Haiti has been in a dangerous downward spiral that culminated with the assassination of its president in 2021 and the ensuing power struggle. Rival bloodthirsty gangs have taken over blocks of cities and are stealing resources belonging to the Haitian people. Residents are in desperate need of help and the Rule of Law. Haiti is not a safe place, and the people there are in turmoil.

These are exactly the people who need the love of Jesus the most, and so brave missionaries have been continuing the work that God has commanded them to do. Sadly, Davy Lloyd, Natalie Lloyd, and Jude Montis were killed by gangs not two weeks ago after being ambushed on their way back from a church activity. The missionary trio worked for Missions in Haiti Inc., an Oklahoma-based missions group started by Davy’s parents in 2000. Davy and Natalie were a young married couple who had been full-time missionaries in Haiti since 2022. Jude was the group’s country director.

Missions in Haiti Inc. focuses on caring for children, particularly the orphaned, by providing them with an education, protecting them from gangs, breaking the cycle of poverty, and teaching them about Christ.

In the face of tragedy, one always sees the very best in people and the very worst in people. A prime place where one sees humanity’s worst is on social media. Controversy arose over the news of these tragic deaths. Some question why these missionaries were even in Haiti considering the level of chaos. Others condemn missionaries altogether as “colonizers” who “traffic” these children and sow evil as they go. Then there are those asking why there was even a need for missionaries in Haiti if the country identifies as 90% Christian.

To adequately answer these questions, we need to start with Jesus’s words in Matthew 28:18-20, commonly called The Great Commission: “And Jesus came and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.’” We are called to make disciples of all nations.

But why? 1 John 4:19-21 sums that up as well: “We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother.”

Why do missionaries go to places where there is turmoil, death, destruction, and dysfunction? Because missionaries love God and want to love others in tangible ways. Also, that is where people need help and the comfort of the good news that faithful followers of Jesus share. If not us, then who? The answer is very often no one.

Is being a missionary a form of “colonizing”? No. In the first place, colonization, as it is categorized by hacks today, places people of white skin color in the wrong and people of color in the right. It is refuted very simply by the fact that not all missionaries are white.

Finally, why serve in Haiti when it is ostensibly majority Christian? Well, the nation may claim to be Christian, but many Haitians practice Voodoo, which borrows ideas from Catholic teachings but is, in fact, demonic. The fact that there is so much turmoil there with the diaspora of gangs speaks to the need for evangelism.

The loss of Davy Lloyd, Natalie Lloyd, and Jude Montis does not diminish God’s work, nor does it reflect poorly on those whose lives were lost. They died serving God and loving others. If anything, this episode highlights Haiti’s deep and abiding need for God’s intervention to help heal the country.