Today is Friday, March the 3rd, 2023.

Welcome to the Daily Article Podcast.

I'm Chris Elkins narrating today's article written by Dr. Ryan Denison.

Haiti is the Western Hemisphere's second oldest republic, at least for now.

As Andy Olson writes for Christianity today, massive influxes of militant gangs

now control most of the country's capital of Port-au-Prince and parts of many other cities as well.

The Haitian economy has experienced nearly 50% inflation and the nation's citizens are on the brink of famine.

The acting president, Ariel Henry, took over in 2021 after the country's previous leader was

assassinated but should have passed the mantle onto someone else long ago.

Replacing him would require elections, though, and what remains of the nation's law enforcement is too preoccupied with the gangs to ensure people can vote safely.

The problem does not appear likely to improve anytime soon.

The gangs at the heart of the violence have waiting lists because so many young people want to join while the government had to open

a dedicated office just to process the thousands of police officers applying to flee the country.

As Ginson-Charlowe, the president of Emaeus University at Capatian, describes,

I have never seen people in the street so fearful and suspicious of other people.

That is damaging to the very fabric of our resilience.

So, it's worth looking into when Olson poignantly asks,

how did the most evangelized realm in all of the world become a nation in dismaying anarchy?

To that end, he details the history of

Haiti through the lens of two main eras, and his entire piece is worth taking the time to read,

but let me summarize his salient points. Olson dates the first wave of Haitian missions back to the

1840s. At this time, Protestant missionaries had begun to take

...