On Monday August 28th, at midnight, a Haitian family of eight arrived in America after a difficult and dangerous journey from their home country to ours. The Garcon family came to America as refugees seeking safety and a better life for their children. Due to the Garçons long term relationship with the Yost family, they decided to settle in St. Louis.
On one of Mr. Brian Yost’s missionary trips to Haiti, he came across a young Haitian girl lying at the bottom of a boat and being the kind man he is, he decided to help her out. Upon arriving at the mainland he tried to search for her family, but found there was no one who could give her the love and support a young girl needs. So he met with the Garçons, a family he was partnering with for ministry in Haiti, and long story short, they adopted Widlove.
Over the last 15 years, the Yosts have stayed in close contact with the Garçons as they continued to raise Widlove as their own daughter. Although the Yosts weren’t able to adopt Widlove due to international adoption restrictions, they’ve supported her both financially and personally through long-distance Zoom calls. However recently, Haiti’s political unrest has come to a head.
“The gangs have taken over Haiti. They set up roadblocks on the streets and threatened the lives of countless Haitian citizens. We just had to get them out of there.” Says Mrs. Rachel Yost, a high school teacher at Westminster.
The situation in Haiti as of late is dire to say the least. The United States Department of State ranked Haiti level 4 on the travel advisory; which means that US citizens are not permitted to travel to Haiti due to kidnapping, crime, civil unrest, and poor healthcare conditions. The Garcons’ lives were threatened by the gang wars and anarchy that have overcome Haiti, and when the Yosts heard of this, they decided to hatch a plan to get their friends to safety.
“They were scheduled to leave on Monday, but they encountered trouble with customs at the airport. They wouldn’t let Widlove board the plane because her birth certificate and adoption were in French, and they needed to be in English, ” Mrs. Yost explains, “So Mr. Garcon translated the certifications into English and then drove to a law office to get the translation officiated. He made it to the gate with time to spare, but the airport workers decided to close the gates early, so he and Widlove were not able to make the flight. Thankfully there was another flight on Wednesday that they were able to get on through standby and they safely made it into the US.”
Over the past few weeks, the staff and students of the WCA community have contributed in various ways to help them settle into their new home, and their contributions have truly made the Garçons feel loved and supported. Even though the Garcons struggles are far from over, with their perseverance and the continued support of the community around them, they are sure to flourish and conquer any other challenges life throws in their way.
