Aftershock: a Journey of Faith to Haiti

By M.A. Coulter

For four consecutive days in early 2010, it was the number one news story in the world.

Ten Americans left the security and comfort of their homes, placed jobs on hold, and left family and friends behind to help Haitian children victimized by the January 12, 2010, earthquake. Despite their admirable intents, the Christians were charged with kidnapping, criminal association, and attempting to arrange irregular travel.

What Satan intended for evil, God used for good. Experience their unwavering faith. Experience their reliance on Gods sustaining power, His endless grace, and His abiding presence. And trust, as they trust, that God will use their sacrifices to bring about meaningful change in Haiti. The full measure of their service is yet to be realized

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Jul 20, 2011
• ISBN: 9781449719043

M.A. Coulter

Award-winning writer M. A. Coulter lived the Haitian ordeal while his eldest daughter Charisa was jailed in Port-au-Prince. A native Oregonian, he holds a degree in journalism from the University of Oregon and is a public relations professional in Idaho. The author, his wife Brenda, and their youngest daughter Calli, live in Kuna, Idaho.

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Copyright © 2011 M.A. Coulter

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

All photographs by M.A. Coulter except those on page 164, which were submitted and used with permission.

Scripture references are from The Holy Bible, New International Version©, Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Some Scripture references paraphrased and not directly quoted.

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1904-3 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1903-6 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4497-1905-0 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2011932042

Cover design by Anthony Garcia; cover photograph by M.A. Coulter.

Page design by Katie Schneider

Edited by JR Adams Publishing, Boise, Idaho

Printed in the United States of America

WestBow Press rev. date: 7/15/2011

Contents

Author’s Note

Chronicles of Aftershock

Chapter 1

Prologue: Go

Chapter 2

Epicenter of Crises

Chapter 3

Called to Serve

Chapter 4

Entering Haiti

Chapter 5

Season of Waiting

Chapter 6

Courtroom Drama

Chapter 7

Help from Home

Chapter 8

Transformations

Chapter 9

Prayer, Petitions, and Praise

Chapter 10

Lessons of Faith

Chapter 11

Legion of Friends

Chapter 12

Experiencing Haiti

Chapter 13

A Generation at Risk

Chapter 14

What’s Next?

Chapter 15

Encouraging Words

Chapter 16

Epilogue

Chapter 17

Benediction

Chapter 18

Chapter Notes

Post Script

Observations from the Journey

Acknowledgments

To my companions on a lifelong journey that predates Aftershock – my loving, patient, and courageous wife, Brenda; to daughter Charisa who lived the aftershock for five weeks in a Haitian jail; to daughters Chelsea and Calli, and son-in-law John who endured the process with us. Each of you has demonstrated a faith in God that comes only in walking through the tempest with Him. May He bless each of you richly.

To my extended family for supporting my passion for words and writing. You were there before I dove into a career in journalism and public communication. Thank you for your endless encouragement and tolerance.

With appreciation to Laura Silsby whose commitment to helping abused and abandoned children inspired the January 2010 trip to the Dominican Republic and Haiti and who freely shared intimate details of the journey. May the Lord continue to guide and bless you as you serve Him.

With deepest admiration to the Haitians who came alongside and ministered to the suffering servants: Alex, Florence, Junior, and Andy; and the Christian guards in Haiti who remained faithful to Laura and the mission long after the ordeal passed. May the Lord use each of you to bring about change in the country you love.

With sincere thanks to friend and colleague Jerry Adams for editing the text for Aftershock. You are a master at finding unwanted nuggets hiding on the pages. I appreciate your attention to detail.

To all of you, I extend the words of the Apostle Paul:

Grace and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. I thank my God every time I remember you. In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy because of your partnership in the Gospel from the first day until now, being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus. It is right for me to feel this way about all of you, since I have you in my heart …" (Phil. 1: 2-8)

Author’s Note

A journey of faith. The words can describe the walk of every Christian who sets aside personal priorities to answer a higher call, to become an emissary of God. A journey of faith to Haiti presses that call to another level. Beyond comfort. Beyond safety. Beyond the imaginable. To a place of winnowing wheat from chaff, the good from the bad. To a place where you either stand for the upward call of Christ, or you fall at the hands of the adversary.

