Last week, 400 police officers from Kenya landed in Haiti, the first move in a United Nations–backed operation to try to stabilize the country. Over the last 18 months, Haitian gangs have kidnapped hundreds, killed thousands, and forced hundreds of thousands from their homes.
In February, while then prime minister Ariel Henry was out of the country asking the Kenyans for international help, gangs stormed Haiti’s two largest prisons and released more than 4,000 inmates. They attacked the international airport in Port-au-Prince, grounding flights for nearly three months. And they looted the port, effectively blocking the capital from its last source of international aid.
The U.S. began airlifting Americans out of the country.
“Most missionaries left then,” said Mission to the World missionary Esaïe Etienne. A Haitian himself, he moved to the U.S. with his family in 1991. Two years later, he met a Haitian pastor planting a Presbyterian Church in America congregation.
“That’s how I learned my Westminster Confession of Faith,” he said. After graduating from Reformed Theological Seminary in Orlando, he began ministering to Haitians in Florida, then moved back to Haiti. He and his wife now live in the Dominican Republic and make regular visits back to their homeland.
“I’m not sure how many missionaries are left now,” he said. Two who opted to stay were shot by gangs last month.
“Especially since February, things have escalated to a different level,” Etienne said.
The Gospel Coalition asked him why Haiti is struggling, how its churches are doing, and how he prays for his country these days.
Haiti has had trouble with gangs since the 1950s, when a dictator named François Duvalier used them to scare and silence dissidents. But the country also struggles with political corruption and persistently high poverty. Why is Haiti always in trouble?
Over the years, we’ve had a lot of different corrupt politicians and economic elite that come to power, one after another. It’s just selfishness. They come stealing money and go somewhere else to spend it. After they finish up a few years in power, they go into exile, in a sense with the money they have stolen.
Of course, there are exceptions. We’ve had administrations that have shown patriotism and love for the country. But the evil forces always get them out. So they never have time to make a long-lasting positive effect on the country.
The corrupt leaders sometimes arm young people and tell them to cause problems so the leaders can get elected. In the past three or four years, those young people are becoming autonomous. They have become directly connected with places to get guns and drugs. The gangs have also made a lot of money in kidnappings over the past four to five years and now they don’t need the politicians or economic elite anymore. It’s really chaos.
How can regular people live in conditions like those?
Many have left—and have done so for years. At one point in the 1990s, there were more Haitian doctors in Chicago than in Haiti.
Lately, people who have a home or business in a gang-controlled area have had to leave. For example, my wife is from Port-au-Prince, and her family had to leave their house to go elsewhere. If you don’t have money, you have to stay, but conditions are very dire. There are a lot of rapes. Businesses are closed. At one car dealership, the gangs burned hundreds of vehicles.
If you don’t have money, you have to stay, but conditions are very dire.
At this point, the gangs control 80 percent of the capital. Because the geography is mountainous, there are only a few roads out. Those are also controlled by gangs—if you want to leave, you have to pay a fee. Even if you do, you may be stopped or killed. There are many stories of gangs opening fire on buses full of people.
The United Nations estimates that more than 575,000 people are displaced in the country. They are living in makeshift tents or in schools. About 5 million people—more than half of Haiti’s population—are in extreme need of food.
Are churches still functioning?
Yes. In Port-au-Prince it’s more difficult, and some have had to close because they’re in gang territory. But there are churches around the country that are open. In Gonaïves, about 95 miles north of Port-au-Prince, we have three churches, a leadership training center, and a school for 500 children. We used to invite medical missions teams there, but we haven’t been able to have any since 2019 because it’s been so unsafe.
Although the port in Port-au-Prince has been closed, there are still ports open in the north of the country. So we have been able to get some food in, though it is almost double in price. Last month we were able to distribute food to about eight churches and reach about 2,200 people with things like rice, beans, and sardines.
You mentioned a school. Is that still open?
Yes. In Gonaïves, our Christian school is a more permanent way to help, to provide hope to the kids and education for a better future.
This is really important. Since many people who left their homes are now living together in schools—thousands of them in a little space—those schools can’t operate. There is a whole generation of kids who are missing out on education.
How are the church leaders doing?
Compared to Port-au-Prince, Gonaïves is relatively safe, so the pastors are doing OK. There is a lot of desperation—there is not much food—but at the same time people can see that things could be worse.
When we distributed the food, we heard testimonies from people who said, “This is [from] God.” One pastor we provided with food is in Port-au-Prince, and he can’t stop talking about it. The amount we provided was small, but it will feed those people for about a month.
I’m trying to raise money for more food.
What’s next for Haiti?
It’s hard to know. The gangs have a lot of guns and are ready to fight. In Port-au-Prince, the gangs have destroyed most of the big hospitals. I don’t know why. Nobody understands their philosophy.
I’ve never seen the country at a lower level than this.
We grieve for what we see, because we know Haiti’s potential. The country is beautiful, with many beaches, and could be a great spot for tourism. I’m sure many in the gangs are redeemable. But the stability isn’t there, and there is a lot of despair.
El Salvador had a situation like this recently. President Nayib Bukele faced it by putting thousands of gang members in jail. He brought some peace. So we know with the right leadership you can turn things around. But many times people in leadership are connected to the gangs—that’s why you want the right leadership, who are not in relationship with the gangs.
Loving Haiti has been tough on you. What keeps you going?
A psalm that is our family’s favorite is Psalm 23. It’s really something we hold on to. My hope is in the Lord. I am praying he would intervene with the right leaders.
My hope is in the Lord. I am praying he would intervene with the right leaders.
Even the ones that are there now—including the interim presidential council and the prime minister Garry Conille—I pray for them every day to have wisdom and love for the people, that they would make the right decisions to help the country instead of hurting it. I pray for stability and peace. I pray for the many thousands who are suffering.
I don’t trust any politicians. But I believe God can do something.
We’ll just continue to do whatever little we can do, one person at a time. We will preach the gospel and show love with some food or with the school we have for the kids. And we will continue to pray that God would bring the right leadership to change the course of the country.