A Christian missionary organization is requesting prayer after 17 of its workers were kidnapped in Haiti Saturday by gang members alongside a road.
Christian Aid Ministries, which is based in Ohio, said in a statement the workers consisted of five men, seven women and five children.
Sixteen are U.S. citizens. One is a Canadian citizen.
The organization called it an “urgent” prayer request and said the workers “were abducted while on a trip to visit an orphanage” on Saturday.
“We are seeking God’s direction for a resolution, and authorities are seeking ways to help,” the organization said in a statement. “… Join us in praying for those who are being held hostage, the kidnappers, and the families, friends, and churches of those affected. Pray for those who are seeking God’s direction and making decisions regarding this matter.”
Dan Hooley, a former field director for Christian Aid Ministries in Haiti, told CNN that some of the workers were able to contact a local director as they were being kidnapped. One of the workers also shared the location of the kidnapping using GPS, Hooley said.
“A couple of fellows right away messaged the director and told him what was going on. And one of them was able to drop a pin, and that’s the last thing [the organization] heard until the kidnappers contacted them later in the day,” Hooley said.
Edward Graham, assistant to the vice president for Samaritan’s Purse, told Fox News that ministry in Haiti can be dangerous. Samaritan’s Purse deployed a field hospital to the country following an earthquake.
“We had to have security there,” Graham said. “… There is so much turmoil going on in this country. … We have to limit where we can work and what times we work.”
My son @EdwardG1911 was on @FoxNews today to talk about the kidnapping of American missionaries and families in Haiti. Watch here: pic.twitter.com/04oC8W3Mvr
— Franklin Graham (@Franklin_Graham) October 17, 2021
Christian Aid Ministries ended its statement with a verse from Psalm 91: “He that dwelleth in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the Lord, He is my refuge and my fortress: my God; in him will I trust … For he shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.”
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Anastasiia_M
Michael Foust has covered the intersection of faith and news for 20 years. His stories have appeared in Baptist Press, Christianity Today, The Christian Post, the Leaf-Chronicle, the Toronto Star and the Knoxville News-Sentinel.
