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Haiti: Christian Ministry Attacked By Armed Gang

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – An international Christian aid organization which runs a hospital, school, and church in Haiti narrowly escaped a massacre of its staff when armed gang members tried to shoot their way into its operational compound, CBN News reports.

Founded by American medical doctor David Vanderpool, the LiveBeyond humanitarian development organization was established to serve the poor struggling to survive in disaster areas, including in Haiti.

Already devastated by decades of political instability and the crushing effects of recent earthquakes, Haiti is reeling on the brink of total collapse: there have been no elections for around 10 years, and brutal gang leaders now control much of the country.

On March 21, the LiveBeyond headquarters located 20 miles out of the capital city Port au Prince came under fire by gang members who arrived at the compound and began shooting at the gate to try and get in, CBN News reports. The ministry’s security guards were able to drive the gunmen away, saving the lives of at least 120 staff members.

“Our security personnel repelled the attack, so nobody was injured. But it’s just constant gunfire, constant danger,” Vanderpool said in a statement to CBN News. “This is sort of the culmination of gangs running the country for the last three or four years. The government has collapsed. The president was assassinated in 2021. The judiciary was also terminated as well as parliament. So there’s not been an effective government in place since 2021 and the gangs have had full run of the country.The chaos has spread to other parts of the country as well.”

“It’s one of the most dangerous places in the world right now,” Vanderpool continued. “It just really demands some kind of intervention. There has got to be some international intervention. It’s a very, very dire situation,” he said.

“We make the case that it’s the poor and it’s the people whom we serve who are the most vulnerable, and they’re the ones that are suffering the most, Vanderpool attested. “We really are wanting people to pray because the people of Haiti are under a tremendous amount of pressure.”