In His last hours on earth, Jesus didn’t waste words. In John 14-16 (called Jesus’ “farewell discourse”), the Lord tells His disciples about the special coming and work of the Holy Spirit, and He urges them to pray, specifically to ask. Ten times, the Lord encourages us to ask. Ask the Father. Ask in His name. Ask for anything with three purposes in mind:

1. That the Father may be glorified in the Son (John 14:12-14)
2. That we may bear much and lasting fruit (John 15:7-8, 16)
3. That our joy may be full (John 16:23-27)

Wait. What? Ask for our joy? Yep! Jesus urges us to ask that we may be filled with joy.

As we prepared to launch PPI in 2019, the Lord directed me to study John 14-17 and focus on asking Him in prayer. (This study later resulted in a sermon series at First Baptist – Bad Axe called ASK.) The Lord Jesus taught these three purposes to help us align our hearts then our requests with what matters for eternity.

“Father, I’m asking for [this specific request] so You will be glorified and so I can bear much fruit, proving to be your disciple. And I’m asking for this because it would fill me with joy! I believe this is what Jesus would ask for so I’m coming to You in His name.”

What are you asking God for right now? Ask Him with these three purposes in mind. Our Savior told us to pray that way – for His glory and our joy!

I often wish I somehow could capture the joy that pastors express on the last day of our training. It’s more than a sense of accomplishment – the dignity of earned success – though it includes that. It’s a Spirit-given joy of church leaders who have read and wrestled with God’s Truth in fellowship with other brothers and sisters in Christ. And it’s our joy as a ministry team as we gather pastors together to encourage them in Christ and point them to the life-giving, church-strengthening, community-changing Word of God.

I trust it’s your joy, too, as you send us to the front lines to encourage and train pastors in Haiti! A young Haitian pastor said it well in his note to me last week:

Good evening my dear friend Pastor Ken. Hopefully everything is very great for you and your beautiful family. This is one of your friends from the conference in Quartier Morin. Be blessed, and we still don’t have words to describe our joys concerning the Bible Thompson. Thank you for your courage, and may God keep blessing you and the Team PPI. (Pastor Noel Héralès PNH)

Trying to make a difference in people’s lives for Christ is an up and down road. At times people are eager to learn from and follow Jesus. At other times they’re distracted, even resistant. That’s why Paul urged his protégé, Timothy, to “proclaim the Word in season and out of season” (2 Timothy 4:2). Paul knew Timothy – and we – would experience “in season” times of great response to the Lord and “out of season” times of resistance and little fruit. So enjoy and make the most of times of fruitfulness, and press on through dry times, knowing that God is still at work.

We are enjoying an amazing “in season” time of response to our training in Haiti right now! Courses fill up quickly with several people on a waiting list. Pre-registrations are higher than ever. Pastors constantly tell us that many other church leaders desire to take PPI courses. They ask, “Can you come to our city/town?” and “When will you come back to offer the next course?” Isaiah told me, “Everywhere in Haiti, pastors are running after PPI training!” This is the Holy Spirit’s work to the glory of God. We want to make the most of this season by training as many church leaders as possible in as many cities as possible. Thank you, friends, for helping us press forward in this exciting, fruitful season!

Training in Cap-Haitien and Limbé

I returned from Haiti on Tuesdauy morning, weary from the travels but so grateful for the opportunities the Lord is giving us to gather church leaders together for encouragement, training and resourcing. Our risen Lord is building His church in Haiti, and we’re humbled to have a part in what He is doing. Between Palm Sunday and Easter, we offered Course 1 in two cities in the the North Department, awarded Thompson Bibles, certificates of completion, and gospel tracts to 222 church leaders. Some highlights of this trip –

112 Bibles for 113 Pastors

Both courses were filled to capacity on this trip (112 church leaders each) with waiting lists of around 10 people. If pre-registered pastors don’t arrive by 11:00am on the first day of the course, our team gives their place to a person on the waiting list. Pastor Eliance Bastien was on the waiting list but, unfortunately, didn’t get a place in Course 1. In addition to serving his church, this young pastor also works as a lawyer. He is intelligent, articulate and, as it turned out, also filled with faith. The Lord rewarded his perseverance and confidence that God would make a way.

After all spots were assigned, Pastor Jasmin expressed regret to the church leaders who didn’t get a place in the course and encouraged them to register early for the next course in their area. All departed except one – Pastor Eliance. Jasmin repeated that all places were now taken, that he could go now, but Eliance didn’t move. He told Jasmin, “I’ll wait. You never know what the Lord may do for me.”

A half hour later, our team realized we had assigned two Thompson Bibles to a blind pastor and his wife. We talked with the couple, had a good chuckle about it, and left the couple with one Bible to use in the course. That left us with one extra Thompson Bible and one remaining person on our waiting list – Eliance. We had 112 Thompson Bibles for 113 church leaders! The team registered Pastor Eliance as student #113, and he happily joined the course. Two days later during our graduation time, he shook our hands warmly and held his Thompson Bible high. You never know what the Lord may do!

