One night in April, at midnight, our dog was barking non-stop. That night, I couldn’t sleep. I looked outside several times but couldn’t detect any movement. About an hour later, we heard two gunshots in our yard. Through the window I saw our night watchman flee to the backyard and our Rottweiler dog fell to the ground. We later learned that the watchman had taken refuge in a barrel before jumping the wall strewn with broken bottles embedded in the cement. I went downstairs to fetch two of our children, the eldest of whom was on her knees at the foot of her bed. They did not dare move for fear of being shot. We hid them on our balcony, and although one of the bandits got hold of the balcony door, he never opened it.
Seconds later, they knocked on the door. How do you open the door to bandits? We did not. I tried to wake our second son, but to no avail. Michel and I stood in front of the door, which they opened with a crowbar. The 90 minutes spent in the presence of five bandits were a nightmare for us. Michel had a pistol to his head and two others were wandering around the house with a revolver and a hammer. The police, alerted by a neighbor, did not come. Subsequently, we were subjected to further attempts to break into the house, thwarted by our night guard.
In those days, bandits often attacked houses. You could hear people shouting “Help”, but we were powerless to rescue them. God protected our lives that night. In the morning, we took our guard to hospital and miraculously, our dog got up. He had only lost a few hairs on his head. The bullet had left a small mark on the bone. It was 1997 and we had been in Haiti for eight months. On August 12, 2024, we celebrated 28 years in Haiti. Unfortunately, we were not there, but in God’s time we will return to Haiti as it is the desire of our hearts. Our God will fight for us. Nehemiah 4:20
■Haiti – FLASH: FIRST JOINT OPERATION KENYA / PNH 28/08/2024 09:26:29
On Tuesday August 27, 2024, one day after the arrival and reception of new MaxxPros armored vehicles from the USA, a special joint operation involving the special forces of the Kenyan contingent and the PNH was carried out.
More than 15 armored vehicles were deployed in these large-scale police operation, during which several bandits were reportedly fatally wounded. Three SWAT officers sustained minor injuries during the clashes.
Distribution of books by class to some 700 students, most of whom are sponsored. Please pray for all those who won’t be going to school this year, either because their school is closed because of the gangs, or because they don’t have the money to go. If you would like to sponsor a child, please contact us. We look forward to hearing from you.
VBS at The Fortress Church with an attendance of around 600 on the first day.
In three months, we visited 15 churches. God has given a generous donor to feed the children. If you would like to feed the children, please go to : https://erdo.ca/haiti-feeding-program/# Scroll down and click on “Give Today’’.
P.S. We are looking for one or two used laptops for the Sunday School and The Fortress School. If you have a laptop that is still in good condition and would like to donate or sell it at a lower price, please contact us using the shipping address on this letter.
May God encourage and strengthen you. Thank you for your gifts and prayers. It’s a great blessing for us.
Michel & Louise Charbonneau