Children beaten after a football match turned violent, a woman accused of witchcraft and murdered, a person killed while traveling from one village to another — these are just a few of the stories of Haitians suffering under gang violence.

Death or attack feel unpredictable in the country, leaving many anxious to survive.

Though gangs were partially pushed from Port-au-Prince, their violence has spread to the outskirts and rural areas. Roseline DeHart from For Haiti With Love said, “Lives are getting harder every day. Things are very hard right now in Haiti, and Haiti needs help from its neighbors.”

Aerial view of Port-au-Prince (Photo courtesy of Matteo Favre via Pexels)

Since July, more than 1,200 people have been killed in gang attacks, self-defense retaliation, and army operations. Over 700 were wounded. On top of that, sexual abuse and kidnappings are widespread. Victims of the gangs are often chosen at random, including children.

DeHart added, “We need other countries to realize that Haiti needs help, to come and help Haiti.”

For Haiti With Love continue their work of Gospel in Haiti, helping those displaced, local communities, children, and more. They are also preparing a Christmas celebration for hundreds of kids with hot meals, toys, and the Gospel.

DeHart says, “We want to help as many as we can, but so many people have moved into the Cap-Haïtien area, and there are street kids everywhere. It’s become overwhelming, and we’re doing the best we can with what we have.”

Among their ministries is a free burn clinic. After patients are treated and reach for their wallets, staff tell them Jesus has already paid the cost. DeHart explained, “That’s when they break out crying and want to know who this Jesus is. And then we tell them about Jesus!”

The overwhelming need for help opens doors for prayer and giving. Find your place in the story: join the spiritual battle for the people of Haiti, and if you want to help in practical ways, visit the For Haiti With Love website.

Man standing on the mountain, Haiti (Photo courtesy of Kelly via Pexels).

Gang violence, malnutrition, and loss of educational services and infrastructure feed into each other, forming a “polycrisis” that threatens Haiti’s Next Generation.

(Photo courtesy of Zach Vessels via Unsplash)

A lack of schooling makes kids especially vulnerable to danger. Even when people flee to areas where there are schools, “They don’t have the money, because all they took with them is the clothes on their backs,” For Haiti With Love’s Roseline DeHart explains.

“Surviving is a priority.”

Many displaced families and kids live on the streets. “This is also a problem,” De Hart says, “because anybody can give those kids money to go do any trouble – anything they want them to do – just for survival.”

For Haiti With Love points the people they serve to God and to hope in Him for their future. When they have the budget, they give food, build homes, and offer a school support program.

“We always tell them that God doesn’t want them to live like that. Even though the country is the way it is, it’s not God’s plan,” De Hart says.

“They’re the future of Haiti. They can go to school and make it better, and God has a plan for them.”

Pray for God’s mercy on Haiti and consider giving financially to For Haiti With Love. “We just keep doing all we can, and we ask for support so we can continue to do it,” De Hart says.

Header image depicts Haitian children circa 2014. Photo credit MNN/Katey Hearth. 

Each year the organization hosts a massive Christmas party for around 500 children. This event not only blesses kids with a few toys and a warm meal, but gives them an opportunity to hear about and celebrate Christ.

Feeding Bodies and Hearts

The children show up in their best clothes for a warm meal of rice and beans, chicken, cookies and candy. They sing Christmas songs and learn about the Christmas story. Then each child receives a gift of a backpack.

(Photo courtesy of Andreas Böhm from Pixabay_

Roseline DeHart from For Haiti with Love says, “People have given us toys throughout the year to take down to Haiti. We have cars, Barbie dolls, hygiene stuff. The backpacks get filled with all kind of goodies. Then we give each kid a backpack and they go home. And then they tell the neighbors, they tell the families that didn’t come. They tell everybody what they have experienced. They tell them about the story they’ve heard – the Bible story. That’s the way that we spread the Gospel, through the children.”

