Miami, Florida, United States…[Libna Stevens/IAD]
While there are news reports that rebels in Haiti threaten to overtake the capital city of Port-of-Prince, Seventh-day Adventist members there continue to worship, and no fatalities among the members have been reported.
With a fast-growing membership of more than 260,000, Pastor Israel Leito, president of the church in Inter-America, says that although communication in some areas has been scarce, he is in touch with church leaders in Haiti.
“There are no casualties among members, and our properties have been spared thus far,” said Leito. “Communication with the rebel-held territory is impossible, therefore, we don’t know much of what is happening in Gonaives.”
However, Pierre Caporal, youth director for the church in Haiti, reported this morning at the Inter-American Division (IAD) headquarter office, that in spite of the difficult situation in Gonaives, where the church’s Northwest Adventist Mission office is located, employees are making their way into the office to ensure there is a presence. He said that church members remain faithful, and trust in God’s protection.
Churches throughout the country are holding services during the daytime on Sabbaths only, and Sunday and Wednesday evening services have been cancelled, especially in Gonaives and Cap-Haitien, which are the most political violent cities right now, Leito said.
The church’s university, hospital, and radio station in Port-au-Prince are all walled in and away from the center of the city and continue to run as usual, according to Leito.
“We pray that the Lord will continue to protect them,” he said. “We’ll continue to monitor the situation in Haiti.”
Plagued by political crisis for several years, Haiti is located in the western one-third of the island of Hispaniola in the Caribbean, west of the Dominican Republic, and has a population of over 7.5 million.
