Meet Batsy. Batsy is one of the hardest workers we have ever met. His story is incredibly sad and inspirational at the same time. As he fought back tears, he explained to us that his parents, not having enough money, sold him into slavery when he was young. He grew up his entire childhood away from his family. For 8 years he was forced to beg on the streets and to bring back 500 cfa (the equivalent of 90 cents) each evening to his master before sundown. On the days that he failed to do this he would be seriously beaten.

Finally, he couldn’t take it anymore, so he ran away from his master. One of the lucky ones, Batsy was never caught and remained free. He met an American family who sent him to French school but, having never learned to read or write, he quickly failed at that. So, they came up with an idea to help Batsy learn how to run a small business buying and selling fruits and vegetables.

Once he became an adult, he was no longer required to run from his master. Now Batsy has a fruit stand, a motorcycle for delivery, and a good clientele base. He recently decided to follow Jesus and has amazing joy in his heart. His goal is to tell as many people as possible about the love of Jesus and how they can experience true freedom. We have the honor of discipling Batsy through the Bible each week and hope to help him learn English which would give him more business opportunities.