People in Port-au-Prince call Junon Brutus “Soeur Junon” , describing her as a prophet and a messenger from God. Her crowning moment thus far came on Feb. 12, when Brutus, 42, stepped center stage to face thousands of arms waving in unison, reminiscent of the pulsating energy during Carnival performances. The gathering was not a celebration but a lamentation marking the one-month anniversary of Haiti’s earthquake — a disaster that many in Haiti believe Brutus predicted. But she thinks her country can rise from its travails. “God always has a plan for his children. God has a special plan for us,” says Brutus, whose Haitian Creole is sometimes interrupted with a word in English.
Brutus, who is Haitian American, officially resides in Orlando, Fla. She left Haiti when she was 11 years old and says she returned to deliver God’s message. In January 2007, she says, she heard the voice of God reveal to her that a disaster would hit Haiti and that she was to warn the Haitian people. She then began to aggressively try to speak with Haitian President Ren Prval. She says she was dismissed repeatedly. “He wouldn’t see me,” Brutus tells TIME. “No one believed me, and they thought I was a loony.”
