I am reminded of the truth of Proverbs 16:9: A man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps. We made plans, but the Lord directed our steps in ways we couldn’t imagine!

We had planned to combine orders of Thompson Bibles with another ministry in Haiti in order to get the Bibles at a significant discount. (Read the details of that amazing opportunity HERE.)  Thank you so much for giving toward these Bibles! That opportunity fell through when the other ministry in Haiti wasn’t able to commit all the funds needed for their 300 Thompson Bibles. 

But the Lord directed our steps forward in two amazing ways! First, Keith Jones (the man who pulled our two ministries together for the Bible order) recommended PPI to CLC France so we were able to order our 264 Thompson Bibles on our own at the discounted price. Praise God! And from now on, I believe we will be able to order directly from CLC France at a discount and – hallelujah! – get our Bibles shipped directly from France to Florida (MFI). 

Second, the other Haiti ministry heard more about PPI and, as a result, invited us to lead a PPI training at their 50th anniversary pastors conference in August. This ministry, EBAC in Haiti and Olive Cove in the U.S., has been working in Haiti for 50 years. (Literally. They will celebrate their 50th anniversary of ministry in Haiti in August.) Over those years they have established a network of nearly 300 churches in Haiti and the DR.

 It seems to me that the Lord is directing our steps!

After reaching out to trusted friends in Haiti and talking with our Board of Directors, I accepted the invitation to lead a PPI training conference with EBAC/Olive Cove on August 9-16.

Please pray for this opportunity! PPI will provide 150 Thompson Bibles, workbooks, resource books (God-Pleasing Worship) and all our usual conference materials. Including my travel expenses, I estimate PPI’s financial investment in this special opportunity at around $8000. This is a significant step of faith because of our focus these next several months on building our support base. The Lord is stretching Rena’s and my faith in His provision, and that’s a good thing!

To be honest, I had planned to get to know these folks more and propose that we work toward a training conference some time next year. After talking with them at length by phone last week, I was moved to accept their invitation to offer a training conference this August for two reasons. First, this is their 50th anniversary celebration and they want to communicate to their network of pastors the need to deepen their commitment to God’s Word in their churches. They said about PPI training: “This is just what we have been praying for!” Second, I think the Lord has opened the door for us to at least explore the possibility of partnering with EBAC/Olive Cove to train pastors across Haiti and in the DR – well beyond this one training conference in August.

Update on Our July Training Conferences

The details of our two July training conferences in Ouanaminthe and Cap Haitien are coming together well. Esaii and Jasmin are working hard on the in-country details. We talk several times a week these days. They said pastors in Haiti are very excited for us to come! Pray for the Lord to protect their health and hearts for Him. We couldn’t do this without these two faithful brothers in Christ!

We have all our materials ready to go to Haiti, either at MFI (Thompson Bibles, Course 1 and 2 workbooks, and tracts) or in the PPI office at our house (everything else). Our new Course 2 workbook cover shown here – in English, Our Powerful Gospel.

One special item for prayer: We’re having trouble getting Creole Bibles. I started working with the Haitian Bible Society (SBH) three months ago, knowing COVID-19 has slowed down production and shipping everywhere. Magda Victor at SBH told me last Tuesday that she expected to have their shipment of Creole Bibles from the South Korean printer by July 1 – but could not promise. Please pray with us that the Creole Bibles come through in time for SBH to ship them overland to our two training conferences in mid-July!

The Lord is so wonderful to include us in His saving work in the world! Thank you for your partnership with us in His mission. We couldn’t do this without your encouragement, prayers and faithful financial support.

Grateful for His leading,

Ken

We finished a special resource this week, and you can get a copy! This resource benefits American Christians like us as well as Haitian pastors. God-Pleasing Worship is a book based on a sermon series by my good friend, Joe Talone. Get your copy of the book HERE.

Regular supporters of PPI are receiving a copy of the book by mail as I write. Learn more about becoming a monthly partner HERE.

Joe gave me permission to edit his message series for print not long before he unexpectedly went home to Heaven in May 2019. Joe loves Jesus, His mission and His church. He was a gifted pastor and a leader’s leader. He lived a life of  love in his family. Joe lived for God!

At first, I intended to bring Joe’s insightful, courageous biblical teaching to more believers and churches in the United States. After pastoring in two larger churches for the past 22 years, I’m convinced the Body of Christ also needs to hear from faithful, godly pastors of smaller churches. These pastors, like Joe, tend to focus well on the essentials of Jesus’ mission – evangelism, discipleship, community and missions.

But after Joe’s death, I became convinced that the Lord also intended for believers in Haiti to benefit from Joe’s teaching. Joe loved Haiti and served there many times with members of his church. Not long before he went to Heaven, Joe and I talked at length about the spiritual, physical, economic needs of Haiti – and how God might use us to make a difference for eternity.

Pastor Esaii Paulema helped me translate the book for Haitian pastors and churches. This was quite a task! First, I removed American cultural references that wouldn’t make sense to Haitian readers. I then sent this simpler English version of the book to Pastor Esaii, chapter by chapter, on WhatsApp. (WhatsApp is a messaging app used internationally.) Internet in Haiti is unreliable and expensive. Next Esaii read through each English chapter and wrote out long-hand his draft Creole translation. After double-checking it, he typed his Creole translation – chapter by chapter – into WhatsApp messages to me. He did a fantastic job of translating!

From there, I copied Esaii’s WhatsApp translations into a single Google Doc and went to work proof-reading and formatting the text. The WhatsApp messages came to me without any paragraphing and often without punctuation. Relying on the English version, Google Translator and my very basic knowledge of Creole, I formatted the text in MS Publisher into the Creole version of the book – Adorasyon ki fè Bondye Plezi. Every Haitian church leader who completes our training courses will receive a copy of this book, beginning with our two conferences in July.

