Haiti (MNN) — A gang attacked the Haitian community of Arcahaie October 9. No casualties were immediately reported, but it came just a week after another gang killed 115 people in the town of Pont-Sondè.
Photo shows Port-au-Prince, Haiti. (Photo by Robin Canfield on Unsplash)
It’s part of an increasingly grim outlook for Haiti. More than 700,000 Haitians are internally displaced, more than 110,000 from the ongoing violence this year alone. What’s more, authorities estimate 30 percent of gang members in Haiti are actually children, recruited for combat, cooking, housekeeping or worse. Many kids join gangs because they need food. Others have no family and no other options.
Dierf* serves with Every Man a Warrior, a discipleship ministry of Trans World Radio. When necessary, he has made the risky journey into Port-au-Prince, which continues to be nearly 80 percent controlled by gangs.
“The only way to cross the road [to Port-au-Prince] is to meet them on the road [with them carrying] heavy guns,” says Dierf. “They ask you to pay a fee in order to be able to cross and if drivers do not want to pay that fee, they may be killed or kidnapped.”
(Photo courtesy of Every Man a Warrior, a ministry of Trans World Radio.)
One pastor connected with Every Man a Warrior was kidnapped last week while traveling to a ministry event. There’s been no word of him since then.
Haiti has been in an increasing spiral since February, when a series of jailbreaks led to a surge of gang domination. Today, nearly 400 Kenyan troops are stationed in Haiti, ostensibly on a mission to restore order. Six hundred additional troops from Kenya are preparing to join them next month. But Dierf says the soldiers have been ineffective.
“What the population is looking for is basically for them to engage in a fight against the gang members. But we don’t see that happening,” Dierf explains.
“We hope for that, because that’s the only way we can have a solution with the gang violence here in Haiti.”
In the midst of this national unrest, Every Man a Warrior disciples Haitian men on how to have personal time with God, lead their wives and children well, endure suffering and be sexually pure. The two men who lead the ministry in Haiti and the men they serve need your prayers.
“Pray for protection and safety as we travel across Haiti,” Dierf says. “Second, for God to raise up a new generation of men who would embrace the idea of going and [making] disciples and [understanding] the Great Commission.”
Pray also for Pastor Alix, who went missing last week.
This article has been corrected to indicate that gangs attacked Arcahaie October 9, not October 10.
Header photo of Haitians is a representative stock photo courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash.
