In Mid-March, an ACCTS staff member traveled to Haiti to join Nestor Ogilvie, the AMCF Vice-President for North America, who lives in Grenada.  They went there to encourage the Haitian Military Christian Fellowship (HMCF).  In 2011, the HMCF was reinvigorated after a member of the Haitian Coast Guard attended an ACCTS Chaplain Interaction in San Antonio.  Upon his return, he started a weekly Bible Study, which routinely had 25 or more military Christians attending.  Sadly, in February 2013, this faithful military Christian leader was brutally murdered in broad daylight, and the fellowship was devastated.  The staff member's report follows:

"Ramino (the current HMCF leader) and I started off at the appointed time to meet Nestor at the airport in Port au Prince, but we couldn't find him. We called his home, but his wife said he had already boarded the plane in Grenada. The mystery deepened! She called back a few minutes later, however, to say that the plane's departure had been delayed 2 hours. (With all our electronic devices we should have checked before driving to the airport.) In any case, he finally arrived, and we settled in to the quarters arranged for us.

Our host was at the Guest House promptly at 1000 and we left for the Coast Guard Base through heavy traffic, watching motorcycles race by as we dodged dump trucks and 18-wheelers. A mile or so short of the base our car stalled and refused to start. Thanks to our electronic devices, however, someone soon came to our rescue and we proceeded with the day's plan. We met for a prayer meeting under the same tent in use when we had last visited.  There were a dozen Coast Guardsmen, a few civilians, and half a dozen female employees present. One of the ladies was a policewoman in civilian clothes. We didn't recognize her until she reminded us that we had been in her home on our last trip and prayed for her sick baby.   After the meeting, we answered questions about chaplain training and spent some time with a local pastor who has a heart for the military.

Perhaps the most significant event of the day, however, occurred after dinner.  All the other guests had left except a young policewoman from the Bahamas who mentioned a gruesome murder that had happed earlier. Nestor was then able to share with her that the police fellowship in Granada started after a similar crime when God answered the prayers of a police prayer group, and helped them find the murderer.

On Sunday, we attended three different churches, starting at 0830 and concluding with an evening service. On Monday, we shared the Pray & Plan process with members of the HMCF, and had some good prayer and planning for their future. Over the lunch hour we visited a police station with a thriving noon hour prayer group, and on Tuesday, we visited another police station prayer group. From there we returned to the Coast Guard base for their prayer meeting, after which we shared about upcoming ACCTS programs of interest to them. After dinner we met with a pastor who had moved to Florida, started a large church, and was helping the HMCF with funding and other encouragement.

It was encouraging to see Haiti's progress in recovering from the earthquake in 2010, and to see how God has raised up new Military Christian leaders.  We had an opportunity to visit an orphanage with some of them, and despite their meager circumstances, it was heart warming to see the joy on the children's faces as these young officers led them in Christian songs and shared their faith.  Pray that God will continue to sustain Haiti.