“Haiti has been experiencing a nightmare for a long time, and in the past few days, it has gotten worse. What if it doesn’t change? We are anxious and feeling helpless, powerless, yet standing firm. God is our only defense."
The situation in Haiti has been bad and worsening for some time, but events in and around Port-au-Prince throughout this past week have taken the violence and insecurity to a new level.
As the acting Prime Minister - Ariel Henry's - "interim" term recently came to a close and no apparent steps have been taken to put a new government in place, the people of Haiti are generally unhappy. The numerous gangs of Haiti - who now control more than 80% of Port-au-Prince - have purportedly aligned themselves in order to force the Prime Minister out. As Ariel Henry was attempting to return to Haiti after attending a CARICOM (Caribbean Community) meeting and going to Kenya to encourage the government there to send troops to Haiti as part of a U.N. Secuity Council intervention, the gang activity escalated. The airport has been a key target with the outside of the terminal and even a plane apparently coming under gunfire. In addition, raids on two prisons led to the escape of thousands of inmates and several police stations have been destroyed.
Several thousand residents of Port-au-Prince have fled the area in the past week alone (Estimates are that there are up to 400,000 internally displaced people now in Haiti.). The rest of the population in and around the capital is basically sheltering in place. As gangs control the roads which are needed to transport goods and materials to the rest of the country, supplies are limited and costs are skyrocketing (as gangs have to be paid off in order to get supply trucks through) for everyone throughout the country of Haiti...not to mention the mounting stress and fear they are experiencing.
Pastor Giraud leads a large church that GlobalFingerprints and ReachGlobal have partnered with for many years. After the violence broke out earlier this week, he spoke with Jennifer Blevins, GlobalFingerprints Site Coordinator for Haiti.
"Today there was a lot of trouble in the area. It was a big war between the police and the gangs. The gangs even took control of the police station in Portail Leogane (the neighborhood where the church is located...as well as a major bus station for people going in and out of Port-au-Prince from the west and south). I don't know how tomorrow will be. Only, like many other people who went through today, it affected me a lot. Things are very difficult, but we are continuing to trust God. He is faithful. It is He who is protecting us!"
The GlobalFingerprints Haiti Program Manager also shared saying:
"Oh yes! Things were terrible today! When I was going home today, I understood and realized how so many people were in shock. Even though they were in their cars in areas that weren't too dangerous, they were crying because the things that happened today traumatized them. And they were saying it is the first time something like that has happened to them. It is very grave/serious. Me, too, I am shocked as well. What happened today wasn't a little thing. But God is gracious."
GlobalFingerprints staff and ReachGlobal's ministry partner, STEP seminary, are currently safe, but they are in desperate need of our prayers.
- Please pray for an end to this violence and for steps to be taken to put a new, effective government in place.
- Please pray for God's protection and provision for our ministry partners and friends, as well as the children and families in the GlobalFingerprints program.
- Pray for the ministry of the Church in Haiti to continue.
- And, finally, pray that God would be their Light in the midst of this darkness, their Salvation in the face of death all around them, and their Peace when they are feeling distressed.