Multilanguage Media, a long-time friend of PPI, is also purchasing several copies of the book in Creole and English to make available to other mission ministries. Praise God!

Get your copy of the book HERE.

We’re finished. My time as interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Bad Axe has ended. We have grown to love this dear congregation. They love the Lord. They’re serious about learning and following His Word. They want their lives to count for the gospel in their community and around the world. It was hard to end our time there.

Our feelings are mixed, but our thoughts are clear. God has called us to encourage, train and resource pastors in Haiti and other developing countries. He wants us to rally believers and churches to help brothers and sisters in Christ whose basic needs – basic needs – consistently go unmet. The love of Christ, growing opportunities and God’s clear leading compel us!

We ended our time at First Baptist with this beginning in mind. We begin a new season of expanding the impact of Partnership of Pastors International (PPI).

What’s next? By God’s grace, we will devote full time for the next 9-10 months to building a base of financial support for PPI. A small monthly salary from PPI complemented by our personal savings will provide for our needs through these months. I will also lead three (3) pastors training conferences in Haiti during this season of development, Lord willing.

How will we do it? We will pray then meet with as many churches and individuals as we can to tell them more about PPI and invite them to partner financially and prayfully with us. We have developed an information packet for potential supporters that shares the vision, strategy and impact of this ministry.

What then? We’re praying and working toward continuing full-time with PPI without looking back! That’s our heart’s desire. As the Lord opens doors and hearts, we will build a base of financial partnership that enables us to fully engage the need for training and resourcing church leaders in poor countries. We’re convinced that’s what it will take to fulfill PPI’s mission. CLICK HERE for more information about my full-time role with PPI.

What can you do? If you already partner regularly with us, THANK YOU! Will you pray for us in this season of development and tell others about Partnership of Pastors International? Would you consider increasing your support of this mission, as you are able?

If you have not yet partnered monthly with us, TAKE THAT STEP if the Lord wants you to. Supporting a mission organization is an act of stewardship and partnership. If you see the need to help believers in places like Haiti, get involved. If you believe that PPI will represent you well in encouraging, training and resourcing pastors in Haiti and other developing countries, send us.

We’re asking you to ask the Lord whether He wants you to support PPI. We’re inviting you to make the commitment to give to PPI consistently and generously. To become a PPI partner. Through His grace and the power of His Spirit, we will represent you well! CLICK HERE to learn how you can become a PPI partner.

We’re grateful to the Lord for our 22 months at First Baptist in Bad Axe. We’re trusting the Lord for this next step with PPI.

Thank you all for praying for us and partnering with us!

Got some extra time? Come and help us one day or more May 17-21, We need 2-3 volunteers each day on Monday-Wednesday and Friday from 10am-3pm. Lunch provided.

We will work together at our house – 465 Mayflower Drive, Saginaw. CLICK HERE to let us know which day you can serve.

You’ll help with getting materials ready for our next two pastors training conferences in July, prepare our next newsletter for mailing, put together PPI info packages for potential supporters, and more. We have plenty to do!

CLICK HERE to let us know which day you can serve.

We have an amazing opportunity right now. Will you help us take advantage of it? We have a chance to buy Thompson  Bibles at half-price – $25 per Bible versus our regular price of $50. GIVE HERE

As you know, the French language Thompson Chain Reference Bible is our main training tool for church leaders in Haiti. It is not only a good translation of Scripture, but it is also a “mini-library” of study tools that help pastors understand God’s Word and communicate it clearly to others.

But it’s expensive. We typically pay $37-$39 for each Bible before shipping. And our Bibles’ journey from France to Canada to Florida to Haiti adds another $10-$12 per Bible to their cost. By the time our Thompson Bibles arrive at our training location in Haiti, we have invested $50 per Bible – or more.

Enter MLM and ETS

We order our Thompson Bibles through Multilanguage Media (MLM), a ministry based in Philadelphia that prints and distributes Bibles and Christian literature around the world. We have worked with MLM for the last 11 years to purchase Thompson Bibles and other ministry resources for church leaders in Haiti. MLM is a fantastic ministry! Check out their website HERE.

Tim Hurd from MLM called me two weeks ago very excited! He wanted to recommend us to Equipping the Saints (ETS), another ministry long affiliated with MLM. ETS planned to purchase several hundred French language Thompson Bibles. Tim told me that by “tagging long” with ETS’s purchase PPI may be able to get Thompson Bibles at a deeply discounted price.

I was interested! I contacted Keith Jones at ETS that afternoon to get acquainted and explore the opportunity. Keith is the founder and Executive Director of ETS (learn more about ETS’s ministry HERE.) Over the last two weeks, several emails and a few more phone calls, this amazing opportunity materialized. By buying Thompson Bibles together, PPI can purchase Thompson Bibles right now at  half-price. 

264 Thompson Bibles

We’re going for it! My plan is to purchase 264 Thompson Bibles at $21 per Bible plus shipping. 264 is the minimum number of Thompson Bibles we need for our three (3) planned training conferences in Haiti in 2022. We already have the 160 Thompson Bibles needed for our two training conferences this July in Haiti.

Given the size of our combined order, we’re able to get the Bibles shipped directly from France to MFI in Florida. MFI (Missionary Flights International) flies our Bibles to Haiti. That significantly cuts our shipping cost. I’m estimating our total cost to be $25 per Bible.

Will you help?

Will you help us take advantage of this opporunity? Would you consider a special gift so that we can buy these 264 Thompson Bibles at $25 each? DONATE HERE

I resonate with the Apostle Paul’s words this morning:

Pray for us, that the Word of the Lord may speed ahead and be honored [in Haiti], as happened among you. (2 Thessalonians 3:1)

Thank you for praying for us and standing with us!