Freedom House was established out of a God-given vision placed on the hearts of a Canadian couple, Dave and Sonya Lock, many years ago. They promised God that in His time, they would establish a home for orphans and abandoned children.
At the same time, Pastor Martinez Jovin, a Haitian Christian leader, who has planted 9 churches and several Christian schools, also had a vision for an orphanage to be established to serve the needs of children in his home country.
In October 2004 Pastor Jovin and the Locks were brought together in a church service. There was an immediate sense that they had a future together in the establishment of a home for orphans. Subsequent discussions between them and visits to Haiti by the Locks revealed an ideal property. Negotiations soon began and after a long process the property was purchased.
The existing house on the site proved to be of good design for a facility that could house up to 40 children. However, it was in utter disrepair. It was at that time that God brought a group from Pennsylvania to Haiti to work with Pastor Martinez in his church, located adjacent to the home. This group was brought to the property and Martinez shared the vision that God had given him and the Locks for the home.
This group, from Carlisle Brethren In Christ Church, began working on raising the funds to restore the home. In 6 short months this group, led by Marvin Diller, Terry Quail and Matt Reichard, had raised nearly $50,000 for the construction of the home. The group also received 13 _ tons of donations for the home, including furniture and appliances. The money and the supplies arrived and the home's construction began. In less than a year, the doors opened.
When the doors opened there were 4 girls. It quickly grew to include 11 little girls and a wonderful staff of house parents. These girls came from diverse backgrounds. Three of them walked over 8 hours, in their broken flip-flops, to get to the home from the mountains. Another girl arrived covered in scabies, another with very bad stomach flu, some suffered from malnutrition. These girls all lost one or both parents and had nobody to care for them. They were in need of freedom from their harsh lives. Freedom House lived up to its name for these little girls, setting them free from a future of being alone on the streets of Haiti's slums.
On Sunday, November 26, 2006 a dedication service was held that included local pastors, Pastor Martinez, the Locks and a delegation from Canada; Freedom House was officially opened.
The team from Pennsylvania that had helped to raise the funds and supplies arrived in late December 2006 for a visit. They met the girls, painted murals with them in two bedrooms and saw how God used their gifts to rescue these children of God. Freedom House has been an international undertaking, using the God given vision of people in Canada, The U.S. and Haiti, all brought together to honor God by rescuing these children. The Locks envision opening additional Freedom Houses as strategic points of light in the dark lives of many precious children as God guides and enables.
