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.

We envision offering six foundational courses in strategic cities to make this training accessible to as many church leaders as possible. PPI training will be “traveling Bible college” or “circuit-riding seminary.” Very few church leaders in developing countries can afford or attend the few Bible colleges or seminaries available. If we don’t take pastoral training to them, most front-line church leaders would receive little if any training. We’re determined to do something about that! 
Our plan is to pursue individual and church partnerships that enable us to devote full-time to the development and leadership of this ministry.