Gangs Take Over Port-au-Prince, Threaten Calvary Chapel-Affiliated Haiti Bible Training Center
Haitians pray for divine relief, a miracle, against the rampant violence of criminal gangs ruling Port-au-Prince.
Residents flee the violence destroying their city and taking many lives.
Haitian families find refuge in public buildings.
Gangs have taken over nearly 90% of Haiti’s capital, Port-au-Prince, and they are aggressively threatening to take the remaining 10%—where the Haiti Bible Training Center (BTC) compound is located.
Calvary Chapel Pastor Brian McDaniel of Cross to Light, the ministry that established the BTC, stated, “We are really praying because there is nowhere for them to go. All roads are blocked going in and out of the capital.”
In the last month alone, gangs have executed and displaced over 6,000 Haitians in the surrounding area. In the most recent deadly attack on Tuesday, they set fire to the Delmas neighborhood, burning people alive and sending the rest fleeing for their lives.
Pastor Watson at the BTC stated, “Everyone leaves their homes when the gangs come, and they try to hide in public buildings like schools. They try to find shelter, but there is none.”
Portions of Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, are completely destroyed.
This police station was taken over by the gangs, who control the city.
The police alone can’t win this war against the gangs.
Stores have been raided, food and other supplies have ceased coming into the capital, the police are outnumbered, and the people, without weapons to protect themselves and their property, are left defenseless.
Although the gang conflict has been ongoing for over a year, Brian indicates this is the first time the gangs have set their sights on the BTC. “We believe the teaching of the Word and the constant praise and worship music at the center has been protecting us,” Brian commented.
Gangs consist of young men—mostly teens and young adults trying to survive by killing, stealing, and looting.
Presently, there are about 15 people in the compound, comprised of an administrator, students, cooks, and some security forces. In a call for urgent prayer, Brian asked, “Pray for these people, that the Lord would do a miracle tonight, and give the security forces wisdom and protection. We need the angel of the Lord to strike down 185,000.”
Watson acknowledged that it is only God who can help them, not the government or the additional forces coming from Kenya and Central America. Speaking of the Haitian people, he urged, “You will not make it unless God Himself puts a hedge of protection around you. God will pull through. Right now it looks like it will stop only if the Lord stops it.”
God has not forgotten His people in Haiti. Please pray for the Lord to push the gangs back and give the people courage to withstand the enemy—and for the salvation of the gang members.
I will lift up my eyes to the hills—from whence comes my help? My help comes from the Lord, Who made heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber. Behold, He who keeps Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep. The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade at your right hand. The sun shall not strike you by day, nor the moon by night. The Lord shall preserve you from all evil; He shall preserve your soul. The Lord shall preserve your going out and your coming in from this time forth, and even forevermore. Psalm 121
For updates on the ministry, go to: crosstolight.com
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