U.S. Official States Some of 17 Missionaries Kidnapped in Haiti Still Alive

by Karen Faulkner, Worthy News Correspondent

(Worthy News) – A senior U.S. government official saw proof that at least some of the 17 Christian Aid Ministries missionaries who were kidnapped in Haiti last month are still alive, Reuters reported on November 5. Christian Aid Ministries is calling for continued prayer for the safe release of 16 Americans and one Canadian, including five children, who were abducted by the 400 Mawozo gang on October 16.

While the Biden administration is understood to be working to secure the release, and the President is being briefed daily, there is little information available on the rescue effort, Reuters reports. The US official would not be named and would not give further information about the proof of life referred to.

Last month the notorious 400 Mawozo gang, one of Haiti’s most dangerous group of bandits, demanded a ransom of $17 million dollars for the return of the missionaries. The gang controls much of the territory east of the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, Reuters reports.

“A Haitian man identifying himself as the leader of the 400 Mawozo gang believed by security officials to have conducted the kidnapping said in a video posted on YouTube last month that he was willing to kill ‘these Americans’ if he did not get what he needed,” Reuters said about the ransom demand. The Christian Aid group was not seen in the video.

This kidnapping has highlighted the ongoing lawlessness, gang-related violence, and kidnappings that have plagued Haiti, an island nation already on its knees due to earthquakes, and economic and political crises.

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