Roatan Five
What began with Edna, the youngest child of these five siblings (pictured center), has blossomed into the incredible rescue story of all five siblings: Miriam, Genesis, Eric, Cedric and Edna! Roatan Island calls these siblings “The Roatan Five”. The beginning of their story is sadly not unique to this country, but the “ending” surely is!
Here we share our continued journey with Miriam, Genesis, Cedric, Eric and Edna ♥️
June 2021
Child sex trafficking is not always the professional “organized crime” we see in movies. In a lot of instances, and in the instance of Edna’s story, it’s evil parents.
Our journey with Edna began in July of 2021 when Joey and some members of his team were leaving a grocery store in Honduras. They were unsurprisingly approached by beggars - in this case, a mother and her daughter. Joey was urged by his team to help this woman and her daughter. Little did he know what this decision would lead to.
They asked the woman where she lived and she led them to her home. They pulled up to the side of a hill, so steep that losing your footing on the way up could be disastrous. Joey and his team scaled the side of this hill with grocery bags in hand to find at the top of the hill were 3 girls and 2 boys.
All of a sudden, Joey is grabbed by his Honduran translator friend, Elsa - her nails digging into his arm. She whips him around, looks intently into his eyes and says, “this woman sells her children”. Stunned, Joey looks at Elsa and then looks at the mother. He looks back to Elsa and says, “how do you know this?”. Elsa explains that her daughter goes to school with one of this woman’s daughters. She says she’s aware that the mother sells her children for sex as there have been situations in the past.
As one can imagine, Joey is overcome with emotion. Joey turns back to look at this mother and he recognizes that she is realizing they know what is going on. Joey and his team decide to stay and bless this family with food and water. They make sandwiches for the children and yes, for the mother. Not knowing how she will react, Joey begins to speak truth and acknowledges to this woman that he knows what she is doing. Joey ultimately urges her saying, “we know what is going on here and if you don’t stop, then we will call the police.”
Knowing this woman has no intention of stopping what she is doing nor is she capable of helping herself or her children, Joey reaches out to local missionaries, churches and pastors to get involved. JPM pays a local pastor to regularly feed and check in on this family. In trying to meet their physical needs (food, water), we are trying to lessen the “need” for the mother to traffick her children to pay for those needs.
While JPM was in the area, the team went back multiple times to bring cooking utensils, food, water, even birthday cakes and toys in order to celebrate the children. Joey said that you would not believe how elated the children were to have an activity to do like drawing/coloring. One of the girls who had requested a birthday cake picked out the biggest one possible at the grocery store. She said she didn’t want the biggest one because she was hungry, but because she wanted to share it with all of her friends and neighbors - which she happily did!
Now you may be wondering, why is JPM getting involved with child sex trafficking? I thought their goal was to feed and provide water to children? Sometimes this goal is met in different ways. In this case, feeding this family and regularly checking in on them protects the children from being sold for sex - or at least lessens the opportunity for this to happen. If the family's basic needs are being met, then the mother is less likely to have that need met in other ways.
July 2021
JPM can happily say that none of these children have been sold since JPM was there in June.
August 2021
Slowly but surely making continued connection with Edna and her siblings.
September 2021
A brief chat with brothers Eric and Cedric.
February 2022
JPM is overjoyed to share that we have freed Edna’s older teenage sisters, Miriam (16) and Genesis (13), from their mother’s “home”! They are now in a safe Christian home where they are educated, fed, loved and protected.
While we are so glad this is the case for them, we regret to write that Edna, who is currently 8 years old, is still with her mother undergoing abuse and exploitation. Her mother would not let us take her as she did the older girls.
We’ve supplied them with enough groceries for the next 6 weeks.
Please PRAY: join us in fervently praying for Edna! Pray that God would rescue her from the evil surrounding her and bring her to full freedom physically and spiritually. Pray for the safety of Joey and his team on the ground as they attempt to free and secure safety for these vulnerable children.
March 2022
While we are so thankful to have rescued Edna’s sisters from their abusive mother, they still need a lot of prayer and support. They are in a new home with a new family and naturally it is costly to support them. Support is required for their education, books, uniforms, basic expenses, etc. JPM will continue to cover their costs and oversee their care and protection. We will not ignore the threat on these girls!
We want to share a huge praise report! Miriam and Genesis came forward, without any prompting of man, to accept Jesus as their Lord and Savior! Genesis (13) also came forward to be baptized! We were so honored to bear witness to these special decisions and amazed at God’s love and goodness!
May 2022
We are elated and overcome to share the long awaited VICTORY has come! Edna has been RESCUED! She alongside her two sisters and two brothers are now all together, rescued and reunited under the mighty protection of God through a beautiful Christian family. THANK YOU JESUS!!!
The oldest daughter, Miriam, was also baptized during this trip! We are so thrilled to see how God has moved in such miraculous ways. He is protector! He saved these children!
It is crazy to imagine almost 1 year ago, June 2021, we met Edna and her mother “by chance”. We almost didn’t even stop to engage them, but God moved in our hearts. We gave them food, resources, Barbies… only to find out that the parents sold any gifts we gave them and even sold their own children. We went back month after month, pleading with the mother to let her kids go and let them come with us. Fast forward 1 year, June 2022, and we have the almost unbelievable news of sharing that all of those children are out of their parent’s evil grasp and into a safe, loving, Christian home. And furthermore, the two older girls have given their lives to Christ and been baptized!
We praise God for the protection of these children and many more children who would’ve otherwise fallen victim to this evil “father”.
As thrilled as we are that Edna and her siblings are currently safe, we know that the road ahead is still uphill. These kids have been exposed to horrors many of us will never have to see or experience. They have not known the love of their earthly parents, and in fact, have only known abuse, neglect and perversion by them. We know that nothing will be impossible with God (Luke 1:37), but that is still a road that needs to be walked. Each of these children require healing, nourishment (both physically and spiritually), continued safety. This will be accomplished by God’s grace through JPM’s financial support and fervent prayers!
November 2022
What a big different being greeted by “the Roatan Five” today vs. a year ago. We mutually know and love one another! Trust has been built over time. This investment will never return void. Praise God forevermore!
February 2023
Meet the woman who feeds and homes the Roatan Five and many other children!
June 2023
It brings tears to our eyes to see how well the Roatan Five siblings are doing. They love the Lord! Please continue to pray for their healing from abuse and trauma. Pray that they always seek the Lord in all they do! As they grow from children to adolescents to adults, Satan will do everything he can to steal them back, but they belong to Jesus!!!
September 2023
Miriam, Genesis, Eric, Cedric and Edna are all still stable, healthy and doing well! Despite continued attacks of the enemy, these kids are steady. Above all, we rejoice that they belong to Jesus.
Luke 10:19-20 says, “19 I have given you authority to trample on snakes and scorpions and to overcome all the power of the enemy; nothing will harm you. 20 However, do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names are written in heaven.”
We rejoice that the names of Miriam, Genesis, Eric, Cedric and Edna are written in heaven 🙌🏽!
