Pastor Pedro’s Story
The night compassion became a calling
After the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, Pastor Pedro saw children sleeping along the streets. He could not walk past them and forget what he had seen.
Read His Story Help a ChildWhere It Began
A Disaster Across the Border
On January 12, 2010, a devastating earthquake struck Haiti. Homes collapsed, families were separated, and countless people were left searching for food, work, and somewhere safe to sleep.
As families began crossing into the Dominican Republic, Pastor Pedro witnessed the human cost of the disaster firsthand. Among those arriving were boys who had lost their homes and, in some cases, their families.
The Children He Could Not Forget
Sleeping Along the Streets
Pastor Pedro saw boys sleeping outdoors near Barahona. Some curled up beside small fires for warmth. Others slept directly on the ground, exposed to the weather and whatever dangers the night might bring.
He thought about them when he returned home. Had they eaten? Were they safe? Would anyone notice if something happened to them during the night?
The need was far greater than anything Pastor Pedro or his church could meet alone. But once he had looked into the faces of these children, doing nothing no longer felt acceptable.
He began to understand that God was not simply showing him a problem. God was placing a calling before him.
Prayer could not become an excuse for standing still. These children needed someone to act.
A Simple Question
“What More Can I Do?”
The church prayed for the children and discussed how they might help. These boys needed more than an occasional meal. They needed a safe home, an education, the love of a family, and the opportunity to learn about Jesus.
Around that time, a man from Kentucky named Bill Hayes came to visit. Bill began by helping the church build latrines. Then one afternoon, he sat down with Pastor Pedro and asked a simple question:
“What more can I do?”
Pastor Pedro shared the vision that had been growing in his heart: a home where children could be taken off the streets, given food and protection, receive an education, and learn the Word of God. It would be a place where children who had survived so much could finally feel safe enough to be children.
Building the mission house that would become a home for the boys
God Provides
A Gift That Started the Work
Bill returned to his hotel that night. Pastor Pedro did not know what Bill would do with the vision he had shared.
The following morning, Bill returned with a check for $35,000. He told Pastor Pedro that God had spoken to him.
Pastor Pedro had not expected help to come so quickly. He showed the check to his wife, and together they brought it before the church and their engineer.
Then the work began.
Teams came from Florida and worked alongside the local church. They broke ground, moved dirt beneath the Caribbean sun, and began laying the foundation for a home that once seemed impossible.
Everyone expected construction to take at least six years. God had other plans.
Another Door Opens
Finishing What Had Been Started
While the second floor was still under construction, a man from a Presbyterian church in Mississippi came to help. After looking at the unfinished building, he asked how much money would be needed to complete it.
The engineer’s answer was $275,000.
It was an enormous amount. The man called his daughter, a pediatrician who had adopted a child from Kenya. She understood what giving a child a home could mean and donated $50,000 that same day.
Her father then asked for one month. Thirty days later, he called Pastor Pedro and told him the entire $275,000 had been raised.
Helping Hands was completed through the faithfulness of ordinary people who listened when God called them to act.
The Doors Open
Six Boys and a New Beginning
In 2012, the mission house opened its doors. The first six boys came inside and began a new chapter in their lives.
Word spread from person to person. More children came, each carrying a different story of loss, hardship, or uncertainty. Helping Hands became more than a shelter. It became their home.
Over the years, some of those first boys have completed college. Others are still studying or learning trades that will help them support themselves and their future families.
One young man who arrived without a family or a clear future learned to play guitar and now helps lead worship. His story is one reminder that this ministry was never primarily about constructing a building.
It was about rebuilding lives.
More Than a Place to Sleep
A Home Built Around Their Future
Pastor Pedro’s original vision continues to guide Helping Hands today. Every child needs safety, but he also needs the tools, faith, and encouragement to build a meaningful life.
A Safe Home
The boys receive food, clothing, daily care, stability, guidance, and a place where they belong.
An Education
Helping Hands provides access to school, tutoring, practical training, and opportunities to prepare for adulthood.
A Foundation of Faith
The boys learn that their circumstances do not define their worth and that God has not forgotten them.
The Calling Continues
Why Pastor Pedro Still Says Yes
The work has never been easy. Many of the children Helping Hands serves are Haitian, and some face obstacles because of where they were born. When a child cannot attend a public school, the ministry must find another way. Sometimes that means paying for private education or bringing in teachers directly.
The needs require money, time, patience, and constant prayer. But Pastor Pedro has never forgotten the children he saw sleeping along the streets after the earthquake.
Helping Hands exists because he and the church decided that compassion had to become action. It exists because people from different places heard about the need and chose to help.
Most importantly, it exists so that children who once faced the night alone can grow up knowing they are safe, valued, loved, and never forgotten by God.
Become Part of the Story
Help Us Continue What Pastor Pedro Began
Your prayers and support help provide a safe Christian home, education, practical training, and a hopeful future for the children of Helping Hands Orphanage.
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