I have been on three medical mission trips to Haiti in the years following the 7.0 magnitude earthquake that killed 220,000 people in 2010. I felt reasonably safe, given the country’s history of armed gangs. Gangs and gang violence were not as prevalent following the earthquake; in large measure because the UN Peacekeeping Force was still there (2004-2017).
Since the withdrawal of UN soldiers, gang violence has increased dramatically. The homicide rate went from 20 per 100,000 residents in 2021 to 41 in 2023 (US rate is 7-8). Thus far in 2024 there have been more than 1,500 homicides attributed to gangs.
On May 23rd of this year, David and Natalie Lloyd, American missionaries, were coming out of a worship service in Port-au-Prince, along with Jude Montis, a church leader.1 Suddenly, an armed Haitian gang drove into the compound. David, 23 years old, was tied up and beaten. The gang was stealing vehicles and whatever else they thought was valuable. A second gang arrived on the scene and began a firefight with the first gang. David was shot and killed, as well as his 21-year-old wife and the church leader.
To say that the death of these Christians is a tragedy only scratches the surface. We read Bible passages about how difficult life can be as a follower of Jesus. The Lord told us we would be hated (Matthew 24:9). In parables, we are likened to servants who are mistreated and killed because we serve the Master (Matthew 21:33-39). Yet in America, we often treat such scriptures as an academic exercise in how committed we are to our faith in Christ. We seldom go below the surface of God’s Word to ask ourselves if we are prepared to be killed for what we believe.
Certainly, there are people living in other countries where they could be beaten or killed for being a Christian. When we dig deeper into the Bible, we find a more troubling root for violence and murder. It is not just love of money that is evil (1 Timothy 6:10). Out of our hearts come all manner of evil thoughts (Mark 7:21). The first chapter in Romans describes the nature of what occurred in Haiti; the gang members had depraved minds because they had lost all knowledge of God (1:28). They murder irrespective of the victims’ faith.
David, Natalie, and Jude were killed, not because they were Christian, but because they were Christ’s presence in a very dark and sinister environment. They could have kept the doors to the compound closed and hired armed security. Instead, they opened the doors so youth could come and worship, learn about God. Faith in action got them killed.
How these missionaries served reminded me of sayings on the walls of the church compound we stayed at on our Haitian mission trips. One was: assemblons-nous pour nous fortifier pour sortons pour server (we gather to strengthen ourselves to go out and serve). Those missionaries lived and died sharing the Gospel in a hostile environment; they had the strength to be faithful to the point of death (Revelation 2:10).
Another was: acun mal n’est plus l’ignorance (nothing is worse than ignorance). David, Natalie, and Jude were a witness to the light that shines in the darkness of ignorance (John 1:4-5).
We can never be completely sure how we would react in any situation. It is not in everyone’s nature to be a missionary in a violence-torn country. But I hope all of us would have the strength to be faithful, and a light unto the world, wherever the Lord places us.
Nomads2 