Continuing to Speak about God

Typically the party moves around northern Haiti to reach different people each year. Haitians all over their community look forward to celebrating. However, this year due to the increased security concerns, they plan to have the event at their headquarters. For Haiti with Love is hiring additional security for the event to keep workers and the children safe as they celebrate.

DeHart says, “Satan is always trying to silence the people that want to talk about God. So we do it anyway, because that’s what we’re there for – to tell people about God. We have had people that come up trying to stop the party several times throughout the 30 years we’ve been doing it, but we never stop.”

As the event approaches, DeHart asks for prayer that the party will go off without any issues. Please pray that God will work mightily through the event and the discussions afterward to bring more people to know Him as Lord.

If you would like to support For Haiti with Love financially, please click here.

Representative Photo courtesy of Jörg Haller from Pixabay.

“Even schools have stopped. It’s in the whole country, not just in one part,” says Roseline DeHart with For Haiti With Love. “There’s been mudslides, the mountains washing down, flooding. People’s houses were flooded up to their hips inside their house.”

(Photo of Haitians is a representative stock photo courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash)

Cap-Haitien authorities have declared a state of environmental emergency for six months. They asked for aid from the central government, but they did not receive an immediate reply.

Although flooding may seem small compared to the nation’s broader security crises, DeHart says this still affects everyone. 

“There’s still the livelihood [struggle] there,” she explains. “How to feed their family, take care of their family… It’s all part of trying to live in Haiti, and the rain just makes it worse.”

For Haiti’s base is on a mountain, so they are not experiencing the same flooding others are. They have given from their storehouse of food to serve those in need. At every opportunity, For Haiti shares encouragement based in Scripture. But they hear what people are really thinking. 

“Mentally, physically, some are giving up. They’re wondering, ‘Why is this happening to Haiti so much?’” DeHart says,

“We tell them that, you know, Jesus loves them, that there is hope for Haiti, and it’s only in God. But they say it’s hard for them to believe that there really is a God after all that’s going on.

“But we tell them there is [a God] and He is watching over them and protecting them.”

If you’ve ever known that feeling of helpless despair, pray for Haiti. Ask God to bring Haitians to know and trust in His goodness and sovereign care, even in disaster upon disaster. 

Then, pray for the rain and floods to stop. Pray that ministries like For Haiti will be able to keep serving as the hands and feet of Christ.

“Pray for peace in Haiti,” DeHart says. 

Header photo of Haitian child is a representative stock photo courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash. 

The need for help is desperate as uncontrollable gang violence continues in Port-au-Prince and spreads through the country.

Haiti’s new prime minister was sworn in on November 11 — a change some hoped would lead to an improved security situation. Yet, with a rocky start last week, it’s uncertain whether the gang violence will be tamed by the leadership transition.

(Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)

On the ground meeting Haitians’ needs, Christian ministry For Haiti With Love is providing a sense of stability to families who don’t know where their next meal will come from.

For Haiti With Love’s Roseline DeHart says, “We don’t really know what’s going to happen after this month or during this month, but we are there to help the people as best as we can. There will be a lot of hunger. We will feed them; as many as we can…. But with Haiti, it can’t get any worse.”

God’s timing, though, is amazing. DeHart shares, “Before yesterday, the mission airline took supplies down there. We already had boxes with them and they took down all of our supplies, so the clinic is all ready for whatever happens. We have food down there already too, to help the people.”

In the space between starvation and compassion, their team is Jesus to people. Many mission groups have left, but For Haiti With Love will remain.

“People are suffering,” DeHart says. “People in Port-au-Prince, day to day, they just move from one city to another because the gangs are taking over city by city. So, we need prayers. God needs to do something, and only God can change Haiti.”

Ask God to intervene and bring lasting peace in Haiti, both socially and spiritually.

You can support For Haiti With Love’s ministry and learn more here.

Header photo courtesy of For Haiti With Love.

Alcohol and fire used in a voodoo ceremony caused the explosion, leaving survivors with severe burns. Many turned to For Haiti’s burn clinic for help when they came ashore, and their treatments continue today.

“Burns are slow healing. [They] take a lot of a lot of bandages, a lot of materials,” DeHart explains.

