Robenson, the oldest at the Lighthouse, turned 20 at the end of March. He has been living at the Lighthouse since he was orphaned by the earthquake almost 10 years ago. We asked him if he would like to share his story with all of you, and we are so glad he said yes. Thank you for being part of making this story of redemption possible!

My name is Robenson. I was born in Gonaïves. I grew up in Cabaret with my mom and dad, but my father did not really care about us. He was a person who spent all his time drinking, and I didn’t like that. After some years, he died in 2007 of alcoholic poisoning. After his death, my mother had to beg for us to live. Despite all she did, life was difficult. We could not eat well, and we could not go to school. My mom would cry about the way we lived.

On January 12, 2010, my mom and Bony’s mom went to see their sister in a hospital. The earthquake happened, and since that day I have never seen my mom again. All my family went to search for them but we never found them.

God’s deliverance

After some days, JiHM sent for me and my brother Mackendy. It was a great deliverance for me because we had become without family to take care of us.

After a few months my sister Lovely came to see me, and I felt awful because I loved her so much, and I did not like how she was living. I cried about her. When JiHM staff asked me what was wrong, I told them about my sister. After some time, Lovely was able to come and live with me. I was very happy, because that was the greatest gift JiHM could have given me.

God’s continued rescue

Now I’m in 9th grade. I will take the government exams this summer and I believe God will make me succeed. Now I eat, I am comfortable, I’m not worried about my future, and I thank God for everything He does in my life and for everyone at JiHM for all they do for me. I became a whole new person. I can say that I’m like a normal person, I feel valuable, I go to school.

When I was living with my mother, we were tied up by the devil. We couldn’t do anything with our lives. We didn’t know how to read. We didn’t go to church. I didn’t know anything.

Now God has sent me to school, He has shown me how to read. He has shown me what church is. I have heard His Word.

For a long time I was stuck in the voodoo of my parents. Because of that I was in a whole different world. I was like a fool with nothing, tied up by the devil. Thanks be to God, He untied me. God made me clean. He turned me into a good person, He taught me to be nice, to respect other people.

He made me into a different Robenson.

He has a road He is still making for me because I am His child and He loves me. He gives me love for everyone. God provides everything I need.

When I finish school, I want to become a great person in society. Of all my mother’s children, it is only I who have made it to 9th grade and God will see that I graduate.

The devil had tied up my family. He didn’t want us to be anything, but to stay and serve him—that’s all he wanted for us. But God had a plan He had been tracing a long time for my life. He knew the type of person He wanted me to be. What the devil wanted was not what God wanted for me. He knows the plan He has for my life.

That is part of the story of my life.

–Robenson, Lighthouse Children’s Home