Haiti (MNN) — Haitians are reaching their limit. Gangs are taking over more cities, leaving people with no option but to flee their homes. Roseline DeHart with For Haiti with Love says busloads of people are arriving daily in Cap-Haïtien, where her ministry is based.
“These people have left everything they had in Port-au-Prince. Some of them have just the clothes on their back they fled with,” she says.
Widespread demonstrations protesting gang activity are an outgrowth of an aching question: Can things in Haiti get any worse? DeHart says people are discouraged, fed up, and tired.
“They just pray that God will intervene and do something with Haiti with all these gangs because they can’t stand it anymore,” she says. “We try to help the ones we can.”
For Haiti With Love has been working in Cap-Haïtien for years, but the recent violence is unprecedented.
“This is the first time we’ve ever seen anything like this in Haiti,” DeHart says. The ministry has a reputation for refusing to abandon Haiti, come what may.
“God is really holding us together so we can continue to help them. And that is a big thing for them: knowing we will always be there for them,” DeHart says.
Practical help includes food assistance, a burn clinic, and housing help. 5,000 US dollars funds the building of a starter house for a single mother. DeHart says the ministry has built eight such houses so far, with three more on the way. It’s a sizable effort for a team operating alone for the last five years.
“Everybody’s afraid of going to Haiti now, so we haven’t had any team at all since 2020,” DeHart shares.
She puts her faith in God, whose protection she entrusts herself to as she and her team care for the poor. As they serve, sometimes people ask more about the One in whose name these deeds are done.
“That’s when the doors open and we tell them about the Gospel,” DeHart says.
Please pray for peace and God’s intervention in Haiti. Pray for the people who are suffering and discouraged. Pray that God would turn chaos into order and restore Haiti to a country of beauty and thriving.
Haitian boy. Courtesy of Tim Trad via Unsplash.
Header image courtesy of topshere via Unsplash
