A Potential For More Political Unrest
I will not be sending this blog through email as we do not want to overload anyone's inbox, but I did want to get this out to people who may be interested in it, and especially to people who might pray.
Most of you know that over the past 2 or 3 years, there has been a lot of political and social upheaval in Haiti. The same has been true in America as well for the past few months. Since George Floyd's death in May, there have been some protests, some riots, and a lot of opinions about what needs to happen next in America. It is a topic that has divided but not destroyed our country.
In Haiti, rioters managed to shut down the entire country for weeks at a time. Schools in Haiti, even before Covid-19 shut them down in March, had been opened for a total of about 20 days since September because of fear. For about 2 weeks last February it was unsafe for anyone to leave their home. During those 2 weeks, we saw countless helicopters flying Americans to the airport from remote parts of Haiti because people feared for their lives.
One of the great things about America is that people can disagree, express their disagreement, and the country remains strong. Everyone can use whatever influence they have to push for what they believe and in general people respect you when you stand up for your beliefs even if they are different.
In Haiti, things have gotten out of hand, and the next election cycle is "supposed" to occur next October. However, in 2015, when the election was supposed to happen, it did not. It was postponed 1 year so that instead of having elections in 2020 (really next month), the elections will occur in 2021.
When the elections do take place, there is a high probability that things will turn ugly. What is worse, however, is that people are already saying that Haiti's current President should step down in Feb. 2021 (when he was supposed to be replaced) and there are a lot of people who have said they will do whatever they need to do to make that happen. If that were to happen, a transitional government would be put into power and that would not be good either.
I say all of that to say that now that the Covid-19 fears in Haiti are subsiding and life is getting back to normal, there is a new social and political threat. Please join me in praying that it is nothing more than that...A threat. Pray with me that:
- GOD would show Himself powerful to the over 90% of the population that proclaims to know Christ.
- Our kids can go to school unimpeded.
- That the streets in Haiti would be calm.
- That life could go back to as much normal as possible.
- That the Holy Spirit would bring peace.
- That the economy would get a shot in the arm, and that money would find its way to the people who actually need it rather than the people who already have it.
- That GOD would use All Things New in whatever way He wants.
If these new rounds of political protests are successful in shutting down the country again, I cannot imagine what is going to happen. Haiti is an extremely resilient country that always comes back when things look bad, but there is only so much that anyone can take. Please genuinely join me in praying that these new threats are resolved and that the country goes back to its normal.