Seventh-day Adventist leaders in Haiti continue to appeal to church members to pray for God’s protection and peace in the streets in the wake of the assassination of Haiti’s president this week.

“Everything now is moving very slowly throughout our country because people don’t know what will happen next,” said Pastor Pierre Caporal, president of the church in Haiti. “Everyone is scared, and most of downtown Port-au-Prince is hard to reach.” Caporal, who has been working remotely from his home in Carrefour, said many of the leaders and church employees who do not live close to the church’s union office and conferences in downtown Port-au-Prince remain working remotely as well.

At this point, church leaders are not sure if dozens of churches in Port-au-Prince will be able to open for worship services this coming Sabbath.

“We don’t know when we will be able to hold services, but our church continues to provide spiritual messages through our radio station, Radio Esperance, which covers almost all of Haiti, and our programming from Hope Media Haiti, which is carried to most of the large cities in the country,” said Caporal.

Pastor Caporal, who, with his team of leaders at the union office, oversees the work of the church throughout its four conferences and missions, more than 487,000 members in 1,129 churches and congregations, said the life of the church and its mission means a lot to members across the country.

The Adventist Hospital and Adventist University in Diquini, Carrefour, continues to operate safely, church leaders said.

“We continue to encourage our members to be safe, to pray earnestly, and help one another as they see the needs around them,” said Caporal. “We want to continue sharing with others in these trying times.”

“Evangelism is still very much an important part of our mission even in the midst of the challenges,” Caporal added. He appeals to the rest of the world church to pray on behalf of Haiti. “We ask for God to stabilize the situation, strengthen the faith of members, and motivate them to keep involved in the mission of sharing hope in every circumstance.”

This article was originally published on the Inter-American Division’s website