A Place to Belong
Stories from the Field · September 17, 2026 · 3 min read
Just up the hill from Jesus Loves Me Children’s Center sits a village of colorful homes filled with families whose stories look a little different, but whose need to be known and loved is the same.
This is His Safe Haven.
His Safe Haven was created from the belief that every child is made in the image of God and has immeasurable value, regardless of physical or mental ability. In a culture where disability can still carry deep stigma, that belief shapes everything happening within this village.
Rather than creating an institutional orphanage, His Safe Haven has created families. Widowed women are welcomed into the village as trained foster mothers and given homes where they raise children with special needs as their own. Over time, these homes become places where children experience the consistency and love of family.
Recently, some of those families gathered for family pictures, offering a beautiful glimpse into what His Safe Haven was created to be. Each photograph reflects the heart of a home where a child who may have once been overlooked is growing up with the deep assurance that they belong.
That same care carries into the everyday life of the village. Children receive support designed around their individual needs, including physical therapy that helps them work toward progress at their own pace. A milestone that may seem small to someone else can represent months of work for a child at His Safe Haven, making each step forward worth celebrating.
The village is also supported by people who understand the unique medical and nutritional needs of the children who live there. With Jesus Loves Me Children’s Center located just down the hill, additional pediatric care is also close when it is needed.
But some of the most important work happening through His Safe Haven reaches far beyond the children who call the village home.
Families travel from communities across Liberia to participate in outreach, sometimes making extraordinary journeys simply to get there. One mother walked eight hours to attend for a single day.
For some parents, the beliefs surrounding disability in their communities have shaped the way they understand their own child. They may arrive unsure of what their child’s future can look like or whether they are capable of providing the care their child needs.
At His Safe Haven, they hear a different message.
Their child is not a curse. Their child was created in the image of God and has value.
That truth is paired with support that helps parents better understand how to care for their child at home. The hope is not simply to help a family for one day, but to give them what they need to return home seeing their child differently and feeling more equipped for what comes next.
For some children, that can change the course of their lives.
When parents feel supported in caring for a child with special needs, children who may otherwise have been abandoned have the opportunity to remain with their families. And as those families return home with a different understanding of disability, change begins to reach into communities where these children have too often been overlooked.
His Safe Haven began with the belief that these children deserve more than a safe place to live. They deserve to grow up knowing they have value.
Today, you can see that belief taking shape throughout the village and reaching far beyond it. It is there in the family homes and in the parents who make long journeys to outreach because they are searching for a different future for their child.
His Safe Haven is helping create that future, one family at a time.
With LOVE.Addie JoslinContent Coordinator
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