Gang members in Port-au-Prince yesterday shot and killed a Missouri state lawmaker’s daughter and son-in-law, who were serving as missionaries in Haiti, as well as a Haitian missions director.
Natalie Lloyd, 21, the daughter of Missouri state Rep. Ben Baker, and her husband, Davy Lloyd, 23, were returning from a youth event Thursday when they were ambushed by armed assailants, according to International Christian Concern (ICC). Both were members of Missions in Haiti, Inc., an organization founded by Davy Lloyd’s parents in 2000. Jude Montis, 20, the Haitian director of Missions in Haiti, also died in the attack.
The couple were married in August 2022 and moved to Haiti three months later, ICC reported.
Expressing his grief on Facebook, Rep. Baker wrote, “My heart is shattered into pieces. I’ve never experienced such agony. Many of you know that my daughter and son-in-law, Davy and Natalie Lloyd, were devoted missionaries in Haiti. They were assaulted by gang members this evening and tragically lost their lives. They ascended to Heaven together.”
Missions in Haiti, Inc. urgently appealed for prayers on its Facebook page early this morning, recounting how “a gang of 3 trucks full of guys” attacked three of its missionaries and then took them into a house owned by the organization. There, the assailants reportedly bound, assaulted and robbed Davy.
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Davy Lloyd’s mother, Alicia Lloyd, told NBC news that her son called her, crying and scared for his life.
“He had already sustained a beating at the hands of a gang and they had come into the compound,” she told NBC.
Then the gang members reportedly left, taking the missions organization’s vehicles and other items with them.
Another gang, who had reportedly heard of the attack, “came to help.” But instead of helping, they shot at the couple, Missions in Haiti reported. Representatives with the mission tried to negotiate with gang members but were unsuccessful.
In a newsletter from May 2023, a staff member of Missions in Haiti wrote about the challenges posed by gang activity. “The gang leader in our area controls one of the ‘nicer gangs’ in Haiti. This gang works to keep the ‘bad guys’ out of our area, and we pray that they will continue to be strong enough to keep some semblance of peace in this area.”
The escalation of violence in Haiti has prompted numerous NGOs to halt their operations and U.S. State Department has strongly urged Americans to stay out of the country. In 2023, Doctors Without Borders suspended services after armed men abducted a patient from the organization’s hospital.
Haiti’s longstanding instability worsened following the assassination of President Jovenel Moise in 2021 and the devastating earthquake in August of the same year. The 400 Mawozo gang, Haiti’s largest, has a reputation for targeting religious groups, exemplified by the kidnapping of 17 Christian missionaries in October 2021.
McKenna Wendt, Advocacy Manager at ICC, expressed sorrow over the deaths of the American missionaries, saying the perpetrators “represent the purest form of evil.”
Recalling a quote by the early church father Tertullian, Wendt noted, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church,” and she expressed hope that “the deaths of Davy and Natalie Lloyd will not be in vain.”
Julie Roys is a veteran investigative reporter and founder of The Roys Report. She also previously hosted a national talk show on the Moody Radio Network, called Up for Debate, and has worked as a TV reporter for a CBS affiliate. Her articles have appeared in numerous periodicals.
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8 Responses
“They triumphed over him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death” Revelation 12:11
Heart breaking…. simply heart breaking!
“He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” – Jim Elliot: 1928 – 1956
Both Jim Elliot and Davy Lloyd were sadly indoctrinated from a very young age. If the parable of the Talents should teach us anything it’s to use some common sense.
Surely, they knew the risks and decided to stay?. Warned by authorities to leave?. Warned by the Holy Spirit?. The apostles for instance were warned by Holy Spirit not to go to certain places (just yet) or to leave certain life threatening situations, and they complied. Flee from a danger. Live to fight another day if it be the LORD’s will.
The situation there is quite volatile even to natives. I have patients who are Haitian emigrants, and they constantly express a foreboding concern for the lives of their own families remaining in Haiti. A sort of ‘PRE-traumatic stress ‘. Plus, many already struggle with PTSD diagnoses.
You know, this kind of news happen to missionaries all over the world. Some are tortured in prison for years. They ALL should make news like this story and brought to general public awareness.
Hopefully, this does not deter future and current good Samaritans to and fro Haiti. Only that the LORD greatly reward all works of faith done in HIS Name even unto death.
The well-meaning, tiny mission organization seemingly lacked a pragmatic evacuation plan. Was this another needless tragedy?
Yes, I think you are describing the situation perfectly. Let’s not romanticize this well meaning young couple’s death. There is nothing ungodly about using some common sense.
I don’t know, maybe it’s just me. I continue to be amazed at the astounding cognitive dissonance and disconnect. It seems as if the urgent need of missionary efforts should be here in USA. Since World War 2’s end, we’ve had thousands of missionaries sent to every corner of the earth. This has included Bibles printed by the millions, in every language conceivable. Yet, in over five decades of observing missionary families in churches I have attended, they seem oddly disconnected from American civic life and their neighbors living on same street. We are still operating as if it is 1950, rather than aware of so much sin crouching at door of our own country. I am deeply respectful of this beautiful young couple’s sacrifice, and think it would do us well to turn our hearts toward home, where God planted us.