A note from Alix
I am completely humbled by the outpouring of support and prayer for myself and my sweet baby both during and following our time in captivity. God was so very present in the fire with us and I pray that when I find the words to tell our story, that the mighty name of Jesus may be glorified and many people will come to know his love. Thank you all from the depths of my heart for your love.
This song, See a Victory, (Elevation Music) was my battle cry during the most difficult moments. There’s a part that says, “You take what the enemy meant for evil, and you turn it for good.” And that is what he is already doing and will continue to do.
-Alix Dorsainvil
On Tuesday, August 8th Alix and her daughter were released healthy and unharmed after 13 days of captivity. We could not be more thankful for the safety of our dear sister, friend, and staff member. Alix is a remarkably resilient woman whose walk with God guides her deep love for her family and her passionate commitment to the Haitian people.
Throughout this ordeal, God demonstrated His lovingkindness through our trusted relationship partners in support of Alix and her family. Through these partners and resources, the Lord proved Himself to be holy, faithful, present, just, merciful, all-knowing, loving, good, and glorious.
Sandro and Alix believe that the hope of Haiti rests in Jesus’ work in the rising generation. The El Roi Haiti ministry was born out of Sandro’s desire to bring the transforming love of Jesus to his community by meeting spiritual, physical, and emotional needs of Haiti’s youth.
Sandro’s and Alix’s impact in the community was reflected in the people’s response to Alix’s kidnapping as thousands of Haitians united their voices and risked their lives to march for the release of Alix and her child as well as other Haitian captives. To the many people and communities in Haiti that expressed support for Alix and her daughter during this time, we want to say thank you for the courage you’ve shown in the midst of your own challenges.
The Bible tells us if we are to boast, we should boast in the Lord (2 Corinthians 10:17). We at El Roi Haiti are delighted to boast of how good our God is as He clearly demonstrated His love, grace, and mercy through so many who stood faithful and firm, championing the plight of Alix and her child until the Lord delivered them both to freedom.
Thank you to the many who have encouraged and supported Sandro and Alix and the El Roi Haiti team; we are grateful for each of you.
“But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:57).
It is with a heart of gratitude and immense joy that we at El Roi Haiti confirm the safe release of our staff member and friend, Alix Dorsainvil and her child who were held hostage in Port au Prince, Haiti. Today we are praising God for answered prayer!
We are so thankful for everyone who joined us in prayer and supported us during this crisis. “El Roi” is a Hebrew name of the God of the Bible that means “the God who sees.” It is with that vision that we now rest upon God’s truth that, “In his kindness God called you to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after you have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen you, and he will place you on a firm foundation” (1 Peter 5:10). We praise God that He has proven Himself faithful as He restores, supports, and strengthens Alix and her family, the ministry of El Roi Haiti, and the community that Alix has impacted - and continues to impact - with her ministry in Haiti.
There is still much to process and to heal from in this situation, so we are asking that no attempts be made to contact Alix or her family at this time. We will continue to release information as appropriate on our website. Please keep checking back. And again, thanks for all of the prayers and support through this incredibly difficult time. www.elroihaiti.com
El Roi is a Hebrew name of God found in the Bible, in the book of Genesis chapter 16. In her desperate state a suffering woman calls God “The God who sees me.” We serve a loving and compassionate God who sees our suffering. He sees it now as we ache for news of Alix and her daughter’s safe release, He sees Alix and her daughter as they wait for freedom, and He sees the struggle of our Haitian friends who suffer daily. We have this promise found in 1 Peter 5:10 that He not only sees our suffering but “In his kindness God called [us] to share in His eternal glory by means of Christ Jesus. So after [we] have suffered a little while, He will restore, support, and strengthen [us], and He will place [us] on a firm foundation.”
We are at the one-week mark of Alix and her daughter’s kidnapping. Many tears have been shed this week but we, together with our team, are working and praying continuously to bring them home safely, and we continue to hold onto hope. We are so thankful for the very knowledgeable and experienced professionals God has brought together to complete the task of securing their freedom.
We continue to ask that no attempts be made to contact the family for comment at this time. We will continue to update and share information as we can on our website at www.elroihaiti.org.
Thank you for your continued support and compassion during this on-going situation. We are thankful for each word of encouragement, each prayer, and each kind word.
We are now entering day 5 since our dear friend, Alix, and her daughter were kidnapped from our El Roi Haiti ministry site near Port au Prince. We continue to work diligently with authorities and partners in the United States and Haiti to secure their freedom. Many people are laboring for their return, but currently we cannot share more specific details. We are so thankful for all of the support that has been shown. Please continue to pray with us for the protection and freedom of Alix and her daughter. As our hearts break for this situation, we also continue to pray for the country and people of Haiti and for freedom from the suffering they endure daily.
Alix has been on staff with El Roi Haiti as a school nurse since 2020 and married our ministry director in 2021. She first visited Haiti soon after the 2010 earthquake while she was in college and fell in love with the people. She spent her breaks and summers taking trips back to the country. Once she started working as a nurse she would save money and then self-fund all of her trips to Haiti, going as often as she could. She had lived in Haiti for multiple years, showing love and care in a variety of ways before coming on staff with us, but has had a heart for the hurting since she was a child. She seeks people out to show them love and compassion, and no one is excluded from receiving her kindness. Alix lives a life following in the footsteps of Jesus as she obeys the Biblical command found in Mark 12:30 to "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength….and to love your neighbor as yourself.”
We have committed this situation to God knowing that He is good, so until Alix and her daughter are safely returned to us we will do as it says in Psalm 27:14 “Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.”
