On Thursday, April 29, evangelical church leaders met for a time of prayer with President Boniface Alexandre at the presidential palace in Port-au-Prince. This meeting was in contrast to recent waves of violence following the February 28 resignation of the former president, and the civil unrest that led to the evacuation of many missionaries.

Bible League's Latin America Director Tim DeVries said, "They were able to sit down and talk about some of the concerns with the church, pray with them. He actually received the Bible as well. So, we're very excited about the opportunities that might bring for a little bit more openness for the church to work and the church to grow." Bible League’s Director of Haiti Ministry was among those present at the presidential palace.

Although the Bible League’s Port-au-Prince office was within the vicinity of the presidential palace, no damage had been inflicted on the building during the civil unrest earlier this year. “We are very thankful to the Lord because we only closed [the office] for one week, even though we are just a couple blocks away from the presidential palace,” said DeVries. “Every building surrounding our office was burned or looted, but the Bible League ministry office was untouched.” more >>

Following the violent uprising in Haiti that ousted the past president and displaced thousands of citizens internally, several Christian humanitarian groups gathered strength and support to distribute emergency food and medicine to the Haitians.

Among those groups was Church World Service ?the humanitarian arm of the National Council of Churches, which has member churches from across 36 denominations.

According to a Church World Service report following a March 15-22 assignment, while there has been some improvement in the situation in Haiti, there is still an avid need for assistance, both physically and spiritually for the many victims in the nation. more >>

Christian-based humanitarian organizations continue to supply sustainable self-help and development, disaster relief and refugee assistance in the recovering island nation. Despite the violence that has been scorching the volatile land, the minority Christians strongly hold onto their faith as their greatest hope.

At that end, the Church World Service, the humanitarian arm of 36 denominations in the United States announced that it will begin distributing its first shipment of food and medicines this week. The aid, valued at $151,003-arrived in the Dominican Republic last week.

PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti/GENEVA – The Lutheran World Federation (LWF) representative in Haiti, Michael Kuehn, is calling for long-term assistance to Haiti, in hope to focus more on crisis prevention.

LWF General Secretary Rev. Dr Ishmael Noko addressed that humanitarian organizations in Haiti have been unable to properly assess the needs of population that urgent action is needed to alleviate the situation and assist those in need.

Analyzing the current situation, Kuehn stressed the need for psycho-social support for the vulnerable in society, the sick, women, children, rural populations and marginalized urban groups, who constitute almost 80 percent of the country's population. more >>

Christian relief organizations are praying for calm after Haitian president Jean-Bertrand Aristide's resignation on Sunday, February 29.

World Vision's Kate Scannell said the mood has changed dramatically in the capital city of Port-au-Prince in the last 24 hours. "There was a lot of tension on the streets," she said. "The mood changed to be one of celebration and people feeling liberated. We're hoping that as the roads open up, we're going to be able to get medical supplies to health clinics that have been empty of supplies."

As the ministry works to help 300,000 people, Scannell says opportunities are opening to share the gospel. "We're helping to respond to some of their very basic urgent needs like food, healthcare, and helping children go to school because of our faith in Jesus Christ. And we're able to share that very openly in very practical ways." more >>

Following Sunday's eruption of violence in Haiti that killed tens and injured hundreds, the United States flew in 200 Marines to join the 200 troops already stationed in the Caribbean nation, March 1. In a similar fashion, Christian humanitarian reinforcements ushered in to help the many Christian groups who suffered in the explosive nation to guard their assigned posts.

Workers at Missionary Flights International, located at West Palm Beach, Florida, began fundraising for their mission to Haiti. With the donations the workers plan to load supplies, food and other goods on a DC-3 plane headed for Cape Haitian, the airport that was destroyed over the weekend.

"We feel we can safely go back in with supplies and food and be protected," Dick Snoof of Missionary Flights said. "We're making plans to get this down there as soon as possible." more >>