No Relief in Sight

Over 2.5 years ago, Jessica wrote this blog called "A Mother's Perspective On The Unrest." In February of 2019, the country was under siege in what was called "Peye Locke" or "Locked Country." It was the attempt of political players and some in the general population to take over the country and oust then sitting President Jovenel Moise from power.

Fast forward to October 2021, and while a few circumstances have changed (they are calling it peye femen or country closed now), things are even worse. Some long term missionaries in Haiti are even calling right now the worst they have ever experienced in the country.

Moise was assassinated, there was another devastating earthquake this past August, and Haiti has become a hotbed for kidnappings with over 600 reported in 2021 alone.

The truth is, the more connected you are to Haiti, the more frustrating things are, and if you live there it can only be described in one word: Scary.

It is another time when people are not leaving their homes, stores and markets are abandoned, there is no gas to be found, and people are losing everything.

Remember, there are many people in Haiti who live day-by-day, and to not be able to sell goods or services even for a day can be devastating.

The gas shortage that I described earlier has a devastating effect on the country. Think about just these 2 things:

 - Hospitals and businesses rely on gas to generate electricity. Many of the country's medical facilities just cannot operate or take care of patients...In the middle of a global pandemic and as earthquake victims are still recovering.

 - One of the most important economic boons in the country is the transportation sector. Moto and taxi drivers rely on the money they make transporting people from place to place and this is by far the largest source of income, other than foreign remittances, for the average person in Haiti.

I was asked recently by a good friend, "What can we do?" 

What a question. If you are like me, one of the most difficult things in the world is to hear a problem without immediately trying to come up with a solution.

I want to be clear with my answer here, and it is going to seem to some people to not be enough. Many people who are reading this consider themselves "men and women of action" and they want to jump into action right away. Our instinct is to get on a plane and help, write the biggest check we can write, or offer the best advice we can offer. But that is not reality. In reality, here is what we can do:

PRAY!

We can pray, and we can believe that prayer is action.

We can pray, and we can believe that prayer is heard.

We can pray, and we can believe that prayer is powerful.

We can pray, and we can believe that prayer is what is needed.

We can pray, and we can believe that prayer is calling out to GOD.

We can pray, and we can believe that prayer is the most amazing thing we could do for anyone else...ever.

We can pray, and we can believe that GOD will use prayer to show us what else we can do.

The bottom line, is please join me in praying for Haiti because that is exactly what we are called to do right now.