To be clear from the outset, Aftershock: A Journey of Faith to Haiti is the perspective of one who lived the 3 1/2-month ordeal from a distance. I was not present in the crowded, humid jail cells where 10 Americans put their faith on the line for God. I did not experience the hunger or the heat. I did not sleep on a concrete floor, or wonder when the next meal would arrive. I did not hold young earthquake survivors in my arms on a bus bound for security or know the deep pain of releasing them to Haitian authorities. I was not branded a kidnapper or child trafficker.

But I lived the experience, nevertheless, beginning even before the mammoth earthquake that shattered Haiti on January 12, 2010, even before plans to create an orphanage in the Dominican Republic … clear back to a child’s love for children. I shared a daughter’s aspiration to take her devotion to Christ and her love for children to a dry and thirsty land. I understood. And vicariously, I joined in her sacrifice, wishing I had the opportunity to express my faith in such a selfless way. Yet, I remained at home, absorbing every news account, waiting for the next text message, the next cell phone call, and doing everything I could from afar to bring the incredible ordeal to a reasonable conclusion.

As 10 volunteers endured the trials and tribulations in a Haitian jail, I was drawn into my own journey of faith. The call to document the journey of my daughter and her nine companions was as profound and as clear as the call that led them to Port-au-Prince.

There was a period of doubt about this project, though. Was undertaking it presumptuous? Could someone else have told it more clearly, more objectively? God, are sure you want me to do this? I was tempted to put the manuscript in a drawer and let the saga slip into obscurity along with fading attention by the news media. And then I remembered a prophet named Jonah. God assigned him to Nineveh; he chose a safer destination – Tarshish. Ignoring God’s specific call after you volunteer for His service limits your options. Either you obey or not. It is the same choice 10 Americans faced – obey and go, or ignore and stay. Aftershock could not be relegated to a drawer, and I could not watch without writing. I could not ignore the call.

In the interest of disclosure, Aftershock was not sanctioned nor endorsed by all of the 10 Christians who traveled to Haiti, although several contributed to the chronicles. Most of the volunteers independently chose different venues to tell their stories. In retrospect, I wouldn’t want it to be otherwise, for the focus of this project changed significantly as it neared completion. I came to realize that I could not tell their story, individual or collective. I could not tell my daughter’s story. For the true Journey of Faith to Haiti, from the beginning, was God’s story, His and His alone. It was His story before the January 12, 2010, earthquake, before the Christians embarked for Haiti, before they were detained at the Dominican border, before they endured confinement and trial, and before they were released.

The drama had many players. The 10 American volunteers. Their families and friends. The countless strangers around the globe who prayed for their deliverance. The Haitian children and their families. Even those involved in the Haitian legal process. Each played a part divinely scripted by God to achieve His purpose and further His kingdom. We are called to do what we can, to trust God for the details, and praise Him for the results. Regardless of circumstances. Regardless of outcome.

Did the servants suffer in jail? There is no question the three weeks, the five weeks, and the 15 weeks of incarceration required great personal sacrifices. Jobs and families became secondary considerations. Detainees were confined in small cells – the group’s five women in one cell and the five men in another nearby. They slept on concrete floors. They never knew when their next food or drink would arrive. Or medicine to combat physical maladies. Back home, family members pooled their resources to fund a legal defense, some of which fell into unscrupulous hands and will never be seen again. Family members in the U.S. also suffered through sleepless nights; they too put jobs on hold. Different parts of the story, but parts nonetheless.

For several weeks, the news media focused on those sacrifices while questioning motives, peering into personal histories, and asking whether procedures were circumvented. They sought man’s story, not God’s. Indeed, references to a Christian mission were met with cynicism or were disregarded outright. Observers simply didn’t care, and judging from the thoughtless comments posted at the end of website news stories, neither did ill-informed readers. But separating the Journey of Faith to Haiti from its Christian roots ignores the true purpose of the mission. It was, first and foremost, a Christian effort of compassion.

When Christians take a stand for the Lord, they must be willing to surrender individual priorities and comforts along with any personal claim to the process, the results, and to the story itself. To consider the story ours would be to usurp God’s sovereignty. It would no longer be faith if it were solely the product of man.

Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name be the glory, because of your love and faithfulness. (Psalm 115: 1)

The apostle Paul understood. His hardships were part of God’s mission, not his own.

