“Father of the fatherless and protector of widows is God in his holy habitation.”
In the New Testament, James states, “pure and undefiled religion is to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep [them] unstained from the world.”
The Lifeline Center for Children seeks to serve the underserved and overlooked children in Haiti.
For 28 years the Lifeline campus in Croix des Bouquets has provided a safe environment where children can attend school, receive routine medical care, and grow up within a loving Christian community. While that is still our goal, the situation in Haiti has deteriorated rapidly over the last four years.
The capital of Port au Prince and surrounding areas are now controlled by numerous gang coalitions. There is no elected president, prime minister, or other national government officials overseeing the situation. Gang violence, kidnapping, and robbery are rampant and have extended north from the capital into central Haiti. Tens of thousands of people have been displaced from their homes due to the violence.
Currently, the community around the Lifeline campus is 100% controlled by the 400 Mawozo gang. While our long-time Haitian partners and Lifeline founders have remained in Haiti, they can no longer live in Croix des Bouquets. They were targeted by gangs for their U.S. connections and have moved out of the area for their safety.
The Good News
Their courage to stay in Haiti means that we can still supply resources allowing Lifeline to stay staffed and operational. Gifts given for child sponsorship still get to Haiti and go directly toward the care and protection of the children.
Currently, 20 children live on the Lifeline campus. That’s down significantly from past numbers. For safety reasons, as many children as possible were reunited with their families in safer areas of the country. No “new” children are being accepted unless it’s an absolute necessity.
SCHOOL
In most developed nations, education is a government requirement for all children. However, it is a privilege even to receive the basics of education in Haiti.
When possible, the school on the Lifeline campus makes education available to the children who live there. In the past, up to 100 children from the surrounding community attended. Unfortunately, ongoing insecurity limits the ability of teachers and children living in the community to travel safely to the campus. Lifeline leadership and staff are doing the best they can to offer the life-altering ability to read and write as well as providing the truly life-giving knowledge of Jesus Christ to the children at Lifeline.
CLINIC
While Haiti has many wonderful and talented doctors, nurses, and other medical personnel, insufficient medical resources and safety concerns forced the closure of the community clinic on the Lifeline campus.
COMMUNITY WELL
It has been said that water is life. This is especially true in Haiti where clean water for drinking, bathing, and food preparation is difficult to obtain. The presence of a well at the Lifeline campus provides clean water to the children living there as well as to the surrounding community at no charge.
When electrical power is available to the campus, families line up to fill buckets of clean water. They are thankful to be able to provide their family with clean water for that day which is often the difference between life and death.
