A Quick Sketch

Some years stand out in all our lives. This year – 2019 – is definitely one of those years for us! Here’s a quick sketch:

• April 15 – Ken’s last day as Associate Senior Pastor at Hopevale Church after 15 years of ministry there.
• May 15 – After prayer and counsel, we make the decision to “take a big swing” at developing Partnership of Pastors International.
• June 16 – We begin an interim pastorate at First Baptist Church in Bad Axe.
• September 15 – We officially launch Partnership of Pastors International!
• October 12-20 – Ken participates in a church leaders training conference in Africa with friend and mentor Chuck Ballard.
• December 26 – With PPI development gaining momentum, we are working toward our next 2-3 pastors training conferences in 2020!

THANK YOU for praying for us! THANK YOU for encouraging us! THANK YOU for partnering with us in encouraging, training and resourcing church leaders in Haiti and other developing countries.

WHAT’S AHEAD in 2020?

So what’s ahead for us in 2020? A lot!

• First official meeting of the PPI Board of Directors
• Offer 2 (possibly 3) pastors training conferences
• Write, translate and print at least 2 pastors training courses
• Share PPI’s vision and strategy with many more individuals and churches!
• Continue shepherding the wonderful congregation of First Baptist, assisting in search for their next pastor
• Celebrate Ken’s grandmother’s 100th birthday in June!
• A special week in August together with our kids and extended family
• Devote full-time for 3-4 months to developing church and individual partnerships
• Participate in a Sonscape ministry couples retreat in Colorado in early October

YOUR TOP 5 FAQs

1. Are you developing Partnership of Pastors OR pastoring a church in Bad Axe?

Both for now! I committed to 26-28 hours a week at First Baptist Church to allow me definite work days to develop Partnership of Pastors International (PPI). I am the interim (“in between”) pastor at First Baptist and anticipate serving there for 6-9 months more as we work together toward onboarding FBC’s next permanent pastor.

2. What will you do when your interim pastorate at First Baptist ends?

After saying some hard good-byes (we love our congregation in Bad Axe!), we anticipate devoting 3-4 months to full-time partner development with churches and individuals. That will involve a lot of travel, conversations and presentations of Partnership of Pastors vision and strategy.

After those 3-4 months, we’ll likely need to secure another interim pastor position at another church in our area.

3. Are you being paid by Partnership of Pastors?

No, not yet. That’s one of the reasons we accepted an interim pastor position. In fact, we’re one of the regular contributors to PPI! As we develop financial partnerships, we will begin to draw an appropriate salary from the ministry as decided by the PPI Board of Directors.

4. Do you plan to pastor a church once PPI is fully funded?

Probably not. To develop and lead pastoral training the way I’m convinced it’s needed in countries like Haiti, I won’t have time to shepherd a church well. But we’re not making a final decision on that right now. For now, we don’t want to limit the Kingdom potential of PPI by committing to a full-time pastoral position before taking our best swing at developing PPI. That will be our focus for the next 2-3 years.

5. What’s the best way to give to PPI?

You can give a number of ways to PPI, but the BEST way may be to set up a monthly donation in your credit union or bank’s online Bill Pay. It’s easy to do, and it’s free to you and free to us! Mailing a check cost you a 55 cent stamp, and donating through our website costs us about 2.5% of your gift. Bill Pay is best. And please pray for us!

Do you have a question about PPI or about us that we didn’t answer? Ask it HERE. We’d love to hear from you!

Happy New Year!

Are you ready for it? The Christmas season, I mean. Thanksgiving’s just a few days past, and the lights, bells, trees and store displays have all but swallowed it. Do you feel it? The hurry, the stress and – can we be honest – the futility of our American take on God becoming Man.

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” More blessed – joy, purpose, satisfaction. That sounds like a great gift to give your family and yourself this Christmas.

Want a tangible way to remember this Christmas? To be “more blessed” with joy and purpose?

• Give a gift for over-the-counter meds and vitamins for Haitian families. Simple meds such as Tylenol, Imodium, Neosporin, Tums are scarce, prohibitively expensive and so needed in Haiti. As are vitamins for children and adults. GIVE HERE

• Help church leaders receive training. We’ll be in Cap Haitien, a city of 250,000 in February, to provide week-long training to 100 church leaders. Let’s help Haitian believers experience well trained pastors and well organized churches. HELP HERE

• Purchase Creole Bibles for Haitian Christians. How many Bibles do we have around our houses? Most Haitian believers have none. Not one. Zero. Bibles like meds are scarce and expensive – about $10 US the equivalent of two weeks of food in Haiti. PROVIDE BIBLES HERE

Here’s my CHRISTMAS CHALLENGE: Tithe what you typically spend on Christmas. Yes, tithe. Set aside 10% of what you spend on the holiday for gifts, decorations, special meals, all of it. And give that 10% to brothers and sisters in Christ whose basic needs consistently go unmet – whether through Partnership of Pastors or other front-line organizations benefiting the poor. Make this the best Christmas ever for all the right reasons!

Friends, we have 300 Creole Bibles trapped in Haiti’s capital city! Will you pray that we can get these Bibles out of Port-au-Prince to pastors and churches in Ouanaminthe? We purchased the 300 Bibles from the Haitian Bible Society (HBS) in late September. Since then, HBS has not been able to ship the Bibles to Pastor Esau in Ouanaminthe because of the social unrest in the capital city. We’re working with HBS on safe alternatives in order to get these 300 Creole Bibles into the hands of pastors and churches in Ouanaminthe. They’re so needed! CLICK HERE to hear a Haitian pastor explain why. Thank you for praying that God will open a door to us for His Word (Col 4:2). We’ll keep you updated.

Some of you have asked why I’m in Africa. Doesn’t Partnership of Pastors train and resource church leaders in Haiti? YES. I’m in Lilongwe, Malawi, Africa this week with friend and mentor, Chuck Ballard, not only to help him with a pastors conference here but also to observe and ask questions to sharpen our pastors conferences in Haiti and other developing countries. Check out THIS VIDEO for more.