he updated me on all that was going on in his church and at the Children’s Homes. I am constantly reminded of the challenges of raising kids. I had three, but Poyis has 120. He does a remarkable job. The staff face issues that many parents would be familiar with—students occasionally neglecting responsibilities, pushing against restrictions—and they navigate these difficulties with grace. I have learned to pray the same things I’ve prayed for my own children for the kids in our homes, asking that God [...]

2023-04-06T19:37:31-07:00July 1st, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , , |
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After School Stories

One afternoon, Poyis asked Michelle, one of the American volunteers on our team, if she wanted to go with him to pick up the kids from school, and take them home on the school bus. These are not the children from our homes, but the kids who live in the surrounding neighborhood, all of them about three or four miles from the compound. Each day, someone drives the school bus to pick up these more than ninety children in the morning, and around 2:30 each day, takes them home to their families. I asked Michelle if [...]

2023-04-06T19:39:52-07:00June 17th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , |
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2022 World Day Against Child Labor

June 12 is World Day Against Child Labor, and every year, this day gives us reason to seek the Lord while thanking Him for the work He has already done in Haiti. More than 120 children rescued from slavery 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, and all of this is from the Lord. One of these children is Mervius Elange. Elange is fifteen years old, and he joined our Children’s Home a few years ago. He spent much [...]

2023-04-06T19:40:42-07:00June 12th, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , , |
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Part of God’s Family

I remember a special morning in Haiti when all 120 children from the Children’s Homes came to church dressed in their school uniforms. Poyis had invited them to take an active role in this Sunday’s service, and they were clearly excited to participate. Five or six of the students were up front leading music along with the usual adult musicians, and the rest of the children sat in the first three pews, making one large choir of various ages. The twenty-person secondary school choir sat in the front, and the 100+ elementary schoolers sat behind them. [...]

2023-04-06T19:41:37-07:00June 3rd, 2022|Categories: Ministry Outreach|Tags: , , |
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