Haiti is in crisis. Families who have spent years building their homes and communities are being forced to flee as gang violence escalates across the country. Currently, over one million people have been forced from their homes because of ongoing unrest. With nowhere safe to go, many are left with only the clothes on their backs and essential documents, unsure of what comes next.
Nephtalie knows this reality all too well. Since her marriage in 2021, she and her husband have moved three times—each time displaced by violent gangs. The homes they once lived in are either burned, looted, or taken over. Their dreams of stability have been shattered again and again, yet through it all, she remains determined to help others.
When Nephtalie and her team traveled to a community in Haiti to implement health and hygiene programs, they had no idea the area was involved in resistance efforts against local gangs. While travel in Haiti is always risky due to gang-controlled roads, they felt relatively safe using a well-known and trusted bus company. While there, her colleague Bensley had a vivid dream—an unsettling vision of violence and destruction where she saw herself being shot. In the dream, she was questioned by authorities, accused of not revealing her purpose for being there. When she awoke, the unease lingered. They prayed for guidance, feeling the weight of God urging them to leave. Yet, no initial safe way out presented itself.
A day passed. Fear settled in like an unwelcome guest. Then, finally, an opportunity arose—a bus transport that could take them back home. The journey was tense and uncertain. At one checkpoint, a man from a local gang climbed onto their vehicle. He didn’t speak, didn’t make demands. He simply rode with them, a silent but chilling signal that they were under his control. Somehow, whether by luck or unseen mercy, they were eventually allowed to pass. What began as a mission to educate and offer hope had turned into a precarious passage home—one that could have ended very differently.
They made it home safely—but their sense of security was fleeting. Just one day later, the very town they had left was overrun by gangs.
Bensley’s dream had been more than just a vision; it was a divine warning, urging them to flee. God was watching over our staff, guiding them to safety before danger struck.
Our staff in Haiti reassures the children they serve that they are deeply loved and valued by God. Yet in this moment, God was speaking the same truth to them—through His protection, through His providence, through His ever-watchful care.