A Decoration Put to Use

We conclude each PPI course with a special time of recognition and celebration. Church leaders are filled with joy and accomplishment. Each one who successly completes the course receives an official PPI certificate, ministry resources, and in Course 1, a Thompson Bible. As part of this closing time, we invite a few pastors to share their thoughts on how the course will help them, their church and their community. They consistently thank our team for coming to their city during these difficult times in Haiti, and express joy in learning to use the Thompson Bible for all aspects of their ministry.

One young pastor shared that his church’s former pastor (now retired) had left a Thompson Bible with the church. Someone had given it to him years ago, but he didn’t know how to use it. The Bible sat on the communion table as a decoration, rarely opened and never used. The young pastor kept it there. He shared that he heard about PPI training and wanted to come. 

He was so excited to learn how to use the Thompson Bible! He told us that for Assignment 3 (for which pastors choose and study a Bible topic that would be helpful to their church), he thought of the topic “Christ’s sacrificial love.” He worked hard on this topic and wrote notes on a separate piece of paper as well as in his course workbook. His church met Monday evening (the first day of the course) as part of Passion Week, and this young pastor used his study notes from the Thompson Bible for that evening’s message. He smiled from ear to ear as he told his story, hardly containing his excitement. He said, “I’m going to take the Thompson Bible off the altar and teach our assistant pastor how to use it!”

Power Dominoes

Our team typically works 10-12 each day of our training,  from early morning to early evening. But we also enjoy eating together, conversations, laughter and, occasionally, a game. Our lodging in Limbé had a domino table on the patio so we decided to play. I think I learned dominoes from my mom and grandma. You sat quietly studying your pieces and placed them neatly on the table. In Haiti, dominoes is akin to dominos-meets-cage fighting, a raucus, fast-moving contest. Call it Haitian “power dominos.” Depending how the winner “fell” (went out), the loser had to stand from one to as many as eight games. (I stood for two games at one point to a lot of teasing and laughter.) The next night, Jasmin was chen an (“the dog”), standing for six games. Power dominoes was a fun way to relax with our Haitian team after full days of training church leaders.

Enjoy more pics from last week’s training below.

• They were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the Word in Asia (16:6)
• The Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go north into Bithynia (16:7)
• So instead they went on . . . to the seaport of Troas (16:8)

I smelled it before I saw it – hot transmission fluid. Rena and I had taken our Ford F150 to her parents’ house in Georgia. We enjoy our week in the spring with Dad and Mom Nadeja, typically a combination of yard/house projects, fun, conversation and, of course, eating out. This week was coming to an end, and we planned to leave in two days. That’s when I smelled the transmission fluid – and then I saw it. A steady stream across the driveway. Yikes! It was time to drop everything and get it fixed.

Training church leaders in developing countries should have the same priority for us as American Christians! Will YOU help us do it? Join our support team HERE

Mission leaders widely agree: Most pastors in poor nations have little to no biblical or practical training. As one global leader told a group of us recently, “Church planting is moving at the speed of a bullet train [he’s British], and national pastors training is following behind on an old bicycle.” Training national leaders well is one of THE best investments we can make in international missions today. And the quality training offered by PPI and other like-minded ministries is a big part of the solution. Why? Because PPI provides short-term, high impact pastors training in locations and at times accessible to the greatest number of front-line church leaders. Dr. David Stevens puts this in perspective:

[T]hough biblically based Bible schools and seminaries exist . . ., such institutional approaches to pastoral training cannot keep pace with the rapid growth of the church and its need of pastoral leadership. lt is estimated that even if the presently established Bible schools and seminaries were filled to 120 percent capacity, they could only train 10 percent of the remaining 90 percent of pastors that desperately need such training. 

David serves alongside my friend, Pastor Chuck Ballard, with African Pastoral Ministries (APT). **

In Haiti, Bible colleges are closed right now because of the political and economic turmoil – some permanently. Yet over the last three months God has enabled PPI to train around 600 pastors in four strategic cities. I will return to Haiti on March 31, and, Lord willing, our team will train 224 more church leaders in Course 1. Clearly, PPI training is part of God’s solution for equipping and resourcing church leaders in Haiti! More broadly, Partnership of Pastors International is part of a growing, exciting movement addressing the need for effective biblical and practical training of church leaders around the world.

The Lord is giving us so many opportunities and open doors to encourage and train pastors! On average, I receive 2-3 messages a week inviting us – sometimes literally begging us – to come to their city, their country to train church leaders. PPI is a newer ministry, and our need now to expand our base of committed financial support so that we can respond to this great need and these many opportunities. After I return from Haiti in mid-April, we will spend several months focusing on partnership development with U.S. churches and individuals. Please pray for this important next step for PPI.

THANK YOU to our many friends who see this priority and have committed to regularly supporting PPI. We thank the Lord for each of you! Would you tell others about PPI and encourage them to support us?

If you haven’t already, would YOU commit to regularly giving to our work? Training national leaders well is one of THE best investments you can make in Jesus’ global mission today! Get more info and donate HERE Thank you!

**This past year, the Lord enabled African Pastoral Training (APT) to train nearly 4000 church leaders across French- and English-speaking Africa using the Thompson Bible. The Thompson Bible International Institute (TBII), led by friend and mentor Dr. John Jauchen, equips thousands of church leaders across Central and South America and Asia each year. It’s exciting to think about how God is using equipping ministries like PPI to train church leaders around the world. Let’s drop everything and do this!