Jesnel’s Story

Our missionaries Bobby and Sherry shared with me a story about a young boy named Jesnel. Heartbreaking, but because of your faithful giving, Jesnel is able to see hope in the dark. Here is his story:

Eight-year-old Jesnel lives in a very poor community in Haiti called Fond Cheval. In Creole, this would be translated as Deep Horse. This area is in the mountains, and like the other areas we are reaching high in the mountains, very difficult to reach. Only a four-wheel-drive vehicle can make it, and the rest of the way the missionaries travel on foot.

Jesnel lives in a lean-to made of mud, sticks, and banana leaves. His grandparents, parents and 2 siblings all live in the small shack together. Each day is a struggle for food. Before the last child was born who is now 9 months old, Jesnel’s mother had a job washing clothes. But now, she must stay home with the children. The only job that Jesnel’s father can find is gathering large rocks on Goat Mountain and breaking them into smaller rocks to help make charcoal.

The family always struggles for enough good to feed their family of seven ... most days, they are lucky to have only one meal. Jesnel says he is always sad because his young life is spent “thinking about food.” He doesn’t go to school because his father sends him out to sell the small amount of charcoal that he and his grandfather make. The day is long, travelling alone by foot with no water. He may make enough to buy a little cornmeal for that one meal a day, and many days, Jesnel says are “no good at all.” 

“I have nothing but misery. Sometimes, we don’t eat even one meal a day. I’m living like someone who has no hope. My skin is very bad. My mother told me that this sickness came from an evil spirit, but that’s because she is not a Christian. I sleep on a straw mat on the ground with an empty stomach. My mother tells me to “sleep on my stomach and I won’t feel the pains of hunger so bad. That’s why I was so thankful when the missionaries brought us food to eat.” -Jesnel

We were both happy and sad to meet Jesnel and his family. It’s unfathomable to think children are suffering like this in the world today—but we’re grateful for partners like you who are making it possible to deliver food to families like Jesnel’s!

                                                                        -Bobby & Sherry Burnette

It is because of you we get to touch the lives of children like Jesnel and provide not only a meal but hope for the future. Because of you we are able to provide 272,000 meals to those in desperate need. We truly could not do what we do without you.

Thank you!

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