Reported on Time.com comes a story about Haitian-born Seventh-day Adventist Junon Brutus, who has generated media attention for her "accurate" prediction of the Haiti earthquake. Excerpts of the story:

People in Port-au-Prince call Junon Brutus Soeur Junon (Sister Junon), describing her as a prophet and a messenger from God. Her crowning moment so 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 Carnivale 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 now believe that Brutus predicted.

Brutus, who is a Haitian-American, officially resides in Orlando, Florida. She left Haiti when she was just 11 years old, and she said she returned to Haiti to deliver God's message. In January 2007, she said she heard the voice of God reveal to her that a disaster would hit Haiti and she was to warn the Haitian people. She then began to aggressively try to speak with Haitian President Rene Preval, but she said she was dismissed repeatedly. "He wouldn't see me," Brutus told TIME. "No one believed me, and they thought I was a loony." 

But with the estimated 200,000-plus dead, the government and the people of Haiti are now taking her seriously. To mark the quake's one-month anniversary, she asked for three days of fasting, which she said God wanted Haitians to complete as an offering of repentance. The Haitian government accepted her request and decided to add an extra day of holiday during a time typically filled with bustling Kompa music of Carnival. And the man who once turned her away came to pay homage.

In a starch-white shirt and bodyguards enveloping him, President Preval arrived at Place Champ Mars and stood on the same stage beside Brutus. 

With intermittent applause after his statements, Preval's rare address to the people was followed by a prayer from Brutus, the woman he once turned away. It was the sort of blessing that the President needs during a time when small protests against the government are sprouting on the streets with chants of "Down with Preval." "If Aristide was here, he would have listened to her the first time she brought the message. The country would not be the state that it is in now," says Toussaint Makenzine, 29.

But politics is not what interests Brutus, a married mother of three. She says she holds no ill will toward Preval and hopes this time the government will listen to what she calls "God's plan for Haiti." She has a notebook full of plans and drawings of the new Haiti, all created through what she calls "intelligent design." Brutus is a Seventh Day [sic] Adventist who works in Miami as a businesswoman and said she has to wait for God's permission to reveal the plans in detail. "Haiti will be a light in the world. What needs to be done, not a human can do it." Brutus says. "There will be seven years of abundance and Haiti will be a world wonder." Brutus says this message is not just for Haitians but for their descendants as well; she says the Diaspora will come back home to build Haiti. 

Of course, there are skeptics who regard Brutus as a fraud. But Brutus denies any worldly ambitions, insisting she is not associated with a specific organization or political party, but is merely a servant of God. Judging by her growing name recognition on the streets of Port-au-Prince, the Haitian masses are being drawn to her message. "Soeur Junon is a prophet. When she says something, you feel it." said Damis Yves, 28. Since the one-month anniversary, Brutus goes through her daily rounds of comforting the living. Haitian Evangelical pastor Enesse Joseph, the host of a religious program on Radio Lumiere, says Souer Junon continues to offer hope to her listeners and herself. "She's a visionary. She's bringing a message that I don't have to verify," says Joseph. "She came with the word of God. So why shouldn't I believe?"

Even self-proclaimed non-religious people like Wudeluene Voltaire, 25, are being caught up in the fervor. Voltaire says she decided to participate in the three days of fasting because she wanted God's forgiveness. Dressed in her neat bright pink top, she points to the concrete slab where she sleeps, but she says she still has hope for a better Haiti because of Brutus' message. "I believe God sent her on a mission," says Voltaire. "Haiti will get better with her plan." [read Time.com report]

According to the HaitianSDA website, local Adventist leaders aren't so sure of Brutus' openly-public and bold claims of the prophetic gift. Some are uncomfortable with her publicity and statements about how God has instructed her that the "Haitian people must set aside three days of [fasting]," which started on Feb. 12. Their website states:

 Not surprisingly, Junon is getting a lot of heat from many Adventist leaders in Haiti and voodoo priests. On one hand, while the rest of the country is receptive to Junon's divine inspiration, some Adventist leaders have declared Junon unfit to be a messenger of God. The reaction on the part of these Adventist leaders is similar to what Jesus himself experienced while He was still on earth. The Sadducees and the Pharisees didn't believe Jesus was fit to be the messiah. They had had their own idea of what a messiah should look like.

On the other hand, while the voodoo priests are also receptive to Junon's initiative, they want a piece of the action too; they want to play a role in the program. While they're welcome to participate in the prayer sessions, there exists a since of uncertainty as to whether they will call on their gods or God. At any rate, what we might see is another demonstration of the God of Elijah and the god Baal, where the god Baal was proven to be an imaginary god who failed to appear. Consequently, the people of Baal conceded to the fact that the God of Elijah was the real one.

The fact that the voodoo priests want a piece of the action is understandable. They want the country to acknowledge them as a legitimate religion. What is troubling is the negative reaction of some Adventist leaders. Haitiansda.com is begging these leaders to back off and let God do his work in a country that has been ravaged by evildoers. The fact that leaders of all religious backgrounds can come together and acknowledge God is itself an unprecedented miracle in Haiti. [source here, under New Updates 02/11/10]

Junon Brutus is a broker specializing in commercial real estate investments in the Orlando, FL area.