CELEBRATING FREEDOM

Happy 4th of July! This weekend, as you celebrate the values of freedom, we hope you’ll join us in the fight to bring those basics to vulnerable children. It takes our collective voices to speak for those who cannot speak for themselves. Our passion is to help those who have lost their natural advocates in life. You can provide the help that is desperately needed for children.

 

NEARLY 10 YEARS AGO, A LITTLE GIRL HAD LOST HOPE.  

 

 

She shifted a heavy load of water on her tiny, bony shoulders and took another weary step. Eight year old Velinda* had been carrying water for over a mile. She did this three times a day for the family she lived with. As a restavek (child slave), Velinda worked 12-14 hour days. She was skin and bones and bore the physical and emotional scars of a broken childhood. After her parents died, she had no idea how hard life was going to be without them.

 

On day, as Velinda was walking home from the river, she met someone very special who works for LSM. She heard about this man, and knew that if there was ever hope at freedom, this was her chance. She dropped her heavy bucket, and ran up to him.

 

“I’m tired of carrying water,” she breathlessly said. “Please, help me!”

 

TODAY, VELINDA KNOWS THE BEAUTY OF FREEDOM.

 

 

LSM was able to negotiate with the family that Velinda had been living with. She was rescued out of that horrible situation, and is now thriving in her Home of Hope family! She no longer carries water from the river, working 12-14 hour days. Instead, she is experiencing true freedom and love in a nurturing family. But most importantly, she knows about the true living water, found in Jesus Christ!

 

Because of the opportunities she has today, Velinda can go to college, get a good paying job and provide for her own family someday. These are dreams she never imagined as a child slave ten years ago.

 

 

ARE YOU WILLING TO LISTEN TO A DESPERATE CRY FOR HELP?

 

We long for all vulnerable children like Velinda to have the freedom to grow as a valued child of God. We want them to know their worth, find healing and love, and have the chance to reach their full, God-given potential.

 

Freedom is a gift. And it’s one we can give together.

 

 


GET INVOLVED:

  1. Help rescue children forced into child slavery in Haiti. Order your copy of Ed’s book “A Rose Among Thorns” to learn more about their plight and help rescue children like Velinda.
  2. Become a Prayer Partner and receive bi-monthly updates from LSM on specific ways to intercede.
  3. Spread the Gospel message of FREEDOM in Haiti through the Gospel Project.

 


*name changed for privacy

HAITI’S FLAG DAY 2019

Haiti celebrates FLAG DAY on May 18. It’s an important day of celebration for the country as they remember their hard-won independence!

 

 

 

The Haitian flag features a full coat of arms with weapons representing their nation’s history defending their freedom. The royal palm at the center symbolizes their independence. They are the first nation of Africans to ever rise up and win freedom for their country.

 

 

 

Our Home of Hope families celebrated in their communities too. We love that our kids are learning about their rich cultural heritage from a young age. While Haiti still has a lot to overcome, we hope they always feel freedom to celebrate their flag and the good of what that represents. Though there are dark and painful pieces to their cultural history as well, knowing the good and bad helps the next generation learn from their country’s experiences.

 

We hope days like this (and our staff, parents and mentors) will empower our children to become the next generation of leaders who will help transform their culture for Christ! 

 

 

 

If you’re not familiar with Haiti’s difficult history, you’re not alone. In fact, LSM’s Founder, Ed Schwartz wrote a historical novel depicting the rise of Haiti for just that reason! The Trade Winds was written to help us understand the complexity and history of Haiti and where it is today. It also gives us a passion to help vulnerable children (like the ones we serve!) who have been trapped in ongoing slavery (restavek system) to this day.

 

 

Learn more and order your copy of THE TRADE WINDS today!

Sharing the Christmas Message

Born amidst filth and squalor, the baby drew a deep breath and cried out in the night. Animals shuffled, uneasy at their disturbed space. A ragged young mother gazed upon him with love and fear, wondering if she was at all equipped for the difficult journey ahead.

 

We know this familiar story from 2,000 years ago. Jesus was born and, with that miraculous birth, everything changed.

 

alone sad child on a street

 

Since then Jesus has continued to transform everything we know – making a dark world shine with hope of something better.

 

And yet darkness still pervades so much of what we see around us. Children are left fatherless, vulnerable to abuse, slavery, coercion and fear. Without the knowledge of a loving, saving relationship with Jesus Christ, these children grow up to continue a desperate cycle of poverty, anger and pain. But it doesn’t have to continue.

 

This Christmas, consider how you can bring that message of hope and redemption in Jesus’ name to a child in need. Here are a few ways your family can personally get involved:

Family Sponsorship

 

  1. Consider giving them the gift of a loving Christian home where they can thrive—sponsor a Home of Hope family in Haiti in 2017. Sign up here.

 

multicultural adoption family

 

  1. Thinking about adoption? See what your options are for making an orphaned child a part of your permanent family. We can help answer your questions!

 

Your Powerful Prayers are Empowering Children

 

  1. Sign up to join us in regular prayer for the fatherless. Become a prayer partner here.

 

Sponsoring Haiti as a church family

 

  1. Consider starting an orphan care ministry in your church. Check out our helpful resources here.

 

However the Spirit moves in your family, we hope this Christmas is filled with the love and tenderness that Jesus brings to all who follow Him! May your season be richly blessed.

4 Special Ways to Say “I Love You” this Valentine’s Day

Love lasts forever. Flowers and candy, though touching gestures, do not. This year, consider giving a gift that will provide a vulnerable child with what Valentine’s Day is really all about: the assurance that they are loved.

 

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