Remembering Haiti | SL 2.10 (July 2021)
In this newsletter
- Remembering Haiti
- Work & Ministry Update
- Read Your Bible Everyday: A Personal Reflection
- Pray With Us
You can always read this newsletter in your browser.
With the faculty of Institut Biblique de Croix-Des-Bouquets, January, 2019. Left to right: Pastor Patrick Marcellus, Pastor Garry, Rev. Dr. Sylvain Allaboe (from Togo), myself (obviously), and Pastor Emanuel Prudent.
Remembering Haiti
The events of the last eighteen months, not to mention the news cycle, have made it really easy to turn in on ourselves—to focus on our own problems and our own fears while the rest of the world recedes from view. For those of you who aren't aware of what's going on in Haiti these days, I wanted to put it in front of you both as a cause for prayer and as a potential source of encouragement.
I have a good friend and brother in Christ who is a pastor in Haiti, founder of a theological training center, and former colleague with TLI. His name is Jean Garry Auguste, or "Pastor Garry," as he is better known. Since I receive regular emails from him, I have been able to watch the situation in Haiti devolve from his perspective over the last two years.
Major news outlets have reported on the fact that there is zero access to any COVID-19 vaccine in Haiti and that no real efforts to slow the spread of the virus have been made. Honestly, no real efforts could be made. Social distancing and self-isolation are privileges that can only be afforded by countries with incredibly high standards of living—single-family homes, grocery deliveries, tech that allows one to work from home, Jeff Bezos and his empire. In Haiti, COVID-19 is the least of their worries. As the world has wrestled with a pandemic, the ineptitude of the government and rampant corruption have allowed extremely violent armed gangs to more-or-less take over the country.
Anyone who looks "middle class" or like they might have foreign connections is a target for kidnappings, extortion, and mugging. People are killed outside Western Union offices for the envelope containing a couple hundred dollars that relatives slaved for in Miami, New York, or Montreal. One of my students was accosted at gun point when he withdrew money from the church's bank account for a youth event. He couldn't believe he survived.
Two weeks ago an 82-year-old pastor, at whose church I have preached (see the story below), was presiding over a funeral when gang members attacked. For two eternal minutes they repeatedly fired weapons over the heads of the terrorized mourners. The cell phone video I watched shows women and children crawling past the stage to escape the back of the church. Eventually the thugs burned 10 cars outside—including the vehicle that was intended to drive the elderly pastor home—and left. It is unclear what the motive for this attack was. Perhaps someone present had run afoul of the gang, perhaps they were looking for hostages or cash, perhaps they are merely spreading terror to increase their power and people's fear. Pastor Garry received a chilling voicemail from his good friend and fellow TLI colleague, Pastor Marcellus. He described the situation as "hellish" and the message ended with him simply crying out into the receiver, "Oh Lord Jesus, may you come right now!"
It is near total chaos. There is no law and order. The authorities are either totally absent or as dangerous as the gangs.
Then, on Wednesday morning the President of Haiti, Jovenel Moïse, was assassinated in his home. The attackers are reported to have been foreign mercenaries, but no one—to my knowledge—has claimed responsibility. Although Moies was an inept and increasingly corrupt leader, this event stands to plunge Haiti into something like a gang-led civil war.
Here's what Pastor Garry wrote:
What next... no one knows. Everything can turn for the worse during the day. Everyone's holding their breath. Have our country in your prayer specially during this week.
The people of Haiti need our prayers if nothing else. They are terrified and terrorized to the point where life feels impossible. At various points over the last year Pastor Garry has been unable to hold church services or training sessions simply because of the security situation and the level of danger that leaving your house entails.
I realize this is a bit of downer. Do not be depressed, brothers and sisters, but pray. Human sin is a terrible thing. The LORD is a warrior. He has defeated sin and one day its effects and all evildoers and enemies of his purposes will be run out of the city. Till then we must trust and hope. We put our trust and hope into action in a profound way when we pray. Remember these brothers and sisters in your prayers.
Particularly pray for the guys in the picture above who are working sacrificially to strengthen the Church in Haiti—they see it as the only hope of stemming corruption and bringing some level of peace and justice to their country. Their faithfulness humbles me.
Street vendors in Port-au-Prince
You are Training Pastors to be Faithful to Scripture & Strengthening the Global Church
- I'll be teaching Exegesis of Proverbs for the MDiv students at GraceLife Seminary in Monrovia, Liberia with Training Leaders International in November. I'm truly thankful for this opportunity and eager to get back out there. Please pray for global stability re: COVID and the travel corridors to open responsibly, so that we can pull this off.
- I'll also be teaching a course on the Torah/Pentateuch for a new cohort of students at William Tennent School of Theology in Colorado in November. Same prayers as above.
- Currently teaching Hebrew I and Hebrew II to two different classes through Tennent on Zoom. This is pretty much a pure joy. Hebrew is the foundation of everything I do and I love getting to introduce it to students.
- Currently writing a paper comparing Daniel 4 and Proverbs 30 for the European Association of Biblical Studies. I'll be presenting this paper at the annual conference (this year online) on August 3. This will be more-or-less the climax of the dissertation as I consider the theological value of all the animals mentioned in Proverbs 30. What are they there for? What can they mean?
Thank you. Your prayers and support empower everything we do.
My mom finally made it for a visit!
Kings X in London, training north
Mandatory five days of self-isolating means plenty of time for reading to the girls.
Easy access to the countryside is a highlight of Durham.
The gorgeous Durham Heritage Coast
Read Your Bible Everyday: A Personal Reflection
This essay has been removed from the archive pending possible publication.
LORD, thank you for the faithfulness of those who reject fatalism and trust in your Word. May you preserve them and save them alive for your purposes and your glory. May you encourage all of us as we endeavor day-by-day to believe and embody your Word in our lives. You alone have the words of life—thank you. May we never depart from them.
Dr. Allaboe teaches on leadership for the seasoned team of Haitian pastors at Institut Biblique de Croix-des-Bouquets.
Pray With Us
- Pray for Haiti during this season of incredible distress. Pray particularly for the church that they might be a witness and that they might be sheltered in the center of God's purposes.
- Pray for my continued progress on the dissertation. Due to a variety of uncontrollable personal circumstances and minor setbacks, June was not a very productive month. Pray that, one way or another, I would be able to "finish" chapter 4 by the end of August and stay on track.
- Pray for guidance and direction for us as we begin to see our time in England coming to a close over the next year or so. Where would God have us exactly? What things can we focus our energies on?
A Church service in Croix-des-Bouquets, Haiti
Notes:
- Magrassi, Mariano. 1998. Praying the Bible: An Introduction to Lectio Divina. Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press.