So then, men ought to regard us as servants of Christ and as those entrusted with the secret things of God. Now it is required that those who have been given a trust must prove faithful. I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear … Therefore, judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men’s hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. (I Cor. 4: 1-5)

Aftershock, A Journey of Faith to Haiti above all is an account of how God called 10 individuals to collectively accomplish His purpose. The pages focus on that mission and the many complications that servants encountered in the process. Not on the servants themselves.

It remains unclear how God ultimately will turn this journey into His glory, how the court drama fits into His plan to reach the inhabitants of the island country, how He will transform a culture steeped in voodoo, and how He will guard the hearts and spirit of young Haitian children, and change a nation.

That is His story, and it has yet to be fully revealed.

Chronicles of Aftershock

The Lord makes firm the steps of the one who delights in Him; though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the Lord upholds him with His hand. I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. (Psalm 37: 23-25)

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A magnitude 7.0 earthquake centered near Leogane, about 16 miles southwest of the capital of Port-au-Prince, rocks Haiti.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

At the request of Laura Silsby, co-founder of New Life Children’s Refuge (NLCR), Dominican Republic real estate experts Rob Chenvert and Jose Hidalgo begin searching for a facility that would be appropriate to use as a temporary orphanage. They also initiate a process to secure government authorization to accept Haitian children into the Dominican Republic.

Thursday, January 14, 2010, to Wednesday, January 20

Laura and Charisa Coulter begin gathering supplies for the temporary orphanage. Central Valley Baptist Church commits funds to help with the rescue mission and securing a temporary facility.

Thursday, January 21, 2010

Laura and Charisa finish packing 18 plastic bins with donated supplies to be used in Haiti. A friend drives them late at night to Salt Lake City, towing a U-Haul trailer filled with the supplies, primarily for infants and toddlers.

Friday, January 22, 2010

Laura and Charisa fly to Haiti via American Airlines with stops in Chicago and Miami. They rendezvous with the team’s five men, Paul Thompson, Silas Thompson, Steve McMullin, all from Idaho; Drew Culberth of Topeka, Kansas; and Jim Allen of Amarillo, Texas. The seven volunteers for New Life Children’s Refuge travel to Santiago, Dominican Republic, and arrive late in the night. The group travels by bus to Cabarete, on the northern coast of the D.R. and meet realtors Rob and Jose. They spend the night in Jose’s rental home.

Saturday, January 23, 2010

The men are tasked with assessing the condition of the hotel and determining the repairs and additions needed to make it secure and suitable for use as a temporary orphanage for displaced Haitian children. Rob and Jose had rearranged for the NLCR to lease the vacant hotel that had been used as retreat center, from the Catholic Church diocese. Later in the day, the seven volunteers traveled from the Cabarete/Sosua area to Santo Domingo where they were to meet the three remaining NLCR volunteers from Meridian, Idaho – Corinna and Nicole (Nikki) Lankford and Carla Thompson. The women were scheduled to arrive Saturday night but were delayed until early Sunday morning.

Sunday, January 24, 2010

The volunteers spent early Sunday morning in personal devotion, prayer, and worship. With all 10 finally in Santo Domingo, the group intended to travel into Port-au-Prince in the afternoon, but unexpected delays forced a change in plans, and the trip to Haiti was postponed until Monday morning.

Monday, January 25, 2010

The group embarks on first trip into Port-au-Prince where volunteers visited two orphanages and Haiti government offices to secure papers for transporting children. (For a detailed account of travel between Monday, January 25, 2010, and Saturday, January 30, 2010, see Chapter 4, Entering Haiti). They spend the night at a secured school compound in Delmas, a suburb of the capital.

Tuesday, January 26, 2010

Efforts to obtain documents from the Haitian government for the transport of children to the D.R. were unsuccessful. It became apparent the large tour bus was unsuited for travel in the devastated streets of Port-au-Prince. The group returns to Santo Domingo, D.R. to obtain a smaller vehicle.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Embark on second trip into Haiti in a smaller bus. Visit orphanages and tent villages, Haitian government offices.

