The Country of Haiti has always been a difficult place to live, but now, because of the ruthless government, vicious gangs and lawlessness it is nearly impossible to live there. We have the opportunity to help and give a new opportunity to a family of Haitian refugees. Here’s their story.
Thirty-five years ago, Brian and I went on a mission’s trip with a team of people to Haiti to build an orphanage. We met two girls there, Janice and Deliverance, and they stole our hearts. They were in constant pain and needed extensive dental work done, so we asked their parents if they could come and live with our family so we could help them. A few months later they arrived and stayed with our family for 9 months. We all loved them, wanted to adopt them, got their parents’ permission even, but the U.S. made us send them home.
We have stayed in touch with them through the years and even gone to Haiti to see them. Janice got married to Fito, and they have a beautiful daughter, Abagail. Deliverance is single, so now they are a family of four.
This last year they have been telling us how increasingly difficult their life has become because of the gangs that “rule” the area where they live. The police do not help in any way, people are being kidnapped and murdered, possessions stolen, homes destroyed… no one is safe. At any time, they will break into a house and do whatever they want. Fito is a professor of Math and Physics at a college in Port-a-Prince, but the school has closed so he can no longer teach. Janice had her own business in the market but she had to stop, because the gangs stole all of the product she had worked so hard to build up. We have been sending them money to live, and they have sold their possessions to get food. They have been living under terrible pressure and fear. When they called out for help, there was just one answer... YES!!!
We heard about a government program that is allowing 30,000 refugees from the countries of Haiti, Ukraine, Cuba and Nicaragua to come into the U.S. each month – if they have a sponsor to be responsible for them. We applied for all four and they were all accepted! God miraculously made a way of escape for them. Fito, Janice, Abagail and Deliverance arrived on Sept 7th! They immediately thanked us for helping them now live in a place where they feel safe and are at peace. They will be living with us for as long as it takes to get used to life in the U.S. and learn enough English to get jobs.
We are asking for your help to get them established in their new life in the United States. As you can imagine, there are many expenses from travel costs, daily expenses, doctor, and dentist checkups, starting from scratch, clothes (especially preparing for winter), and all that is needed to live until they can find jobs to support themselves.
What a great opportunity for us all to rescue this beautiful family and give them a brand-new life filled with opportunity.
