Haiti (MNN) — Concerns over security and safety for missionaries in Haiti has been at the forefront of minds for ministry organizations like World Missionary Press following the murders of three gospel-workers in late May.
An American missionary couple, Davy and Natalie Lloyd, and a Haitian missions director Jude Montis were shot and killed by gang members in Haiti’s capital, Port-Au-Prince. The three served with an orphanage in Haiti amid abundant gang activity.
Helen Williams with World Missionary Press (WMP), an organization that produces and distributes Scripture booklets around the world, says that though there is concern for physical safety due to neighborhoods being taken over by gangs, mission work has not stopped.
“They are still staying by it and doing the work, so there is a sense of care, if you will, and awareness of their surroundings, but it hasn’t stopped them,” Williams says. “And they haven’t had to change what they’re doing.”
This has been encouraging to people in Haiti, Williams says, to see ministry organizations staying there and doing what they can, despite threats of violence.
In recent days, Haitians have seen 400 U.N.-backed foreign police from Kenya deployed in their country. This begins a multinational effort to stabilize the country from intense gang-control and violence.
“The Kenyans are evidently…sending in some people to help, and they’re hoping to stabilize the government a bit, so it might calm down a bit, and if it does, we really want to get more literature in there,” Williams says.
Recent attempts to bring WMP Scripture booklets to the country have been delayed as shipments of booklets have been gridlocked in Haitian ports, blocked by customs, and held up due to safety concerns.
In June, a shipment container from WMP to Haiti was finally released after two years of waiting.
These booklets have a direct impact on bringing people to Christ. From that shipment, at least ten people in Haiti made a profession of faith, Williams reported.
“Our primary contact, this ministry that has taken over the container, I’m sure that they’re willing to get more material in because they’ve been in Haiti for years and years and years,” Williams says.
A Bible verse frequently referenced by partners in Haiti is Isaiah 55:11: “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth, it shall not return unto me void, but it shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing wherein to I sent it.”
Partners distributing WMP booklets cling to this Scripture, Williams says, as it sums up the very mission of WMP.
“You know, sometimes we take that lightly, but sometimes that’s the hope that you’ve got, that you hang on to,” Williams says. “The Lord is going to honor his word, and so we keep giving it out.”
Pray that future shipments of Scripture booklets sent out by WMP to Haiti are received quickly and distributed safely.
To learn more about WMP and their work in countries like Haiti, or to donate to the creation of Scripture booklets, visit wmppress.org.
Header image courtesy of Heather Suggitt via Unsplash
