Thugs roam the streets due to the overall gang control over Haiti

With all our traveling in visiting family, I’ve fallen behind in posting about what’s going on in Haiti. Things have heated up again and the opposition has been using gangs to block roads by burning tires and using intimidation. These gangs were formed under Jean-Bertrand Aristide’s presidency and they make sure to keep a tight rope around the necks of Haiti’s civilians by striking fear into their hearts. While we have come face to face with this type of intimidation many times, we also know another side of Haiti. The folks we work with on a day-to-day basis are upstanding citizens who are only trying to eek out a living by tending a garden or do other things like teaching students, or maybe they are students themselves.

One such student whom we are sending to a university in Limbé (about 45 min. outside of Cap Haitian) was the target of emboldened folks who are taking advantage of the terrorizing of this little country — only on a local level. Clodain Joseph receives money from Rehoboth to help him make the trek to Limbé to study. The money covers his lunch as well as the fuel it takes for his motorcycle to get him there and back. Clodain was in church on Sunday when someone broke into his room. Fortunately, he took his motorcycle with him and had his laptop on his back. The money he had in his room was $1700 H ($93 US). He had also bought some gallons of gasoline due to the rising fuel prices and stored them in his room as well. Thieves broke in and took it all. It is very disheartening to give precious resources to help someone and equally disheartening on their part to work so hard and have a setback like this one. From now one, he will have to leave his money or anything else inside our church compound or at our compound where we live. Such is life in Haiti.

These university students work very hard. Clodain is halfway through his studies in Agronomy. He has two years to go. We can say he is exemplary in every way and we are proud to be helping him. He always thanks us profusely for helping to provide an education for him that he knew he could have never secured otherwise. He also struggles with epilepsy and is on medication. Would you please cover Clodain and the others with your prayers of protection and provision? Ask the Lord to hide them under the shadow of His wings. Your prayers mean so much to us!