Haiti (MNN) — A new U.S. travel ban takes effect today. The update to an earlier June ban list (Proclamation 10949) now includes 19 countries, such as Afghanistan, Burma, Iran, Syria, and Haiti, whose citizens have full restrictions and limits on entry to the U.S.
Haiti has been on the ban list since June, but the new rules remove several exceptions that had provided some breathing room.
“In general, this new ban makes it very complicated for Haitian families who have family members already in the U.S., and that’s the case for many, many families in Haiti,” says Kate Michel with Radio-TV 4VEH, a partner ministry of Trans World Radio that serves Haiti. “[The ban] puts a lot of pressure on those who are earning and sending money back to Haiti.”
(Photo of Haitians is a representative stock photo courtesy of TopSphere Media via Unsplash)
The ban places a psychological pressure too, Michel adds, as Haitians living in Haiti “realize that they are excluded from potentially being in the U.S. and starting a new life.”
January 1 also marks Haiti’s Independence Day. Families will make soup joumou, a traditional, pumpkin-based dish that has been a staple since the early 1800s. “Typically, on New Year’s Day in Haiti, people will go from house to house and enjoy this soup joumou with different families. Each home, each cook, has a different way of cooking it,” says Michel.
But developments like this travel ban take a toll on Haitians’ hope.
“People in Haiti don’t want to leave Haiti. That’s not their first choice. They really are looking for a way out of their current very difficult circumstances,” says Michel. “People are looking for a better life. They’re looking for meaning. They’re looking for ways to take care of their families.”
4VEH is beginning a read-through-the-Bible-in-a-year program to help Haitians stand firm in Scripture. Many don’t have the option to read the Bible for themselves, for a variety of reasons, Michel explains.
“We would invite you to pray with us for the gospel message to be proclaimed across Haiti and beyond,” she says. That includes the technical details of radio broadcasts, as well as a deeper level.
“Pray that as people are feeling unwanted, that they will get a sense that God is offering them hope, offering them a future, offering them being adopted into His family, and that people will turn to Christ and give their lives to Him.”
Pray for endurance as believers broadcast critical updates and the hope of Christ.
(Photo courtesy of Radio-TV 4VEH)
Header photo of a Haitian celebration is a stock photo courtesy of Bailey Torres via Unsplash.
