A Christian education ministry in Haiti is asking people to pray for one of its workers and her daughter who have been kidnapped in the troubled country.
Alix Dorsainvil, a committed Christian and school nurse from New Hampshire in the US, was working for the El Roi Haiti ministry when she and her daughter were kidnapped from the ministry's campus near Haitian capital, Port-au-Prince, on July 27.
Witnesses told The Associated Press that the kidnapping was carried out by armed men as Dorsainvil was caring for patients in a clinic on the campus.
A patient at the clinic, Lormina Louima, told AP, "When I saw the gun, I was so scared. I said, 'I don't want to see this, let me go.'"
She said the gunman told her to relax.
Dorsainvil and her daughter were taken on the same day that the US State Department issued a travel advisory against all travel by US citizens to Haiti. The advisory also ordered all US citizens and non-emergency government employees already in the country to leave.
The kidnappers are reportedly asking for $1 million in ransom money for the release of Dorsainvil and her daughter.
"Please continue to pray with us for the protection and freedom of Alix and her daughter. As our hearts break for this situation, we also continue to pray for the country and people of Haiti and for freedom from the suffering they endure daily," the ministry said.
Dorsainvil has visited Haiti many times since the 2010 earthquake and is married to El Roi Haiti founder, Sandro Dorsainvil.
The ministry described her as a dedicated Christian and nurse who "fell in love with the people" of Haiti.
"She had lived in Haiti for multiple years, showing love and care in a variety of ways before coming on staff with us, but has had a heart for the hurting since she was a child," it said.
"She seeks people out to show them love and compassion, and no one is excluded from receiving her kindness."
It added, "We have committed this situation to God knowing that He is good, so until Alix and her daughter are safely returned to us, we will do as it says in Psalm 27:14 'Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.'"
