Pastor: Boynton church members robbed in Haiti

BOYNTON BEACH — What began as a goodwill trip to Haiti turned into a horrifying robbery of two church members, according to the pastor of a Boynton Beach church.

Dumont Pierre, pastor of Eglise Assemblee Evan- gelique de Christ, said two members of the church were robbed at gunpoint in Haiti of $11,000 of church funds.

The two missionaries went to Haiti to provide aid to starving children and citi- zens struggling from the 2010 earthquake that killed an esti- mated 100,000 to 160,000 people.

“They went to Southeast Haiti to give food for about 400 to 500 kids there and to rebuild a church that had been torn down since the earthquake,” Pierre said.

Pierre said three or four people on motorcycles circled them before holding them at gunpoint and taking everything.

Pierre said the two called him in a panic. “I knew some- thing had happened because they couldn’t (articulate) what happened,” said Pierre, who added that it took two or three hours for him to get the full details.

One victim was robbed of about $6,000 and the other lost $5,000. The money, raised by the church, was going to be used to rebuild another church in Haiti and to feed children.

“These kids have been waiting since Sunday, thinking that they would be able to have something to eat at the end of this week, but now their plates are empty because someone decided to take everything from them,” said Pierre. “We have 400 to 500 kids waiting to be fed, and we don’t want them to be frustrated, so we are doing our best to see what we can do to help them.”

The pastor is trying to raise another $6,000 or so to help cover the expenses to travel to Haiti, as well as providing aid to the victims there.

“We will continue to raise money and, by Sunday, see that these kids have something on their plate,” said Pierre.

Despite the actions of the robbers who stole the church’s money and caused uncertainty for the church’s mission, the pastor is willing to forgive them.

“If the result at the end is that those sinners, who have guns and do so many bad things, come to repentance, that would be enough,” he said.