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April 8, 2025


Dear Daniel,


It’s not about politics!


Since the very beginning of our ministry, we have been careful to avoid taking political positions, whether in Haiti or in the U.S. That tends to get a ministry in trouble. Today is no exception. It would be easy to take this newsletter as a political statement, but it’s not. As a ministry, we are concerned about the person, both body and soul. This is a newsletter about the challenges faced by the people we love. It’s a long one, but there is much to report. Without a doubt, this is our longest newsletter ever. With that in mind, let’s plunge in!


In Haiti


We have often written about the gang violence in Port-au-Prince and surrounding areas. It is widely understood that gangs control 85% of the capital city, and they’re expanding influence into other areas. The National Police force is overwhelmed. There is a so-called Multinational Security Force sanctioned by the United Nations, but it is underfunded and understaffed and generally ineffective. Thus far, it is relatively safe in the north of the country where we’re based, but as people flee the gangs, it stresses limited resources everywhere.


Because of the danger to air transportation, the U.S. FAA prohibited all air travel for U.S. carriers to the entirety of Haiti last year. Since then, the FAA is permitting flights to Cap-Haitien, but no U.S. carriers have resumed flights. There is only one flight per day to Miami on a Haitian national carrier. This has created challenges for the Haitien people in general, and us specifically.


As for our ministry, we face an additional challenge. As we wrote last month, the city of Cap-Haitien is widening a drainage canal behind the clinic building and is knocking down parts of every building lining the canal. In our case we lost six rooms. It’s a three-story building and we lost two rooms on each floor. We lost our lab, an exam room, two guest rooms, a storage room, and a utility room housing our power system. The photo shows the devastation. The city gave no warning, no remediation, and no compensation. We’re scrambling to secure the building and protect our assets.


In the U.S.


Briefly explained, during the last presidential administration, a program called Humanitarian Parole was established. The program allowed people from Venezuela, Cuba, Nicaragua, and Haiti to apply to come to the U.S. if they had a U.S. sponsor and passed vetting. They received what’s called Temporary Protective Status which provides legal residency and a work permit. The idea was to control immigration in an orderly manner and know who is immigrating. It was available to citizens of these countries facing internal danger. Under this program, 210,000 people from Haiti arrived.


With the new administration, this program was abruptly terminated on March 24 and the program recipients were given 30 days to leave the country. As you can imagine, this creates immense distress as families had started to plant roots in the U.S. There is also the practical matter of returning to Haiti. With one flight per day, there is no possibility this number of people can actually return to Haiti in 30 days. Furthermore, many who are here have lost their homes in Haiti to the gangs so there may be no home for them in Haiti any more. People will lose their apartments and jobs in the U.S., but they’re stuck here with no way to support themselves.


Last year we started a local outreach called Connect to Our Neighbor. Many of the people we were helping came to the U.S. under this program. Understandably, we’re overwhelmed, and don’t have the capacity to help the number of people who are affected in our local (Georgia) area. We really don’t know how to help as it’s an issue beyond our reach.


Where Do We Go From Here?


Honestly, we’re facing a lot of uncertainty. It begs the question that’s the title of this newsletter, has God forsaken Haiti? In our hearts, we don’t believe that’s the case, but it can surely seem like it. One of the most misquoted and misunderstood scriptures is Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.” [NIV] It was written to the people of Israel who were exiled from their land. It is true that God had a plan for them, but it involved 70 years of exile. His plan involved a period of hard times. God is sovereign, and He keeps his promises. The people of Israel did return to Israel as promised, but they had to go through much suffering along the way.


Haiti has historically gone through hard times, but it’s especially intense now. We ask for your prayers for wisdom. We do have plans, but we need to figure out how God wants us to proceed. We want to help the Haitian people here in the U.S. to the extent we’re able. We need to figure out how and where to restore the clinic. We are on the cusp of deepening our involvement in the village of Dolval to bring help to that little village, but there are so many new challenges on our plate that make it even harder now. So, we ask you to just pray. It’s not really a little thing. Just pray. It’s the biggest thing we need right now.

Blessings to all,
Dan Merrefield
for the Haiti Cheri Team

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Haiti Cheri Harvest Life Ministries | www.haiticheri.org

Email us: info@haiticheri.org

Call us: 800-989-4248

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