Haiti (MNN) — What do you do when gangs in Haiti might be just a couple of streets away? If you’re the local staff at Christian World Outreach (CWO), you’ve had to consider that question. Their main office has a feminine training center, a feeding center for kids, and a church. It’s located right by Delmas 30, the Port-au-Prince neighborhood that suffered a brutal gang attack on February 26.
Women learning sewing skills at a feminine training center (Photo courtesy of Christian World Outreach)
Greg Yoder with CWO says that even though armed security forces are in the capital too, “not much has changed in Port au Prince itself, as far as reducing the risk of doing ministry right there.”
But he says Haitians are resilient. “The women want to come to the classes for the feminine training center. The people still come to church, and the kids still come to the feeding program,” he says.
“If [the violence] gets too close, we just don’t have classes, we don’t hold the feeding program, we won’t hold church. But they (local staff) continue to want to do ministry, share the gospel. Our hope is that gang members come to know the Lord through us being there and the Haitian people being resilient, and pastors still ministering to people, and teachers still speaking into women’s lives.”
Yoder says their ministry in Port-au-Prince will end only if gangs take over the property — and even if the Lord allows that worst-case scenario, ministry outside of the capital will go on. He explains that a network of churches in the countryside is standing united.
“The churches in the countryside are still able to meet, and they are coming together,” he says.
A church in Haiti (Courtesy of Christian World Outreach via Facebook)
One of the ways these churches support one another is through a “Harvest Feast.” Part of that gathering is families bringing produce from their gardens.
“They use that [produce] to sell — the church does — to help support the church, but they also help by giving to people in need. Some of those people may be people that are displaced because of the gang violence in Port au Prince,” Yoder says.
“They want to help each other. I’ve seen that happen where they take offerings and help support the need of another church. It’s a true picture of what Christianity should be about as we work together to share the gospel.”
Please pray for protection for CWO staff, church attendees and class participants in Haiti’s ongoing crises so that gospel ministry can continue in Port-au-Prince.
“If people have a heart to give, give financially, so we can continue to do ministry. Costs have gone up for everything.”
Learn more here about how Christian World Outreach is making a difference for Christ.
Header photo from 2020 of a suburb of Port-au-Prince called Petionville (Photo courtesy of Reynaldo Mirault via Unsplash)
