A gang is demanding millions of dollars in ransom for 17 kidnapped missionaries. Faith-based humanitarian groups say their work demands balancing risk with the need to serve the most vulnerable.

Sixteen members of Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries are U.S. citizens, including 5 children. The 400 Mawazo gang that took the group specializes in mass kidnappings and seeks a $17 million ransom.

Authorities seek the release of the 16 Americans and one Canadian kidnapped in Haiti over the weekend. On Monday, unions and other organizations launched a strike to protest worsening security.

Seventeen missionaries were kidnapped by an armed gang in Haiti on Saturday. It was the latest in what experts are calling a kidnapping crisis in the country — a crisis largely driven by one gang.

Haiti is one of the poorest nations in the world, and rich countries have their fingerprints all over the nation's stunted development.

Tuesday on Political Rewind: State Republican legislators released a first draft of Georgia's new congressional districts. Also, a new federal effort aims to protect thousands of residents brought to the United States at a young age. President Joe Biden is facing fire from both sides of the aisle for what critics say has been the inhumane treatment of Haitian immigrants at the southern border.

"What can we provide for our family?" one Haitian told the AP. "We can't do anything for our family here. There is nothing in this country."

What should have been an ordinary Saturday at the emergency room instead became a day Dr. Antoine Titus cannot forget.

The magnitude 7.2 earthquake killed more than 2,000 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes in Haiti's southern peninsula. Recovery efforts have been slow.

The soccer stadium in the Haitian seaside town of Les Cayes is now a tent city of people whose homes were damaged or destroyed by the earthquake. Aid continues to arrive, but slowly.

"There's nothing more eerie than walking into a half-destroyed building and seeing yesterday's lesson on the blackboard as if nothing had changed," says Christy Delafield of Mercy Corps.

Activists and relief workers can't help but respond to mounting disasters in Haiti, even though they are fatigued from the constant churn of relief efforts.

Looking to get involved but not sure how to help? Here are some resources to get you started.

"Everything was moving — houses, cars — and everyone was crying," said one Haitian from an area close to the earthquake's epicenter. More than 1,400 people are confirmed dead.

Haiti has a long history of major earthquakes that leave destruction and carnage in their wake. A combination of factors makes the country especially susceptible to damage from these quakes.