The country of Haiti is located on the eastern half of the island of Hispaniola. The western half of the Caribbean island is occupied by the Dominican Republic. Haiti was once the richest country in the Western Hemisphere, and in 1821 took over the newly independent Dominican Republic. Haiti is now the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere and the Dominican Republic is the second largest economy of the Caribbean. There is a great difference between these two countries that occupy the same island, and it is not racial.

The Dominican Republic is a Christian country. The first cathedral in the Western Hemisphere was built in Santo Domingo, the capital. The motto of this country is “God, Fatherland, Liberty.” I am sure that the Dominican Republic is not a perfect land. There are murders and thefts and other wrongs, just as in any other land. But this country still honors God.

In contrast, Haiti is known as the land of voodoo and the evil spirit, Baron Samedi. While ostensibly Catholic, the country wallows in a mixture of voodoo and Catholic traditions. The Central Intelligence Agency’s World Factbook notes that approximately one-half of the population of Haiti practices voodoo.

Here is the lesson: Our Sovereign Lord, the Creator of all things, will not and cannot bless a country that does not honor Him. I have no knowledge whether the recent cataclysmic earthquake was allowed in order to punish the Haitian nation because of its unbelief and dishonor to the Creator. But it is clear that Haiti is not blessed. They have no infra-structure of government and services. The humanitarian services in Haiti have long been provided by Christian and secular charities.

England was once the most powerful nation on the earth. England was the literal center of the world. Both time (Greenwich Mean Time) and longitude are measured from England. England was once a Christian nation. There are stone churches with bell towers and stained-glass windows, hundreds of years old, in every village. But since 1969 fifteen-hundred (1,500) of these churches have been closed. England no longer honors the Lord. England is no longer the greatest nation on the earth.

The United States as a nation no longer honors the Lord. Our government has stumbled over itself in its effort to disavow the Sovereign Lord. Just as Haiti is not blessed and the blessings of England are being removed, the Lord’s blessing can be removed from the United States. Haiti is an object lesson for the United States. It is another warning, after 9/11, to honor the One who has blessed us above all nations.

There is another personal lesson for Christians. The Lord guards those who honor Him. I realize that this is anecdotal, but I heard several reports of schools and orphanages in Haiti under the care of various Christian organizations where there were no injuries of the children. One Christian organization (Lifeline Christian Missions) just had a gift-giving ceremony where the children were sitting on benches by a wall. The children had left. The wall fell. The benches were crushed, but no children were killed or injured. Lifeline Christian Missions also operates a school for 1800 students. Their school building was destroyed, but no students were killed or injured. The angels of the Lord were busy that day protecting those children who were being led by His faithful servants.

The DeVoes report that there are thousands of Haitians gathered at their enclave because they believe it is under the protection of God and the U.S. embassy. They did the same thing during a political crisis in the 1990s. But they drifted back to their old ways. It reminds me of how church attendance in the U.S. spiked for about three weeks after 9/11. Congressmen were singing “God bless America” on the steps of the Capital. But they drifted back to their old ways.

Haiti is an object lesson for the United States. Pray for a revival in Haiti. Pray for America. The Lord will not always be patient and merciful.