Haiti (MNN) — Gangs in Haiti are spreading north from Port-au-Prince. On October 3rd, gangs brutally killed at least 115 people in one central Haiti town and displaced thousands.
Roseline DeHart with For Haiti With Love says even though Kenyan peacekeeper forces arrived this summer, things have only grown worse. The northern city of Cap-Haitien is being inundated by people desperate for relief from the killings, abductions and hunger that have marked Haiti this year.
“People are on the streets, sleeping on the streets. They can’t eat, so they always come to our headquarters at For Haiti With Love, looking for food, for housing,” DeHart says.
(Photo of clinic courtesy For Haiti With Love)
Nearly half of the nation’s 11.7 million people face acute hunger, according to a September 30 report from the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification. Among that half, 2 million are experiencing emergency levels of hunger — that means malnutrition and disease are present dangers because of extreme food shortages.
For Haiti has continued to give out food and medical care as well as share the gospel of Christ.
“When they come into the clinic, we always tell them about Jesus, about God, [and] if they would like to change their life, here’s what they need to do,” DeHart says.
“Sometimes they listen and sometimes they don’t, and then they go. Sometimes they come back asking to know more about Jesus.”
The For Haiti team doesn’t ask questions of those who come to them for help. But they know there’s some risk involved in the work.
(For Haiti With Love’s headquarters, courtesy of For Haiti With Love)
“We never know who is coming up, who the people are [that are] looking for shelter. Some of them might be part of the gangs. Sometimes the gang sends up their family first, and then they come later. So security is a big problem,” DeHart says.
“We try to do what we can, but the main thing [is] we just pray up, keep praying.”
Ask God for the team’s protection. Consider supporting For Haiti’s work as the hands and feet of Christ to a people in crisis.
“[Haitians] do need help. They’re very poor. They have nothing,” DeHart says. “We want to be able to continue to help. We need donations to do that.”
Connect with For Haiti With Love at www.forhaitiwithlove.org.
Header photo of Cap-Haitien courtesy of For Haiti With Love.
