The world is truly full of brutal oppression because humans have rejected their Maker, the source of all goodness, mercy, compassion, truth, justice, and love.
Though violence has always impacted the lives of the families JiHM serves in different ways, for most of our existence, gang violence was mostly contained to the Port au Prince area, several miles away.
But over the last five years, the impact of gang violence has grown exponentially, now leaving no family or aspect of our ministry untouched.
In the past year, our three areas of ministry—the Lighthouse Children’s Home (Bon Repos), and Grace Emmanuel School and Victory Bible Church (Source Matelas)—have all been forced to relocate due to the violence.
Not one of our current staff members live in the same home they were living in a year ago.
Here is a timeline of how the last five years of growing insecurity has affected JiHM.
Protests over fuel
A sudden and substantial increase to the nationally fixed price of fuel sparks uprisings around the country. Members of Haiti’s elite class are the main targets of destructive protests. Apart from canceling one missions team, JiHM is not largely affected by the violence.
Peyi lòk
In February, the country is brought to a standstill for over 2 weeks as protesters call for the president, Jovenel Moïse, to resign over corruption charges. Members of JiHM’s staff who live in Port au Prince go without food and clean water for days, unable to leave their homes. Grace Emmanuel School closes for just over two weeks. JiHM holds its first mass food distribution and cancels another missions team.
3-month closure
A new year at Grace Emmanuel School barely kicks off before closing until December due to ongoing upheaval over the president’s involvement in a fuel scandal. Though Source Matelas is calm, the opposition wants all of normal life in Haiti stopped until Moïse resigns. GES continues to hold classes in secret for two grade levels preparing for government exams, but even those are forced to pause after threats to the mission.
Last missions team
At the end of December, with violence still contained to Port au Prince, JiHM hosts what would be its final short-term team.
Employees Robbed
Two JiHM employees are robbed at gunpoint after making a withdrawal from the bank in Bon Repos. Thieves steal over $6K in ministry funds, but leave the staff members unharmed.
COVID-19
After only 3 months of school, life comes to a halt for 5 months in Haiti because of the COVID-19 pandemic. GES teachers visit students at home to distribute lessons. Older classes receive instruction over WhatsApp. JiHM distributes food to families as the closure drags on.
3-week school closure
Grace Emmanuel School closes for 3 weeks as renewed protests call for President Moïse to step down. Kidnapping becomes rampant across Haiti. Gangs gain control of new territory in Port au Prince. No one feels safe on the road, but Source Matelas/Cabaret remain mostly calm.
Presidential assassination
Jovenel Moïse, the last elected president of Haiti, is assassinated by gunmen at his home. Two days before the assassination, he names Ariel Henry as his seventh prime minister.
2021-2022 School Year
Though Port au Prince continues to grow less safe, Grace Emmanuel School is able to hold an entire school year with very little interruption. Though most of JiHM’s staff live within a few miles of the school, the staff members traveling from homes in Port au Prince face daily threats on the highway as gangs seize more control.
Lighthouse flees & returns
A gang turf war in Bon Repos, Haiti, forces the Lighthouse Children’s Home to evacuate on foot. They are able to return home a few weeks later when the gangs reach a truce.
Attempted robbery
The director of JiHM is threatened at gunpoint while he is driving between Port au Prince and the mission. He chooses to flee rather than face kidnapping. He escapes unharmed.
Continued unrest
Thousands of demonstrators hold protests across the country, bringing life to a halt. The protests are fueled by rampant insecurity, the high cost of living, a 29% inflation rate, gas shortages, and the devaluation of the Haitian gourde. The Ministry of Education postpones the first day of school to October 3 to allow more time for schools to prepare after a summer of disruptions.
Oil terminal seized by gangs
Protests erupt again after the elimination of fuel subsidies causes prices to double overnight. Jimmy (Barbecue) Chérizier, the leader of a gang alliance, seizes the largest oil terminal in Haiti, paralyzing fuel and transportation in the country.
First attack on JiHM families
On October 7, hundreds of men from two gangs team up to attack and take control of Minotrie, a small port village just down the coast from Source Matelas. Fourteen GES students, as well as a handful of staff members and 10 former graduates, are displaced. The gangs also launch smaller scale attacks on the coastal portion of Source Matelas but do not take control of the area.
Mass food distribution
With the gang-induced gas scarcity, grocery prices skyrocket, leaving many families in the Source Matelas area hungry. JiHM responds with a mass food distribution to serve 400 families.
Fuel block lifted and some schools open
Police regain control of the country’s main fuel terminal on November 7, and schools across Haiti begin to reopen. The teens at the Lighthouse Children’s Home return to their school in Bon Repos in December. Grace Emmanuel School remains closed due to the continued threat of more gang attacks on Source Matelas.
Gangs attack Source Matelas
After many other attempts to attack Source Matelas are fought off by residents, gangs launch a larger attack on November 29, setting fire to homes and killing 16 people. Members of JiHM’s staff lay on the floors of their home, trapped by the gunfire outside their doors. Others flee in the middle of the night. A young member of Victory Bible Church is killed when gangs set fire to his house.
Helping families
With Grace Emmanuel Shool still closed for its fourth month and mass gatherings unwise, JiHM distributes nearly $20,000 in cash over cell phone networks to help students’ families.
GES reopens
After a quiet December, JiHM’s local leadership make the call to open Grace Emmanuel School on January 16. About 85% of students return. Students and staff both return with mixed feelings.
A God-timed food distribution
On April 18, JiHM safely distributes $13,000 worth of food to families of students and staff at the mission property.
Massacre in Source Matelas
In the middle of the morning on April 19, armed men arrive in Source Matelas on buses and begin a massacre. At least 100 people are killed as gangs take over the village permanently. Staff and students at Grace Emmanuel School flee on foot to Cabaret, many with family still trapped in Source Matelas. JiHM loses its property to gangs, and Victory Bible Church and Grace Emmanuel School are forced to close indefinitely. Many students lose family members to the violence. Over 60% of the student body is displaced.
Relocating families
JiHM supporters respond to the attack by giving generously to help families relocate across Haiti and provide food for those taking temporary shelter in Arcahaie, the next village up the coast past Cabaret.
School reopens in Arcahaie
Grace Emmanuel School’s leadership form a partnership with a small school in Arcahaie and resume classes in June. A very abbreviated school year concludes at the end of July.
Lighthouse closes
Due to continued unrest in the neighborhood where the Lighthouse Children’s Home is located, JiHM closes the home and relocates the 6 young adults who still remained there.
2023-2024 school year
Grace Emmanuel School begins a new school year in Arcahaie. Over 100 students have left the area and do not return. School meets mostly uninterrupted through January.
Victory Bible Church reopens
After 8 months of watching and waiting, JiHM reopens Victory Bible Church in the same location where the school is currently meeting. Many members remain scattered and attendance is low.
February unrest
February is filled with unrest as former senator and US deportee Guy Philippe leads protests demanding the resignation of Ariel Henry. Grace Emmanuel School is closed for most of the month.
March escalation
A massive uprising begins when PM Ariel Henry leaves the country to sign a deal with Kenya. Nearly 4000 inmates escape after gangs attack prisons in Port au Prince. Gangs shut down the airports in attempts to force Henry to remain out of the country. The border to the DR is closed. Gangs attack the country’s main port.
Gangs attack Cabaret
On Sunday, March 3, gangs attack Cabaret, setting fire to the police station and several banks and businesses. Grace Emmanuel School closes again as gangs threaten Arcahaie as well.