“We had sent supplies down there just before that (accident) happened, so God had everything in place.”

Survivors from boat explosion receive treatment at For Haiti’s burn clinic.
(Photo courtesy of For Haiti With Love)

Clinic workers shared the Gospel with every survivor as they began initial treatments. “They were telling us their story, and we started telling them about Jesus and how Jesus is waiting for them to come to Him,” DeHart says.

“They said after surviving from that (accident) they were ready for Jesus.”

Today, God is turning what the enemy meant for evil into something good. For Haiti’s burn treatments and discipleship sessions continue. “They come in every other day until they’re healed, and they will hear the Gospel while they’re getting treated the whole time,” DeHart says.

Pray that burn victims will turn to Christ for salvation as they understand the Gospel.

“Pray [that] For Haiti with Love [is] always there to be God’s hands and feet in Haiti, ready to help the people whenever necessary,” DeHart requests.

Ask the Lord to comfort families who lost loved ones in the boat explosion.

“The water is still pushing bodies out; it’s a very tragic time,” DeHart says.

Header image is a representative photo depicting Haitians wearing voodoo masks. (Photo courtesy of Claudia Altamimi/Unsplash)

Last week, gang members attacked suburbs of the capital city, Port-au-Prince, killing and looting homes without check. More than 33,000 people have fled the city in the past two weeks, a report from the U.N. International Organization for Migration says.

But wherever they go, Haitians can’t avoid the crisis the nation is facing. Experts say around 1.4 million Haitians are on the brink of famine.

“I have never seen Haiti like this before,” says Roseline DeHart of For Haiti With Love, who has been involved in ministry in the nation for more than forty years.

Photo from 2020 of Pétion-Ville, one of the suburbs of Port-au-Prince where gangs carried out attacks last week. Photo courtesy of Reynaldo Mirault/Unsplash.

“We’re all holding our breath to see what’s going to happen. We can only pray and hope that it gets better, because I don’t think it can get any worse.”

For Haiti operates a clinic in the rural Cap-Haitien area. They are pointing the discouraged and hopeless to the God who is in control and is good even in the midst of the nation’s deteriorating state.

DeHart says, “We are still doing what we can for the people. We’re gonna be there until we can’t, until God tell us, ‘It’s time to close down.’”

Like the rest of the country, the clinic has no supplies coming in. 

“Haiti needs a change. Pray that it does change,” DeHart says. At the same time, she wants others to know there is more to Haiti than the grim headlines. 

“The people are beautiful, the country is beautiful. But evil has taken over right now. What (you’re) seeing on TV on the news, that’s not all Haiti. That’s just a bad part — you know, there’s evil everywhere.”

Would you pray for Haiti each day this week? Pray for revival, that people will turn to the Lord and find hope. Pray that gangs will stop attacking people and that the transitional presidential council will be able to effectively lead for the good of the nation. 

Header photo courtesy of For Haiti With Love.

Protests have spiked all around the country as people call for Prime Minister Ariel Henry’s resignation. Henry signed a non-binding accord in 2022 that general elections and a transfer of power would happen by February 7, 2024. That did not happen.

(Photo courtesy For Haiti With Love)

Henry says Haiti’s national security needs to be brought higher before elections can take place. This is not the first call for Henry’s resignation, nor the first time elections have been pushed back during his time in office since 2021. 

In the midst of the national turmoil, For Haiti With Love’s doors remain open. 

Roseline DeHart with For Haiti With Love says their clinic helps anyone who needs it, whether from cuts, bullet wounds, burns or other needs. They also give out food when possible. 

“We are there to help them whoever they are. No question asked,” DeHart says. 

According to the U.S. Agency for International Development, 2.5 million Haitians live on less than $1.25 USD per day. 

“If they can eat today, they thank God. But they might not be able to eat tomorrow,” says DeHart. 

“One egg costs 50 cents, but not everybody is able to get that 50 cents. With the riots happening this week, the food prices went up even higher. They might eat one time a day, or two times a week. It’s whatever they can afford.”