Please continue to refrain from speculating on social media about this situation in order to protect Alix and her daughter during this time. We also ask that you direct all requests, comments, questions to the El Roi Haiti board and not to Alix’s friends and family as this is a very sensitive situation and difficult for all who are involved. We will continue to update our website as we are able. Please check here: Blog - El Roi Haiti for accurate information.
Our team at El Roi Haiti is grateful for the outpouring of prayers, care, and support for our colleague. We continue to work with our partners and trusted relationships to secure their safe return.
We can confirm that Alix Dorsainvil, our Director’s wife, and their child were kidnapped on the morning of Thursday, July 27th from our campus near Port au Prince while serving in our community ministry.
Alix is a deeply compassionate and loving person who considers Haiti her home and the Haitian people her friends and family. Alix has worked tirelessly as our school and community nurse to bring relief to those who are suffering as she loves and serves the people of Haiti in the name of Jesus.
Thank you for your support and compassion during this on-going situation. We would request that no attempts be made to contact the family for comment at this time. We will continue to update and share information as we can on our website at www.elroihaiti.org.
Please refrain from speculating on social media about this situation in order to protect Alix and her child during this time.
We continue to trust in Jesus Christ who is faithful, even in these very difficult circumstances. We are asking people to pray and cry out to Him, that He would hold our friends safely in His hands and place a hedge of protection around them as He makes their path straight back to us and to freedom.
Urgent Prayer Request
On Thursday, July 27th one of our El Roi Haiti staff members was kidnapped from our campus where they were serving the community near Port au Prince. We are entrusting this to our mighty God who sees, knows, and cares.
Currently we are working with key relationships and strategic partners to ensure their safe return. But now, more than ever, our hope is in Jesus Christ who holds each of us steadfast in His hands.
We will continue to post updates on our website as appropriate and relevant.
That said, we have been advised to ask that people refrain from speculating on social media about this situation in order to protect the process and the safety of our staff member.
Please pray and cry out to Jesus, that He would hold our friends safely in His hands and place a hedge of protection around them as He makes their path straight back to us and to freedom.
Despite all of the uncertainty, fear, and challenges plaguing the country, this month our students started back at school a few days a week. On the alternating days, we open the campus for a hot meal distribution. Due to massive inflation, scarce fuel, and often dangerous, impassable streets, Haiti is facing famine and our community is hungry. It is a blessing to be able to share the love of Jesus with our neighbors in a tangible way.
Training at Extollo International
In July, El Roi Haiti sponsored 18 young men from our community to attend hands-on trainings at Extollo International. One group learned masonry, while the other group took a course in welding. We received reports of how well they all did (100% pass rate), and many of them even received accolades for special accomplishments. When we begin building the church later on in the summer, we will select a few of these young men to join the construction team. We are very proud of their hard work!
Summer Camp 2022
Summer camp at El Roi Academy began this week after a two year break due to insecurity and the pandemic. We started strong with over 300 kids participating, and we anticipate that more will sign up each day as word spreads. Over the next two weeks, children and young adults in our community will play games, color, learn to make crafts, sandals, shampoo, decorations, bracelets, and more, learn to type, learn about electrical work, sing, dance, perform skits, hear about the love of Jesus, and so much more. Every day of camp, these kids will also receive breakfast and lunch. The joy on campus is palpable. While life in Haiti has become more and more difficult over the last few years, summer camp gives the youth in our community a place to come and just be kids, and we are so grateful to be a part of that.
Back to School!
We are so excited that our kids have finally returned to school this week. According to Sandro, it is taking everyone a bit to get back into the regular routine, but everyone is glad to be back, glad to have a meal every day, glad to be safe. Although things have calmed down the problems that induced the riots have not gone away. We need to continue to pray for Haiti, for its government, for hearts to turn to Jesus.
1 Timothy 2:1-3 says “I urge, then, first of all, that petitions, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for all people— for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all people to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth.”
Clean Water for Our Community!
“Less than 50% of Haitian households have access to safe water, and only 25% percent benefit from adequate sanitation.” - restavekfreedom.org
Strategic Water Teams just returned for the second time to our school to install a purification system on our well! We are so grateful to them and the ministry they provide. For our school and community to have CLEAN drinking water available is amazing.
Here is the report from Hugh McCulloch of SWAT:
“Our team arrived at the school Wednesday morning January 16 to access the site and determine what was required. Since the school already has a submersible pump in the well our installation went better than normal. Half the team prepped the tank site while the other half went to purchase a 400 gallon tank, pvc pipe, and a 75’ hose. We had purchased a 12 volt battery and charger previously. There was a sufficient quantity of concrete block on site to build a base for the tank. A manifold was assembled.
It took one hour to fill the tank. Once the tank was filled we began training Sandro and Anerold to assemble and operate the purifier. It took one hour and 13 minutes to reach a chlorine level of 5ppm which is required to kill the bacteria. While we waited two hours to let the chlorine do it’s job we disassembled, dried and stored the purifier. We also took advantage of the time to interact with some of the children.
At 4:00 pm we all gathered around the tank and gave thanks for the successful installation and clean water. Then we all drank. We asked Sandro to distribute the clean water to the community so that we could refill and retrain the following day.
We returned Thursday morning for retraining Sandro and Anerold where we basically have them assemble, operate, and disassemble the purifier. They performed all of the tasks with minimal instruction. Following the retraining we certified Sandro and Anerold as water specialists.
Two of the team members conducted health and hygiene training with two groups of the younger students using props to show the importance of proper hand washing and how germs can be spread. We also presented Sandro with some soap and washcloths and toothpaste and brushes to distribute to those in most need. Also gave the school a soccer ball and pump.
In summary the installation and training went very well and we are confident that the equipment will be well maintained.”