Friday, January 29, 2010

Pick up children at two orphanages, documenting information about each child; travel to Haitian government offices and the D.R. consulate to secure written authorization to transport children; advised to proceed to the border crossing near Jimani, D.R. where paperwork should be waiting; spent the night at the border, anticipating entry the next day; border guards require Laura to return to Port-au-Prince on Saturday morning for a missing document.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

Team of 10 Americans ordered to return to the capital with all of the children in their care; detained at DCPJ jail facility in Port-au-Prince, interrogated, arrested on charges of kidnapping and criminal association (charges were not formally announced until the next Friday, February 5, 2010).

Monday, February 1, 2010

Entourage of four lawyers/legal advisors assemble at Port-au-Prince justice center, all vying to represent the arrested Americans.

Friday, February 5, 2010

Ten Americans make their first court appearance before investigating Judge Bernard Sainvil and are formally charged with kidnapping and criminal conspiracy.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Legal advisor Jorge Puello identified as suspect in Central American prostitution/child trafficking network; news media announce possible connection. Jorge goes into hiding in the Dominican Republic.

Wednesday, February 17, 2010

Eight of the 10 detained Americans are released from custody, travel via U.S. military transport plane to Miami, Florida.

Saturday, February 20, 2010

Investigating Judge Sainvil and an entourage of officials travel to Cabarete, D.R., to inspect hotel facility that had ben rented from the Catholic Diocese as a temporary orphanage.

Tuesday, March 2, 2010

At the request of Judge Sainvil, Rob and Jose travel to Port-au-Prince with U.S. officials from the Department of Homeland Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Embassy in the D.R.; testify in Haitian court about the process to secure the hotel complex for use as an orphanage.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Judge Sainvil announces late in the day his decision to release Charisa for return to the U.S.; process delayed because Haitian seal or stamp could not be located.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Charisa released from the DCPJ jail, escorted to the Port-au-Prince airport and flies to Miami; remains in a local motel the next week hoping for resolution of Laura’s case; flies from Miami on Delta Airlines, arriving in Boise, Idaho, late on Saturday, March 13, 2010; greeted by family, friends, fellow church members, and the news media.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Legal advisor Jorge Puello arrested in Santo Domingo, D.R., on warrants from several countries.

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Laura’s father, John Sander, travels from Twin Falls, Idaho, to Port-au-Prince to deliver supplies, visits with daughter, and meets with Frontline Ministries volunteers in hopes of expediting legal proceedings.

Sunday, May 2, 2010

John returns with Charisa and her father, Mel, to Port-au-Prince to deliver supplies, encourage Laura, and meet with lead attorney Chiller M Roy in an attempt to hasten the judicial process.

Thursday, May 6, 2010

Mel returns to Kuna, Idaho; Charisa and John remain in Haiti.

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Laura appears in court for trial on charges of attempting to arrange irregular travel; lawyer Jean Rene Tessier delivers impassioned plea for dismissal of charge and for Laura’s release.

Monday, May 17, 2010

Laura declared guilty on the charge of attempting to arrange irregular travel; sentence pronounced was the equivalent to the time she served in jail; released, transported to the Port-au-Prince airport, departed along with Charisa and John to the U.S.

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Laura, Charisa, and John return to Boise, Idaho, where they were met at the airport by friends, family, fellow church members, and members of the news media.

Chapter 1

Prologue: Go

Then I heard the voice of the Lord saying, "Whom shall I send?

And who will go for Us?" And I said, Here am I. Send me. (Isaiah 6: 8)

Stacks of plastic storage bins, soft-sided nylon luggage, and cardboard boxes transformed the spacious living room into a temporary warehouse. At the other end of a transcontinental flight scheduled to leave Salt Lake City on January 22, 2010, awaited one of the poorest countries in the Western Hemisphere.

Ten days had passed since the first horrific earthquake rumbled across the desolate Haitian landscape. Measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, the temblor claimed an estimated 300,000 lives, left approximately 1.5 million Haitians without homes or shelter, and reduced the nation’s capital city, Port-au-Prince, to rubble. Apartment buildings, hospitals, stores, and even the nation’s seat of government, all gone in a series of seismic rumbles.

The earthquake seemed to be an exclamation point on years of natural disasters. People who had little or nothing before the calamity had even less afterward. Buildings lay in ruins, roads were left impassable, and villages were isolated from rescuers. Delivering relief supplies to the most needy was an exercise in frustration and failure.

