With the recent civil unrest in Haiti, we’ve had lots of questions from concerned churches and partners—how can we pray for Haiti? How bad is it? Are the children okay?
Thank you for your concern! Most importantly, all the children Children of the Nations (COTN) serves have been safe from the violent protests. The community of Bellevue, where Children of the Nations runs the Village Partnership Program, has remained relatively calm throughout. Most of the violent protests have been concentrated in specific areas of Port-au-Prince. Some of our children, from the Hands on Haiti Program, do live in Port-au-Prince and have had to stay home to avoid roadblocks and violent protests. Our staff have been checking in on them regularly. They are so grateful for your support in this time!
Thank you for your concern for the children of Haiti. Here are three ways you can pray for Haiti.
We will keep you updated if emergency needs arise. For now, here are specific ways you can pray:
Pray these disturbances do not hinder Children of the Nations’ growing ministry in Haiti.
God is doing so many GOOD things through Children of the Nations’ ministry right now! Fifty new children have just been identified for sponsorship and have begun attending our afterschool program. Fifteen of these children have never attended school and will attend special makeup classes at Children of the Nations to catch them up to grade level in September. Our afterschool program has expanded from three days to five days a week. And we have several exciting projects in the works!
We are so excited to be partnering with such a strong, godly team of Haitians, who long to see change in their country and are willing to lay down their lives to serve the most vulnerable children, believing that these will one day be the very agents of change they are hoping for.
Please pray that the unrest does not prevent our staff and children from coming to the COTN center and serving, learning, and getting nutritious food daily. Please pray that God would continue to work, even in the midst of turbulent times in Haiti.
We are so excited about the great things God is doing in Haiti!
Pray for protection over the teams planning to travel.
We have several key teams planning to travel in the next few months to offer our children important care and develop long-term partnerships with our ministry in Haiti. Pray that it would be safe enough for them to travel, and for God’s protection and peace when they do.
Pray for justice and peace in Haiti.
Haitians are protesting because they long for justice. They are protesting years of government corruption and lack of accountability. Their longing for justice is right and good, but many see destruction and violence as their only hope for change.
Pray that Haitians would turn to God for justice and seek change through peaceful means. And pray for the children COTN serves, that they would place their hope in God and BE those agents of change!
When I think of Children of the Nations' vision in Haiti, I think of Steven.
Steven is one of our children who lives in Port-au-Prince. He’s a young man, just graduated from high school. He’s just about the same age as many of the young men who have taken to the streets in violent protest.
Steven is one of the children affected by the 2010 earthquake. Instead of protesting like other young men his age, he’s making sure that his friends are safe.
But when other young men were on the street throwing rocks, Steven was helping our Hands on Haiti advocate check in on all the children COTN serves in Port-au-Price, texting them to make sure they all had food and were safe.
Steven has lived through tough times—his spine and leg were crushed when his home collapsed in the 2010 earthquake, and he might not even be alive today if it weren’t for people like you providing emergency medical care and continued support through Children of the Nations. Through all this he has placed his hope in God and is an incredible example to all the younger children in our program. We pray for more young men like Steven to bring real and lasting transformation to their nation.
PS: Looking for more ways to help the children of Haiti? You can sponsor one of the 50 new children in our program!