Bringing little miracles home, every day.
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.” – Proverbs 22:6
We are dedicated to reaching out in Christian love to the most vulnerable people in the Haitian society: the children. Missionaries Bobby and Sherry Burnette started Love A Child Orphanage, which we now call “Love A Child Children’s Home,” in response to a growing demand to provide a loving Christian home for children who have either been abandoned, abused, orphaned, enslaved, malnourished, or need ongoing medical care.
The Love A Child Children’s Home began as a promise between two mothers.
More than twenty years ago, Sherry prayed with a dying mother in a Mobile Medical Clinic set up in the remote village of Petit Desdunes, Haiti. The woman whispered her last request to Sherry: “Please take care of my four children after I die.”
Sherry assured the young mother that she would bring the children into her home to love and care for them as they grew up. Those four sick, malnourished, and frightened children became the first orphans nurtured by Love A Child.
Before long, Bobby and Sherry took in more children desperate for care.
Finding a house in a safe area and large enough to accommodate their “new extended family” was a struggle. They prayed for guidance, knowing that finding a large piece of land in order to build a permanent home would be the answer. But, good land with clean water has always been scarce in Haiti.
Bobby and Sherry’s breakthrough came when they were gifted a large tract of land by a Haitian national who had fled to the United States during the reign of Haiti’s notorious former president, Papa Doc Duvalier.
On this land, Love A Child built its 21,500-square foot Children’s Home in Fond Parisien, Haiti, the largest facility of its kind in the country.
Now, more than 70 children thrive at LAC Children’s Home, where once cactus plants were the only signs of life on the desolate property.
Bobby and Sherry live here with the children as “one family.” Surrounded by love, LAC children are provided with nutritious meals, new clothes, education, and consistent health care. They have a huge lawn on which to play together and warm beds to sleep in. Unlike most children growing up in Haiti, the orphans growing up with Love A Child attend LAC Christian schools regularly and are taught how important it is to develop a personal relationship with God.
Christian worship and studying are top priorities, with time allotted for fun activities, nightly church services (led by the older children), prayers, and lesson completion.
A great deal of importance is placed on getting homework done and the children are given all the help they need by staff members and their older “siblings.” Outside of school, many of the children are talented musicians and athletes. With hearts overflowing with gratitude, they are also passionate about sharing the gospel and serving others.
More than orphans destined for poverty, each child is one with a happy future.
Most orphanages in Haiti make the children leave when they turn 18 years old, and sadly enough, many end up on the streets. But, in our home, we stress, “Jesus first, and a good education.” Thank you, partners, who help sponsor Love A Child children; because of you, many finish high school and go on to earn college degrees and professional licenses to create sustainable livelihoods for themselves.
Love A Child’s prayer for each child that joins our loving family is that they realize their dreams and reach their full potential in accordance with God’s will. Bobby, Sherry, and LAC’s Haitian staff do much more than shelter the children; they extend continual affection and guidance, giving each child back the self-worth that was once taken away from them and the capacity to dream big.