When Love Takes You In | Jocelyn | Gonaives Orphans | Junette | Margarette | Thierry | Lubenson | Rafaelis | Rose Mica | Jameson
A little boy stood outside the gate at Hope for Haiti Children's Center. He watched the children inside play and laugh, go to school, and attend church. Day after day, he stood and watched, but never said a word.
Meanwhile, a film crew had come to that very same gate and stayed inside for several days, recording the daily events and ministry. When the team watched the tape at the end of the week, they noticed that same little boy in shots from various days. Often he had no clothing; other times he wore a woman's dress. "Who is this little boy?," they wondered. Danita decided to find out.
When she spoke with his family, Danita found that the little boy's mother was very poor, and that she had sent him to live with an aunt because she could not take care of him. The aunt lived right next door to Hope for Haiti Children's Center, but she was also ill-equipped to care for the child. So everyday, he would find time to look at the other children, and he wished he had what they did. He did not attend school, and worked long, hard days as the "man of the house," even though he was just a child. Before long, Danita was given permission by the family to take him home to the orphanage, where he could be loved and cared for. That was six years ago.
Now 15 years old, Jocelyn is one of the oldest boys at Danita's Children, and takes on many responsibilities. He often watches over the little boys, and acts as "night security" for our missionaries when they travel from one house to another after dark. He goes to school everyday, and wants to be pastor and open an orphanage of his own when he grows up.
In a letter to a sponsor in the United States, Jocelyn explained that he used to have no clothes, no bed, and no love. But now, at Danita's Children, he has clothes to wear, a bed to sleep in, and more love than he'd ever known before. In his words, he has everything.
The little boy who once stood at the gate of the orphanage is now a leader, and as he grows, he steps into his position as a gatekeeper of another kind. We believe that our children have the potential to change the nation of Haiti, and we pray that as he remembers what it was to stand on the outside and look in, that Jocelyn will open gates for others through his natural leadership and ministry. We thank God for his life—yet another reminder of what happens when love takes you in.
To help love, feed and care for a child like Jocelyn, click here.
