The local director of a missionary group in Haiti and a U.S. missionary couple were attacked and shot to death by gang members after leaving a youth group activity at a church, a family member told the Associated Press.
Thursday’s murders of Jude Montis, local director of Haiti Missions Inc., and Davy and Natalie Lloyd, a young couple from the US, took place in the community of Lizon, north of Port-au-Prince. They were killed as the capital collapsed under the relentless onslaught of violent gangs who control 80% of the capital, while authorities awaited the arrival of a Kenyan police force as part of a UN-backed deployment aimed at cracking down on gang violence. in the troubled Caribbean. country.
Here are some things you should know about the missionary work that focused on helping Haiti’s children and the gang attack that claimed three lives.
The Missions in Haiti website states that its goal is “to see the Gospel of Christ make a difference in the lives of young people in Haiti.”
Davy Lloyd’s parents, David and Alicia Lloyd of Oklahoma, started the organization in 2000 with the goal of focusing on children in Haiti. David and Alicia Lloyd are full-time missionaries in Haiti.
“Although the entire nation is mired in poverty, children suffer the most,” they wrote on the website. “Thousands are malnourished, uneducated and headed for hopeless lives, far from Christ.”
Hannah Cornett, Davy’s sister, told the Associated Press that they grew up in Haiti. Davy Lloyd went to the US to attend Bible college and married Natalie in June 2022. After their wedding, the couple wasted no time moving to Haiti to do humanitarian work.
Cornett said Montis, a Haitian, has worked in missions in Haiti for 20 years.
The organization’s efforts include the House of Compassion, which provides housing for 36 children – 18 boys and 18 girls, the website reported. “Everyone is destined to remain at the House of Compassion until they finish school and are ready to live on their own.”
The Good Hope Boys’ Home provides a home for 22 boys, the website said. The organization also built a church, a bakery and a school with more than 240 students, the website reported.
A Facebook post on the Haiti Missions page stated that Davy Lloyd, 23, and Natalie Lloyd, 21, along with some children, were leaving a church when gang members in three trucks ambushed them.
Davy Lloyd later called his family to say gang members hit him in the head with the barrel of a gun, forced him upstairs, stole his belongings and left him tied up, Cornett said.
As people helped untie Davy Lloyd, another group of armed men appeared, Cornett said.
“No one understood what they were doing, I’m not sure what happened, but one was shot and killed and now this gang has gone into full attack mode,” the Haiti Missions post said.
The couple and Montis fled to a house linked to the mission.
“They tried to take cover there, but the gang fired shots at the house,” Cornett said.
Ben Baker, Natalie Lloyd’s father and a Republican state representative in Missouri, posted on Facebook Friday that the bodies of Davy and Natalie Lloyd had been safely transported to the U.S. Embassy.
Cornett said Montis left behind two children, ages 2 and 6.
Montis’ family could not immediately be reached for comment Friday. It is unclear whether he used social media and, if so, whether his profiles are public. Missions in Haiti did not immediately respond to AP’s request for comment Friday.
Baker wrote on Facebook that his heart was broken “into a thousand pieces.”
“I have never felt this kind of pain,” Baker wrote. “Most of you know that my daughter and son-in-law, Davy and Natalie Lloyd, are full-time missionaries in Haiti. They were attacked by gangs tonight and both were killed. They went to heaven together. Please pray for my family, we desperately need strength. And please pray for the Lloyd family as well. I have no other words for now.”
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Associated Press writer Summer Ballentine in Columbia, Missouri, contributed.
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