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Since Haiti's new president, Rene Preval, took office in February, five police officers have been gunned down in the capital of Port-au-Prince, $950 million in international assistance has been withheld, and political infighting has endangered structural reform.

Yet these profound problems are considered solvable in the minds of Haiti-based Christian leaders, who have been re-energized by the return of democratic rule, the end of economic sanctions, and a new hopefulness among everyday Haitians.

"It seems like everything is a priority right now," says Marilyn Allien, spokesperson for Haiti's office of World Vision (WV), the international relief-and-development organization. "Since the crisis, everything has to be rebuilt."

Not all of Haiti's problems are "due to material things," she says. "There's a lot of need, a lot of poverty. But a change of heart is needed."

That change of heart among Haitians will not come overnight, many Christian outreach workers admit. And in spite of the return of former President Jean- Bertrand Aristide in October 1994, the lives of many Haitians have remained largely unchanged. "The mountain people still walk six hours to get their garden and fruit products to market," says Lena Siegers of Christian Peacemaker Teams (CPT), an initiative among Mennonite and Brethren churches to resist violence in Haiti and in other hot spots around the world. "But they used to be able to make a living doing that. Now, others can't afford to buy their goods. There is so much rotting produce, the pigs can't eat it all."

In the Port-au-Prince neighborhood of Cite Soleil, the largest and worst slum in this country of 6.5 million people, recent flooding meant children had to sleep on tabletops instead of the dirt floors of their shacks. Some parents stayed up all night to make sure their young children did not roll off tables and drown. Nearly 70 percent of child deaths are due to diarrhea and malnutrition in Haiti, which has the highest infant mortality rate in the Western Hemisphere.

In response to the seemingly insurmountable number of "top priority" problems, Haitian Christians have redoubled their efforts in key outreach areas, realizing the necessity of cooperation, not competition, among hundreds of ministry programs in Haiti.

At the Adventist Relief and Development Agency (ADRA), "Our plans are to focus on development, rather than just relief. Relief can't last forever," says spokesperson Tamara Platez. "ADRA in no way takes a political stand, and, to be honest, that's why we've been able to be so successful. We cannot be political." At the same time, other Christians have taken up the task of social and political intervention. In broad terms, Christian outreach in Haiti is refocusing toward lasting social, political, and economic reform--a struggle for just and fair treatment via Christian ministry, development, and outreach.

ENDING THE VIOLENCE: The most immediate threat for most Haitians is the possibility of renewed violence. During military rule from 1991 to 1994, an estimated 3,000 people were killed in political assassinations and reprisals. Since 1994 there has been a sharp drop, but not an elimination, of the killings.

According to Daniel Wiens, Haiti director for the Mennonite Central Committee (MCC), violence by zenglendos, armed young men who roam the country, is on the rise. Banditry has filled the vacuum created by the evacuation of the military and its rule. In some cases, vigilantes have assumed the role of judge, jury, and executioner, hanging people accused of crimes.

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June 17 1996, Vol. 40, No. 7