YES! planting the Lord's seeds

I have witnessed the YES! Organization’s impact from a very close standpoint since the beginning of the year 2018. My name is Roxanne Tessier, and I am a French Canadian who has had the privilege of living beside the YES! house for about a year during my time in Haiti. My family and I became close friends with Beth Hovel and with the YES! students. I have been touched greatly by the organization in my personal life and have been moved tremendously by the influence they have on the Haitian community.

During the time I lived beside the YES! house, I saw first hand how YES! distinguishes itself from many other organizations, because of their commitment, their love, and the values they transmit to the many vulnerable children in Haiti.

While in Haiti, I was impressed to see how some of the YES! members had fully integrated themselves to the country’s lifestyle for the purpose of the ministry. I saw how this allowed them to be in touch with the teenagers’ reality and allowed them to mentor the teenagers in the very precise way they needed. In Haiti, life is so different than in America, therefore, I realised how being integrated in the Haitian lifestyle offered intelligent perspectives on how to serve the teenagers and lead them into a good life.

By spending lots of time with them, I witnessed the level of love and caring that was being poured into the teenagers’ lives trough many small and big actions. They were mentored and taught how to do chores and budgets. They did fun activities, had devotions, and were taught about so many things. Beth was acting as the parental role model they had not received during their normal orphanage time. The level of personal attention they were receiving was, in my opinion, the most tremendous demonstration of love. I know how the teenage years are a critical period of life. Therefore, I was always very moved to see how much time was invested into the lives of these young people. I witness so many times how they received guidance and open ears in times of need. I witnessed so often how Beth, or the other mentors, would pray and seek the Holy Spirit on how to better help each of the teens. Truly, I saw how this organisation put love above anything else, just has Jesus instructs us to do.

I saw how the YES! children were guided to become self-sufficient and to render back into society what they had received. They were being thought how to find work, how to work with integrity and how to live ethically among their peers. I still remember one of the teenager’s face when he announced he had got the job we had prayed for him! He was so proud! They were taught to trust God, to seek His will and to also work actively themselves in the achievement of their own success. To me, these are all essential teachings for the health of their community, and it is what compels me to trust and admire YES! so much.

Since I came back to Canada, I have decided to support the YES! organisation as much as I can. I believe they are a crucial organisation for accomplishing the will of God into children’s’ lives. They must be encouraged to thrive, as they help to shape tomorrow’s leaders and, mostly, as they teach some of the mentored kids how to mentor the next generation. By coming out of orphanages, those children were among the most at risk to commit crimes and live a deceitful life. However, the teenagers that I met were role models to the children around them (including my own children). They were helpful, disciplined, and they had so much love for God and loved to worship Him. The YES! organization plants the Lord’s seeds into those teenagers lives and, to me, this is what makes it so valuable.

Wishing you all the Lord’s blessings,

Roxanne Tessier