Friday, January 10th, 2020
The family at Source of Life Ministries is increasing to 18 children!!!
Although we were honestly caught by surprise, we are happy to announce that one more child is being rescued from a life of hopelessness. Three year old Esther is in the process of legally becoming a permanent member of the Source of Life family.
Esther was born on June 8, 2016 to a young single mother. The man who fathered Esther was absent during her mother’s entire pregnancy and has taken no responsibility for her. Often the grandmother of a child opens her home to care for her daughter and grandchild in Haiti, but this child’s grandmother is not in a healthy mental state. There was nowhere to turn for help.
After learning about little Esther this past August, Jacques was hoping it would become possible for him to safely travel to Haiti soon afterward to do the legal work required by the Haitian government. In December, as the end of the year loomed, he decided to inquire whether it would be possible for the SLM attorney to complete the legal procedures even though he could not be present.
The process would not be easy. The child lived with her mother in a town north of Port-au-Prince. The road from Gressier to Port-au-Prince has continued to be a very dangerous stretch of highway due to gang activity, and the road north of Port-au-Prince is the same. A request was made for the mother to provide pictures of the child. It took a couple days for her to find someone who had a phone and could take pictures and text them. An invitation was given by the attorney for the mother to come to the safe home in Gressier for an interview with him.
On Saturday, December 28th, the child’s mother met with Attorney Michel. She made the long, risky trip, riding several different tap-taps and even brought the little girl with her to the meeting. At the close, the attorney explained that she would need to take the little girl home with her until the legal process could be completed. The attorney departed. Later the mother departed, but she left the child behind! One can only imagine the desperation this mother felt in her heart!!
When the Source of Life staff shared the surprise with Jacques, his “father’s heart” could not send away this child! The staff and other children quickly welcomed little Esther, found pretty clothes for her to wear, and made beautiful braids in her hair.
With Jacques’ supervision, Sony and the attorney are working to complete all the legal requirements and to get Esther established in her new home. One complication is that the mother does not have a national identification card for herself, which is required to be able to file legal documents in court. This may be an added cost and process that the attorney will likely need to help her complete. Esther needs to begin school, and she needs to have a doctor’s exam and blood tests. (Remember that preschool is a requirement in Haiti and begins at age 3.)
When the schools re-opened on Tuesday (Jan 7th), it became apparent that God had already paved the way for little Esther. Sony took her to the school to inquire about the possibility of enrolling her for classes. The school accepted her immediately and allowed her to begin classes that very day! Praise God for causing the door to open wide on her behalf.
Our hearts overflow with praise and thanksgiving to Almighty God for delivering this precious child from the jaws of poverty. Never again will she be undernourished. No longer will she play using trash. Source of Life Ministries is honored to be used by God in the life of one more child. Pray with us that Esther will grow up knowing that she is loved and chosen by God. She is a child of the Highest King!!!
“I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.” Isaiah 43:19
“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, before you were born I set you apart.” – Jeremiah 1:5