He doesn’t know how old he really is. He had never had a birth certificate, or a ball, or even a pair of old shoes to wear. He had never had a brother or a sister or even parents. He had never slept in a bed or sat at a table. He had never had a full plate of food or three meals a day. He had never been to school or had friends of his own age. He had never held a pencil or a piece of chalk to draw a circle. He knows nothing about where he came from… all he knows is that “one day he was a restavek slave,” and  the “white people took him away to a doctor to get a check-up.” Away to a large home with a table to sit at. Away to three big meals a day. Away to sleep in a real bed. Away to find “brothers and sisters,” a mom and a dad. He was taken away from a heavy hoe, called a “wou,” and from being made to work in the fields all day.

He was taken away from beatings because he did not work hard enough. Today, Jonas is a very happy boy. We are guessing at his age, maybe 10 or 11. He is in first grade now, much older than the other children in his class. I asked Jonas what he loved the most and he said, “church!” I asked him why he loved church so much, and he said, “Jesus took me away,” from the mountain. (The mountain where he worked in the heat of the day!) He always has this smile on his face and is always grateful for what the Lord did in his life! He will go far. We love him, Sherry

This is why we are still in Haiti, amid the problems and the dangers.