There are some 300 gangs present in the country, but For Haiti has the respect of their community.

(Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love).

“They know that we help people, that’s what we do. And we’ve been doing it for so long and in the same place, so if somebody tell them they need to go to For Haiti With Love, they will let them pass to get to the clinic.” DeHart says. 

“When we do something for somebody, (such as) give them a bag of food, they always ask us why are we doing this? We (tell) them that Jesus paid the price for them already. It’s all because of Jesus. A lot of time they ask us, ‘Who is this Jesus?’”

You can come alongside For Haiti through prayer and partnership to help those who have nowhere else to go. 

“We do pray there (are) election(s) someday. But we don’t know when it will (take place). We just keep praying and keep doing our jobs,” DeHart says.

“We ask people for prayers, too. We ask people for help so we can continue to help the people in Haiti.”

Header photo of cross over Cap-Haitien courtesy of For Haiti With Love.

They’re searching for presents to give to those with plenty. Meanwhile, parents search daily for food and clothing in Haiti.

“They live day by day… the kids never get a toy to play with because that’s luxury for them,” For Haiti With Love’s Roseline DeHart says.

Christmas present distribution in 2015.
(Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)

For Haiti With Love’s annual Christmas party is the highlight of the year in northern Haiti.

“We have the Christmas party on December 25 for about 250 kids. We tell them about the birth of Jesus because some of them have never heard it before,” DeHart says.

“[Afterward,] we feed them; we also give them a backpack full of toys – something they want instead of something they need.”

The food and presents are good, but the Gospel – told through the story of Christ’s birth – is even better.

“We explain it to them (the kids), and then they go home, they tell their parents, so it keeps continuing,” DeHart says.

Help from the Body of Christ makes this work possible. Everything’s in place for this year’s Christmas outreach, “But we can start [working] on next Christmas,” DeHart says.

“They can help us spread the Gospel of Jesus, of the birth of Jesus, to kids that never heard it before.”

Pray hearts and lives will change as Haitians learn about Jesus for the first time. Pray for wisdom as For Haiti staff begin planning next year’s outreach.

“Each year we go to a different part of Cap Haitiёn so the Gospel can be spread out.”

In the header image, Christmas lights set the mood in tropical Haiti. (Photo courtesy of For Haiti With Love)

Earlier this month, the U.S. embassy urged all remaining Americans to leave Haiti as quickly as possible.

Roseline DeHart with For Haiti with Love says, “I’ve taken over the mission work because of all the Americans leaving. There’s no short-term missions anymore; people are afraid to go down there.”

Months of chaos in the capital have exacerbated Haiti’s food crisis.

(Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)

“The people can’t afford [food.] Food was coming from the Dominican Republic, and then the borders totally closed so there’s no food coming from there either. Sometimes they’re only eating once a week and sometimes they don’t at all.”

For one little boy, seeing his mom cry was worse than starving.

“He [saw] his mom at home crying because she didn’t know how she was going to feed them.”

When he heard about For Haiti’s feeding program, DeHart says, “He came by himself in the [food] line so he could take some food to his mom so she would stop crying.”

For Haiti’s workers, of course, gave the boy a bag of food for himself and his mother. They were moved by the love of a son for his mother, and how the Lord put them in the right place at the right time to provide assistance.

“With this little boy, it was like God sent us to that place. Every time, we pick a different place. But it was God working because God wanted us to help that little boy and his mom.  It was God doing it totally.”

You can send help in the name of Jesus by giving to For Haiti. “We ask people to help us help the hurting and hungry people in Haiti like that little boy.”

Most importantly, please pray for Haiti and an end to the gang violence gripping the nation. Ask the Lord to use this time of turmoil to fix Haitians’ eyes on Him for provision.

Pray also for staff members at For Haiti, as the the pressure of maintaining ministry wears on them, that they would be emotionally and spiritually encouraged.

Header photo of the little boy receiving food from For Haiti with Love. (Photo courtesy of For Haiti with Love)