Haiti (MNN) — Haiti has always been a religious country, but since the quake in January, it's absolutely booming with spiritual curiosity.
CURE International was performing surgeries in Haiti almost as soon as the earthquake hit and has been working there since. CURE Senior Vice President Dale Brantner recently returned from Haiti, where he discovered that people are open to faith after this tragedy.
"We just found an overwhelming openness to pray," says Brantner. "Every day when coming back to the hospital, people seek you out saying, ‘You prayed for my child yesterday. Will you come back and please pray again today?'"
This openness is good, but Brantner says syncretism is great in Haiti as people try to connect voodoo with Christianity. After visiting mostly hospitals rather than homes, Brantner says it is hard to say if that is a large threat as Haitians turn their eyes to Christ right now. Either way, he is certain that Haiti is in a perfect place right now for rebuilding the country in a fresh way.
"Haiti has been shaken to the core, and there's an opportunity for them as a nation and for countries that aid this country, to help them build the right kind of infrastructure with integrity and purity. And the same is true of the Church."
Another obstacle to this growth, however, lies in the hands of the Muslim community. Brantner saw plenty of Christian aid while in Haiti, but "what I also saw was probably more aid from Islamic charity than I have ever seen in one place, and I traveled Afghanistan. I was surprised that in Haiti I was seeing so much Islamic aid."
People are ready to turn somewhere in regard to faith, and Brantner admits that it is a spiritual battleground in terms of who people will turn to. The opportunity to build the Church is great right now, but prayer is needed.
"I think there's a window of opportunity. My prayer is that the Church continues to follow through, that the Christian faith prevails, and that people see the reality of the love of Christ in all of this."
CURE has been ministering Christ's love to patients in Haiti since the quake and is working hard to bring children to get care in the CURE facility in Dominican Republic. Their hospital there is the best in the country. It will help many who need reconstructive surgery and who need to know the love of Christ. Click here to learn more about how you can help CURE help Haiti.
