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Haiti at the Cross
By George Thomas
CBN News Sr. Reporter

December 16, 2004

CBN.com – PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti - From a distance, the tiny tropical island of Haiti looks like a great vacation destination. Tropical weather, sandy beaches, green valleys and breath-taking views offer visitors a taste of heaven on earth. But the closer you get, the more this heaven on earth feels and looks like hell on earth.

CBN News asked Eris Labady, a pastor who oversees 15 churches, how he would describe Haiti today. Labady replied, “A sick nation who needs a doctor."

Haiti is the poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and is getting poorer every day. Half the population is undernourished. One in five children dies before he or she reaches five. The majority in the country do not even have access to clean water.

Dr. J. L. Williams, an American based in North Carolina, has ministered the Gospel in Haiti for 30-plus years. Dr. Williams is the CEO of New Directions International. He said, “It went from this incredible place of prestige, a place of beauty, to what it is today -- just almost a barren, lifeless island.”

It is an island where hopelessness and despair are captured in the faces of needy Haitians.

One Haitian girl said, “Our life is so difficult here. We have lost hope in all earthly solutions to Haiti's problems.”

Many had pinned their hopes on Haiti's experiment with democracy, but that too has failed to produce much of anything.

Still, the man in charge of running this country, Prime Minister Gerard Latortue, is optimistic about the future, despite his country's catalogue of problems.

Latortue said, "We know that democracy is difficult to implement, but we know there is nothing better than that."

Yet the nation's top evangelical leader says there are deeper issues that plague his nation.

Chavannes Jeune is the pastor of Mission Evangelical Baptist Church. When asked if he felt that Haiti is cursed, he replied, “Yes, because our forefathers, when they were celebrating their independence, dedicated Haiti to a voodoo spirit.”

Continue story at:
http://www.cbn.com/CBNNews/News/041216a.asp