A small cadre of volunteers – some of whom days earlier had never met – sorted through donated blankets, diapers, baby bottles, baby formula, and clothes in preparation for a flight of mercy. Their intent was to rescue as many young victims as possible, busing them to security in the Dominican Republic.

In garages, churches, and warehouses throughout the developed world, others with means gathered provisions to help those without – preparing to deliver hope to the hopeless. An island nation brought to its knees by disaster awaited the help of a world brought to its knees by compassion.

The call was unmistakable. God ignited a spark in the hearts of volunteers to temporarily leave the security of their homes, families, friends, and jobs to serve strangers in a foreign land. To find survivors among the rubble. To help turn tragedy into triumph. To show God’s love to the abandoned and lost.

No command is simpler, more direct, or more compelling than God’s command to Go. And no response demonstrates greater devotion than to say Yes.

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Life was pretty good for Abram. He was comfortable. His family was secure. Business was stable, the farm productive, and the herds thriving. And then Abram heard that unmistakable voice.

Leave your country, your people and your father’s household and go to the land I will show you. I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you. (Gen. 12: 1-3)

There was no debate. No questions asked. No hesitation.

So Abram left, as the Lord had told him … (Gen. 12: 4)

Abram gathered essentials for the trip, assembled his immediate family, and embarked on a journey of unknown length and unknown perils to an unknown region. He went because God said, Go. And he trusted God with the outcome.

Moses, a fugitive from his adoptive family, never envisioned returning to Egypt. He fled after killing one of the king’s officials and settled into a land of refuge. He put considerable distance between himself and the land where he grew up … where he was wanted for murder. And then he heard the unmistakable voice.

Moses, Moses, the Lord called out.

Here I am, he replied.

… the cry of the Israelites has reached Me, and I have seen the way the Egyptians are oppressing them. So now, go. I am sending you to Pharaoh to bring My people the Israelites out of Egypt. (Exodus 3: 9, 10)

The prospects of returning to the land of his indiscretion were less than appealing, but after some lengthy negotiating and assurances of success, Moses relented. He returned to deliver God’s chosen people from the land of bondage.

Similar fear and trepidation briefly paralyzed Ananias when he heard the unmistakable voice. Saul, well known for persecuting followers of Christ during post-Crucifixion church planting, had arrived on a mission of vengeance. Rational young Christians went far out of their way to avoid him.

But God had other plans.

Go to the house of Judas on Straight Street and ask for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying. In a vision he has seen a man named Ananias come and place his hands on him to restore his sight … Go! This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. (Acts 9: 11, 15)

Ananias went in obedience. He discovered the early church’s greatest adversary blinded by the revelation of God, christened with a new name (Paul) and a new passion – sharing Christ with anyone who would listen. For Saul/Paul heard the same unmistakable voice:

Now get up and stand on your feet. I have appeared to you to appoint you as a servant and as a witness of what you have seen of Me and what I will show you. I will rescue you from your own people and from the Gentiles. I am sending you to them to open their eyes and turn them from darkness to light, and from the power of Satan to God, so that they may receive forgiveness of sins … (Acts 26: 16-18)

Why Abram? Why Moses? Why Ananias? Why Saul?

Indeed, why the countless missionaries through the ages who left their lives of comfort to seek the lost? Why these 10 volunteers called to serve the earthquake victims in Haiti?

Because God had a special plan and a special purpose for each of them that only they could fulfill. He calls those who are available and willing – even those who doubt their own abilities, Moses and Ananias, among them.

God knows the heart, is aware of hidden potential and unseen capabilities. He wants soldiers who are not afraid to trust Him to provide what they cannot provide for themselves.

He will not send you to a place He has not already prepared for you to go; He will not ask you to do something He has not already empowered you to do.

When volunteers arrived on ravaged Haiti soil, their task seemed overwhelming. Where would they start? How could they make a difference in the shadow of such widespread upheaval? Anything they could contribute would be just a drop in the bucket.

But how are buckets filled? With single drops. Haiti’s recovery would demand removing one block of concrete at a time. Saving one victim at a time. Rescuing one child at a time. Recovery comes one heart at a time, through one pair of hands at a time.

Individual efforts are cumulative, even when the mission seems impossible.

