June 13, 2005
by Alexa Smith

LOUISVILLE – The Worldwide Ministries Division of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) is urging congregations and presbyteries to cancel planned mission trips to Haiti.

The PC(USA) also is evacuating missionaries from volatile areas until peace is restored.

Human-rights groups say more than 600 people have been killed in Haiti since October. The escalating unrest is attributed to multiple causes, including drug trafficking and political unrest. Armed supporters and opponents of ousted President Jean Bertrand Aristide are forming gangs and battling in the slums of Haiti's major cities.

Middle-class Haitians often are victims of the killings and abductions.

"Our church partner in Haiti is getting nervous about groups and about mission personnel, so, until further notice, we're telling groups not to go," said Maria Arroyo, the denomination's liaison to the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti.

Arroyo said foreign nationals reportedly are being targeted for kidnapping.

A massive drought that led to crop failures last year is aggravating an economy already decimated by rampant unemployment. Haiti is the hemisphere's poorest nation.

Arroyo said countless Presbyterians are linked to mission projects in Haiti, most notably the St. Croix Hospital in Leogane, west of Port au Prince; an agricultural school in Cap Haitian in the north; and a clinic and churches on the island of La Gonave, near Port au Prince.

Three presbyteries – Greater Atlanta, Coastal Carolina and Peaks – have formal partnerships with church groups in Haiti.

"We just don't know how many congregations have ongoing ministries there, but we know a large number do," said the Rev. Jo Ella Holman, who has been trying for two years to establish a network of churches and presbyteries working in Haiti.

Holman said the PC(USA) is as concerned about the Haitian church as about its own members and missionaries.

"We're asking: In what ways does our presence put our partners at risk?" she said. "In some situations, an international presence deters violence and decreases risk; in others, it actually increases the risk. And we think this is one of the latter (situations)."

An interim government is operating in Haiti, bolstered by a 7,400-member United Nations peacekeeping force trying to maintain order as the country prepares for elections in October and November.

"As Haiti approaches its national elections, the country has experienced an upsurge in violence," said Bill Simmons, coordinator of WMD's security team. "WMD cannot encourage or facilitate travel to Haiti by any volunteer mission group. When it is determined that the situation has stabilized, WMD will revisit this decision."

Presbyterian News Service