Travel to Haiti has been suspended for the past three months due to gang activity. American Airlines cancelled my scheduled flights in March, April and May. The next date they plan to attempt flights into Haiti is June 15, 2024. I have a ticket for the week after that, though with the news we received this week regarding missionaries in Haiti being killed and our government recommending all our citizens leave Haiti, we will reevaluate the situation closer to the travel date.

 

News media has largely ignored Haiti for the past two months as little changed from week to week. There has been some progress as a seven-person interim government was selected and tasked with the challenge of regaining control of the country and conducting a democratic election no later than February 2025. We have been told the long-promised help from Kenya finally started arriving this week in the form of 50 police officers early in the week, to be followed by 150 more before the end of this week. Perhaps as many as 500 Kenyan police will arrive before the country is back under government control.

We were also told that the USA has sent five military aircraft and thirty military ground vehicles to help by equipping the Haitian police with better equipment than the gangs. Reportedly, the local gangs have begun to realize their days are numbered. Many low-level gang members have turned in their guns and prominent gang leaders have tried that approach as well, though the response they received when they asked for forgiveness/amnesty was that they could look forward instead to capture, prosecution, and the eventual elimination of all gangs.

Daniel believes that in two or three more weeks the situation in Haiti should be vastly improved and the airport should be back to full operation and under government control. All glory to God!

Haiti is normally hot, even by Haitian standards, in July, August and September, but Pastor Daniel told me this week that temperatures there are unseasonably hot; so hot the children cannot even sleep inside our building at night. Fever is widespread and several of our children have been hospitalized with severe symptoms. The main well pump for our water supply gave out this week, but we were able to find a better pump and have improved the overall design of the system, which should increase the useful life of the new pump.

In our most recent newsletter, we mentioned the new Bible College we have begun as a special project to help educate local pastors. We named it H.E.L.P. (Haitians Equipping Laymen and Pastors). There are many local pastors eager to begin official training, and we have four qualified teachers and an administrator in place waiting for the arrival of training materials. Shipping training materials into Haiti has been delayed due the unrest and temporary elimination of trusted forms of shipping. Even DHL has refused to deliver packages to Haiti since March 15^th.  If no other shipping option becomes available, I will put the course material in my luggage to carry there on my next trip.

The Bible College, though urgently needed, is a departure from our main mission to the orphans, and we are trusting for God to connect us with additional forms of support to make this training possible. Please agree with us in prayer that God will provide for this increased need for funds.

The children and staff at Divine Ministries in Hope For Children send their deep-felt thanks and appreciation for your continued love and support which makes it possible for them to survive the severe conditions they face every day in Haiti.

Sincerely,

Mark Gillette, TeamOne27