Remember the angel’s message to a virgin called to deliver the deliverer? Nothing is impossible with God. (Luke 1: 37) When we feel the most inadequate, when we admit we cannot succeed on our own initiative, power, and wisdom, He is free to do His most amazing work. We merely have to step aside, let Him lead, and then follow.

The command to go is not limited to missionaries, or doctors, or nurses. It is also issued to common followers. And the assignment may not be to a war-torn nation, a primitive jungle, or a disaster-riddled country with impoverished people. It might be to a nearby community, your neighborhood, your office, your home.

When He told disciples Go into all the world and preach the good news to all creation (Mark 16: 15), He also extended the instruction to all believers, of all ages, all generations, and all mission fields.

And He provides everything we need to succeed. The courage. The vision. The strength. The perseverance … We need only provide the willingness.

Listen for that unmistakable voice.

And when God’s one-word command is to go, don’t question; don’t delay. Pack up your courage and your faith, and move. He has some remarkable miracles to accomplish through you.

Chapter 2

Epicenter of Crises

… There will be earthquakes in various places, and famines. These are the beginning of birth pains. You must be on your guard. You will be handed over to the local councils and flogged in the synagogues. On account of Me you will stand before governors and kings as witnesses to them. And the Gospel must first be preached to all nations. (Mark 13: 8-10a)

January 12, 2010 / 4:53 p.m. The world changed.

Mid-day turned into afternoon in Haiti under warm, azure skies. It wasn’t much different than the previous day, or the day before, or the day before. Life in the impoverished nation was fairly ordinary. Children, forsaken by families and an apathetic government, wandered the streets of Port-au-Prince, engaged in menial labor or looking for handouts from strangers. Many were orphans; some were pressed into slavery; others merely sought to help feed their families. Commerce continued at a modest pace; cars darted in reckless abandon down crowded streets.

And then Haiti changed.

A rumbling wave, like an ocean tide, swept slowly across the landscape of the nation’s capital, emanating from the southwest. The earth shook. Buildings swayed before collapsing. The brilliant blue sky began to rain concrete, bricks, and mortar on terrified Haitians. Nature’s wrath, packaged in the form of a catastrophic 7.0 magnitude earthquake, redefined normal for one of the Western Hemisphere’s poorest countries. In an instant, a nation was changed.

Forever.

•   An estimated 300,000 individuals – likely more – perished

•   Another 300,000 were seriously injured

•   Nearly 200,000 homes were destroyed

•   1.5 million people were left homeless

•   30,000 commercial buildings collapsed

•   More than 26 million cubic yards of debris accumulated, and

•   An estimated $11.5 billion in damage occurred

All of this transpired in about the time it takes for a television commercial.

A world galvanized by compassion also changed. Hearts were set ablaze. And a series of events began to unfold that would redefine faith for 10 Christians called to help in Haiti.

Aftershocks continued to ravage the country the ensuing week, some encores nearly as violent as the first wave. Geologists predicted that aftershocks could continue for months, perhaps as long as a year. Yet, no one, especially 10 individuals from distant communities in Idaho, Texas, and Kansas, could have anticipated the aftershock that would rock their world as they embarked on a mission to help earthquake victims.

Like countless others throughout the world who witnessed the devastation on television, the Christians were moved by compassion. And by God. The faces of desperate children, stunned by the loss of homes and families, pleaded for help. It was written in their eyes. It echoed in their cries. The volunteers quickly set travel plans in motion.

They also set into motion a firestorm of epic proportions. A mission of mercy would become an endurance test where faith would be put on trial, where good intentions would be twisted into charges of kidnapping and child trafficking, and the world watched as if engaged in a Hollywood thriller. The Americans did not enter the arena unawares. Laura Silsby, Charisa Coulter, and eight other American Christians knew the country was burdened by poverty and shrouded by political corruption and satanic worship. They were not blind to Haiti’s past or present. But neither were they blind to a future hope – God’s desire to transform. Based on history, it would not be easy …

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… for there is no authority except that which God has established. (Rom. 13: 1)

Yes, even the authorities that govern Haiti have been established by God.

Haiti has been the epicenter of natural disasters and political upheaval since its birth in the 1700s. The first country established and functioning independently under black leadership shares the western third of the island of