Global Ministries

As a child, you probably heard the sage advice from our adults, instructing us to "be safe." With a finger wagging in your face, you knew to heed their warnings.

Violent clashes broke out between protesters and police in both Haiti and Ecuador after the governments of both countries eliminated fuel subsidies, following the instructions of the International Monetary Fund. Latin America and the Caribbean has a long history of following policies imposed by the IMF as well as the World Bank as a condition to get loans and financial benefits from those two institutions. Those policies along with the foreign debt crisis have affected the continent for decades. The situation in Ecuador and Haiti are good examples of the direct impact of that in the everyday life of the people there. That is what we would call “two wings of the same bird.” It is two countries facing the same root cause of their problems.

Stateless people are individuals who are not recognized as citizens by any country in the world, and consequently are denied basic human rights – rights that individuals often take for granted: right to health care, to education, to own property, to travel, to get a birth or death certificate, etc. Without protection from any state due to their lack of legal identity, stateless people are vulnerable to discrimination, exploitation, violence. Women and children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation.
WCC Statement on the Human Rights of Stateless People, November 8, 2013 

There are two things that come to mind when I reflect on my recent trip to Haiti on behalf of Global Ministries to serve in ministry and to be a presence with our partners, CONASPEH.  One is the adage that “knowledge is power."  

Lectionary Selection: John 13:31-35

Prayers for Haiti:  

All loving and gracious God, You have given us a new commandment - to love one another. We are to love others as You have loved us. You did not come to teach us only in words, not to rule over us with laws and regulations. And we thank You for being the perfect model of love. You came to show us how to truly be servants of others, and by doing so - we love. We pray, Lord, help us to put aside our egos, our “good intentions,” our personal agendas, assumptions, and fears, in doing so we can love others with a humble spirit and open heart so our actions will reflect and glorify You. Lord, help us to be ready, at any moment, at all moments - to love. Simply love.

The National Spiritual Council of Haitian Churches (CONASPEH) expressed recently its discomfort with the skyrocketing inflation on Haitian economy and the government failure to prosecute embezzlement from a multi-billion dollar Venezuelan program, aimed to provide discounted oil to Haiti.  Protests have escalated to the point of people being killed in the streets and the stoning of the President's House.

Meet Denis.

Student. Seamstress. Business Owner. Visionary.

Ninguna palabra corrompida salga de vuestra boca, sino la que sea buena para la necesaria edificación, a fin de dar gracia a los oyentes. Efesios 4:29

Antes de mudarme a Haití, estudié un "petit" (poquito) de Kreyol antes de llegar al país, lo suficiente como para pensar que estaba listo para conversar con los nacionales aquí. Umm ... no. Lo que me tardo en formular una frase, el momento ya ha pasado.

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Before moving to a Haiti, I studied a petit (little) bit of Kreyol before I arrived in country, enough to think I was ready to chat with the Nationals here. Umm… non. By the time it takes for me to put together a sentence, the moment has already passed.