The head of a Christian child sponsorship program says Haiti is a nation “that you can literally feel the evil in.”

Dr. Wesley Stafford, president and CEO of Compassion International, told Focus on the Family that Haiti was a disaster before the earthquake ever struck.

Haiti … has been a disaster in almost every way long before this ever struck. And it is a nation, between you and me, I guess, that Satan has had absolutely free reign in that nation. And while the missionary effort and the church effort has been enormous, this is a nation that you can literally feel the evil in it. But then as the church lives out its faith, having come through this deep, deep valley, my great prayer is that there will be a great wave of healing and change in the nation of Haiti … that could only come about through an interruption like this and only happen through the glory of God.

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Compassion International collects money, in $38 increments, to help children in impoverished parts of the world. According to its Web site, the “child advocacy ministry” tends to more than one million children in 25 countries.

According to Joanne Brokaw at Beliefnet, the group has found sponsors for 64,000 children in Haiti and has dozens of operating centers around the country.

“Where aid organizations like World Vision work on a larger community scale — for example, being able to immediately respond to the earthquake with supplies, digging wells, building community buildings — Compassion works child to child, pairing a child with a sponsor in a developed country. The ministry works with local churches to impact a child, their family, and their community,” Brokaw explains.

Last fall, the organization criticized Secretary of State Hillary Clinton for cutting financial aid to Honduras in the wake of the coup that ousted President Manuel Zelaya. Communications director Kathy Redmond said that the funding didn’t affect the group’s finances, but made it more difficult to provide aid.

“Even when non-humanitarian aid is cut off, it still hurts the most vulnerable that are there,” Redmond said. “And, Honduras–in terms of their economy–is the second poorest nation in the western hemisphere, only behind Haiti.”

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This video is from Focus on the Family, broadcast Jan. 18, 2010.





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