Haiti (MNN) — On February 7, Haiti began its latest attempt at government stability after almost five years of being without a president.
February 7 is historically the day for Haiti when new presidents are inaugurated. Instead of that this year, the transitional presidential council established in 2024 dissolved, handing power to one man, United States-backed Prime Minister Alix Didier Fils-Aime.
(Photo of Haitians courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash.)
“[The council’s] task was really to control the gang violence and to lead presidential elections. Those things have not happened,” says Kate Michel with Radio-TV 4VEH, a partner of Trans World Radio in Haiti. “Now the head of state is the prime minister. What that looks like in the days ahead, we don’t really know.”
Late last year, the transitional council set tentative election dates for August and December 2026. But those plans remain in question as Haiti’s security continues to deteriorate.
“One of the biggest things that has happened since President Jovenel Moïses’s assassination in 2021 is this vacuum in power, and gangs jostling to step into that power. There are other actors who are at play, also trying to wrestle for power,” says Michel.
As always, the Haitian people pay the highest price. A January 30 report from the United Nations estimates that more than 5,915 people were killed in Haiti’s violence last year alone. Daily life continues to be difficult, including many of the things some people in other nations take for granted.
“Kids can’t go to school in some places. People can’t operate their businesses. They can’t go to work. They have trouble getting supplies,” says Michel.
Gospel broadcasts encourage the Haitian church
Yet Michel sees believers in Haiti living out their faith despite the difficulties. “They are not immune to all the chaos going on around them. They’re living in it. They’re dealing with it,” she says. “And yet they’re able to say, ‘I still have hope, because my hope is in Christ.’”
(Photo courtesy Radio-TV 4VEH)
That resilient hope in God is what 4VEH seeks to encourage. Its gospel-centered broadcasts include Bible reading, preaching, prayer, family counseling, sports programs, and more.
“We’d ask for prayer, so that 4VEH — ‘the evangelistic voice of Haiti’ — can be on the air every day and be that gospel voice to Haiti’s people,” says Michel.
4VEH staff exhibits perseverance every day. Pray for their protection and for their families to have everything they need. Pray very practically for the team’s facilities as well, where electricity and equipment are sometimes a challenge.
Pray also for the spiritual battle. Michel says that’s the real issue in the political chaos, economic struggles, and hardships for Haiti’s people. She shares a letter one listener wrote to the ministry: “Dear 4VEH: If I’m alive today, it’s because you rescued me from Satan’s hands. That’s why I say that God help you to go further. Thank you 4VEH. I love you in Jesus.”
“That’s what we want to see happening as God’s Kingdom advances, is that people are being rescued from Satan’s hands and are coming into the family of God and living the lives that God intends them to live,” Michel says.
Header photo courtesy of 4VEH.
