Missionary work in Haiti disrupted
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While the Church opted to remove its non-native missionaries from Haiti amid nationwide uprisings and violence, members in the Caribbean nation continue to face hardships, relying on the gospel and Church fellowship for strength.
Fifty-six missionaries from the Port-au-Prince Haiti Mission have been removed from the country. All missionaries were in good condition, said Church spokesman Dale Bills.
"We have been monitoring the situation in Haiti very closely and have decided to temporarily transfer all non-Haitian missionaries now serving in Haiti to other missions outside the country," Brother Bills said. "Native Haitian missionaries who continue to serve in their homeland have been asked to follow previously announced precautions: to avoid crowds and areas where demonstrations are occurring and to remain indoors whenever they feel it is not safe to be out."
Native missionaries have been transferred from areas where civil unrest has occurred recently, he added.
Dozens of Haitians have died in recent weeks amid tension between insurgents and those loyal to President Jean-Bertrand Aristide. Rebels recently took control of Haiti's second-largest city, Cap-Haitien, and at press time, Feb. 26, had begun moving toward Port-au-Prince and were awaiting orders from their leaders to attack, according to the Associated Press. There have been no reports of injury to any of Haiti's 11,000-plus Church members.
"The members are doing well, they have faith," said Port-au-Prince Haiti Stake President Eddy Bourdeau. "We hope this crisis soon ends."
Amid the unrest, members living in the capital generally have been able to meet together for Sunday services and conduct stake and ward business, President Bourdeau said. A recent ward conference at the Carrefour-Feuilles Ward was slightly impacted when make-shift barricades stretched across some Port-au-Prince streets impeded travel.
President Bourdeau said the Gonaives District in northeast Haiti "has been paralyzed." Gonaives has been a hot spot during the crisis and was under rebel control at press time.
Talk is gospel-centered whenever members meet for Church services or meetings. "We have avoided talking politics in the Church," President Bourdeau said.
Members in Port-au-Prince have been able to go to their jobs, with occasional interruptions. Schools were closed Feb. 23-27 for Carnival celebrations, according to President Bourdeau.
Still, political unrest on the island nation has exacted a cost to Church operations, he said. The border between Haiti and the Dominican Republic has been closed, preventing Haitian members from traveling to the Santo Domingo Dominican Republic Temple. A scheduled temple trip from Haiti to Santo Domingo was recently cancelled.
The departure of almost half the full-time missionaries serving in Haiti troubles President Bordeau, who worries progress will be slowed. Missionary work in Haiti, he said, suffered in the early 1990s when many missionaries were pulled because of political strife.
Better days await, he added. "Sometimes you don't know why you are optimistic, but the gospel makes us that way."
