08-01-2023 CBN NEWS
The search continues in Haiti for a kidnapped American nurse and her daughter.
Alix Dorsainvil of New Hampshire and her child have been missing since Thursday. The nonprofit Christian ministry El Roi Haiti says she was working in a community near Port-au-Prince on the day they disappeared. Alix is the wife of the ministry’s founder, Sandro Dorsainvil.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that Dorsainvil was working in the small brick clinic on the ministry’s campus when armed men kidnapped her.
The U.S. State Department is working with Haitian authorities to find Dorsainvil and her daughter. The department has refused to say whether the kidnappers have made any demands.
Hundreds of Haitians took to the streets Monday protesting the kidnapping as the latest example of lawlessness and gang rule in the country’s capital.
Protesters, largely from the area around El Roi Haiti’s campus, which includes the medical clinic, a school, and more, echoed that call as they walked through the sweltering streets wielding cardboard signs written in Creole in red paint.
“She is doing good work in the community, free her,” read one.
Local resident Jean Ronald said the community has significantly benefited from the care provided by the ministry.
In a blog post on Monday, El Roi Haiti said Alix Dorsainvil fell in love with Haiti’s people on a visit after the devastating 2010 earthquake. It said the organization was working with authorities in both countries to free her and her daughter.
“Please continue to pray with us for the protection and freedom of Alix and her daughter. As our hearts break for this situation, we also continue to pray for the country and people of Haiti and for freedom from the suffering they endure daily.”
American missionary David Vanderpool is the CEO of Live Beyond, a faith-based medical ministry outside Port-au-Prince.
He told CBN News’ Faith Nation the best way to help the people of Haiti is to pray.
“You know the people of Haiti really need our prayers. The people down there trying to help as well,” he said. “Praying is the best thing to do. Another thing to do is to not go to Haiti. Haiti is a level 4, Do Not Travel country by the U.S. State Department’s travel advisory.”
“Those countries are very, very dangerous,” Vanderpool continued. “The other countries on that list are North Korea, Syria, Libya, Afghanistan, and Sudan. So it’s just extremely violent. So going down on a short-term mission, it should be completely out of the question.”
Vanderpool said that since 2010, his ministry has seen two workers kidnapped and tortured and one murdered at the doorstep of their compound.