The Current Situation in Haiti – March 24, 2019
I’m sure most of you have heard by now about the recent unrest in Haiti – I’ve got a few updates to share re: current conditions, some of them good news and some of them bad news.
The first piece of good news is that, to the best of our knowledge, none of our immediate friends in Haiti have been seriously harmed in any of the recent events. The bad news is, as many of you are aware, we’ve had to temporarily postpone the two trips we were intending to make in February and March.
A BIG piece of good news is that our assistance with food and housing for the St. Michel Orphanage has been completely unaffected, and we’ve been able to proceed with our plans to have a well put in at the new orphanage site.
Lastly – and I guess you’d call this “mixed” news: Even though things have calmed down significantly in Haiti since all this started on Feb 7, the Haitian people as a whole are still in serious crisis. To illustrate: There’s a U.S. based 501(c)3 called Mission of Grace, which has a fairly large compound in the village of Carries, which lies right on the Ocean Highway about an hour north of Port-au-Prince.
The following was posted on the Mission of Grace website sometime late last night – it’s pretty chilling, but definitely drives home the seriousness of the situation, and points to some specific things I hope all of us will be praying about:
“Our American and Canadian volunteers and the people we serve are under attack by armed gunmen who come down from the mountains at night, and sometimes during the day, terrorizing the unarmed, unprotected villagers, our staff, and the people in our care. Since the crisis in Haiti intensified this February, last Sunday night (Mar 17) our clinic which provides free services to ALL was burned along with one of the houses close by. This past Saturday night (Mar 16), about 70 armed men came down from the mountains with open gunfire. They burned 7 homes, 4 of which were built by Mission of Grace, and captured several villagers. One person has been killed since all of the unrest began. A meeting with leaders in the village, the police, and some political officials took place and they promised that they will send help to protect the people, but no help has arrived.
“Currently, we have evacuated some 170 children and staff from the orphanage and 15+ elderly and staff from the elderly home. Everyone evacuated is being housed in the lobby restaurant of a nearby hotel where the American and Canadian volunteers and other missionaries stay. Our school, the orphanage, the elderly home, our single mothers’ home, soup kitchen, and church are all in the mountain community unprotected and vulnerable to attacks from this gang of men.
“In the nine years Mission of Grace has existed, millions of American and Canadian dollars have gone into the improvement of the lives of the people in Carries. The buildings that are being burnt were built with your support, the homes that are being destroyed were built because you saw a global need and came together to help provide shelter to the homeless in Haiti. Let us continue to stand for justice and speak out for the voiceless.
“Today, we are sounding the alarm and asking for help to STOP these senseless attacks in the village of Carries where Mission of Grace serves.
“We have canceled all of our visiting teams for March and April.
“Please continue to pray with us! Please continue to stand with us! Pray for the restoration of Haiti! Pray for the hearts of the people! Pray for the heart of the government! Pray that through all of these hardships, God’s name will be proclaimed!
“Thank you again for your continued support and prayers for Mission of Grace during this difficult time. We are standing because of the Grace of God. We are standing because you are praying for us and supporting us.”
