Thank you all for your encouragement and prayers these past two days. Here’s what we now know and what that means for our March-April (and future) pastors training in Haiti. Facts. Faith. Future. Watch the video of this post HERE

FACTS

After Ariel Henry, Haiti’s prime minister, traveled to Kenya, gangs in Haiti coordinated prison breaks, take-over of several government buildings, and what amounts to a siege of the airport in Port au Prince. They demanded the resignation of the prime minister and threatened civil war and genocide. Mr. Henry resigned yesterday.

In response to these events, Haiti’s OFNAC (equivalent to our FAA) closed all airports in Haiti and restricted its airspace. The Dominican Republic closed its border with Haiti – though they have allowed Americans and Dominicans to evacuate – and also closed its airspace to any flights to and from Haiti.  U.S.-based airlines canceled all flights to Haiti as did missionary flight services. We read and heard April 4 as a possible end date of these actions, but like everyone we’ve talked with we aren’t holding our breaths.

FAITH

All this is heart-breaking news – for Haiti’s people, pastors and PPI. I received MFI’s message Monday morning while in a meeting with the NFT Network, an online gathering of trainers of church leaders around the world. I had to shut off my camera to hide my tears and left the meeting early to pray.

Over the past two days, God has encouraged me especially with three Scriptures:

As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today. (Joseph’s words in Genesis 50:20)

Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, ¹⁶ making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. (Ephesians 5:15-16)

Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, ² looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:1-2)

FUTURE

In the near-term, we are postponing our March-April training. I explored several avenues for shipping our materials and then traveling to Haiti through the DR, but we would most likely be turned away at the Haiti border. Even if we could cross into Haiti, chances are good we could not get back out. I’m sad about that and, honestly, angry. I hate it that, through his oppression and disruption, the Evil One is hindering the spread of the gospel, the encouraging of pastors, and the strengthening of churches and communities in Haiti.

By God’s grace, that won’t continue for long and we will be able to get back to Haiti soon – because our focus has not changed for the longer term. God has called us to encourage, train and resource church leaders in Haiti and other developing countries. Fourteen years ago God introduced me to the need to raise up godly, well-trained church leaders in Haiti. This is where God led us. It just happens to be the poorest nation in the Western Hemisphere and one of the most unstable countries in the world! But that’s where the light of Christ can shine brightest, where the biblical work of Jesus’ church can make the most impact, where the love and truth of our God can transform lives and communities. We believe that to our toes, and we’re seeing it happen in Haiti in amazing ways. So it’s not time to throw in the towel. Far from it!

We will make the most of this time –

1. Continuing to encourage and mentor our Haitian ministry team.
2. Inputting 1300 students of our courses into WhatsApp groups for future communication and possibly even instruction.
3. Finishing Course 5 Leading Jesus’ Church – Servant-Leaders and Organization and working on Course 6 Satan’s Opposition and Jesus’ Victory.
4. Working out logistics of training church leaders in our next developing country, possibly the Dominican Republic.
5. Learning more Creole.
6. Preparing for our next trip to Haiti to encourage, train and resource church leaders there!

I’ll also be home for Easter this year to enjoy time with our family and friends. This is every bit as significant in the Lord’s mission as my time in Haiti!

We all are praying together with our Haitian brothers and sisters for the good of Haiti, the spread of the gospel and the strengthening of Jesus’ church. Be encouraged in prayer by our ministry team’s response to the news that we had to cancel our March-April training:

Map mande pou Bondye pran kontwòl sitiyasyon an. (I am asking that God will control the situation.)

Nou pap sispann priye pou sa. Bondye ka fè tout bagay. (We will not stop praying for that. God can do all things.)

Nou pap bouke priye pou konferans yo ka reyisi o non de Jezi. (We will not tire of praying for the training to succeed in the name of Jesus.)

Bondye nou an pa limite . . . Nou pral travay e adore papa Bondye ansanm. (Our God is not limited. . .  We will work and worship our Father together.)

I responded to them:

Amen, chè frè. Nou pral wè Bondye nou an ap travay! (Amen, dear brothers. We will see our God work!)

God is working. Let’s pray and persevere for His mission and glory.

After our first week of training in February, Jasmin led our team in a special time of thanking God for victories. We have prayed together this way before (call it “victory prayer”), and I always find it powerful and meaningful. I commend it to you as a way to pray with one heart and one spirit with others in your family, small group, or serving or leadership team.

First, Jasmin read Lamentations 3:22-23 and talked about God’s faithfulness in opening the way for us to train 172 church leaders in two courses in Limbé. Another 74 church leaders would complete Course 4 in Cap-Haitien the following week. Over the two weeks, we would award 112 Thompson Bibles and distribute 480 Creole Bibles to 246 church leaders in two cities in the North Department.

A week earlier, we had talked about postponing or even cancelling this trip because of unrest in Cap, but the Lord brought calm the day before I flew into the city to meet our team. Nou di Seyè a mèsi! (We thank you, Lord!)

Then Jasmin led us in singing (in Creole):

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness, O Lord!
Great is your faithfulness!

We repeated the chorus then sang different lines of it again to remind ourselves that Senyè a vrèman fidèl (The Lord is truly faithful).

After singing, we prayed aloud, all of us at one time. I’ve been in U.S. churches that pray this way and it’s usually chaos – akin to the shouting and dancing of the prophets of Ba’al. This prayer time was not like that at all. We prayed aloud – but not loud – thanking God for His love, faithfulness and victories in the first week of our training. We prayed for each church leader who attended, their families, churches and communities. All that took about 10 minutes. We then concluded by singing the chorus again.

Simple, focused and powerful. I encourage you to lead a special time of “victory prayer” using this format. When you do, let me know if you find the Lord encouraging all of you in a powerful way. And enjoy the pictures below. 

My friend, Tim Meyers, painted a mental picture of missions for me that shapes my thinking to this day. Tim was born in Australia but grew up in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, where his dad flew for Missionary Aviation Fellowship. He has some stories! We met in Dallas during our seminary years, became good friends and had a lot of conversations. During one of those talks, Tim shared with me:

Imagine that a doctor lands in an area filled with scores of sick people. As the plane lands, people surround it crying for help. The doctor is filled with compassion. He is tempted to grab his medical bag and get to work. Who wouldn’t be? Is that the way to help the greatest number of people? He could attend to the sick from dawn to dusk for a few days before he collapsed from exhaustion.

What if instead, filled with compassion, the doctor identifies people in the crowd well enough to walk, trains them to record vital signs, treat fevers and cleanse wounds while he attends to people with life-threatening symptoms. Over just a few days, how many more people could they help? The number would be multiplied!

This word picture aligns with Scripture (for example, Ephesians 4:11-15 and 2 Timothy 2:2) and continues to shape my thinking about missions and church ministry to this day.

Matthew tells us that Jesus traveled throughout northern Israel with his disciples, helping those in need and proclaiming God’s good news to them. He was moved with compassion for people’s physical and spiritual needs. What was His solution?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

The Lord‘s response is, “We need more workers in the harvest! Let’s pray for that.” And His example of training His followers demonstrates that Jesus wants not just warm bodies, but better workers, laborers trained in heart, character and skill.

Here’s the reality today: The church is growing fastest in nations with the fewest opportunities for church leaders to be trained. Global mission leaders tell us that most pastors in poor countries have little to no intentional Bible and ministry training. That aligns with what I have found in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Malawi and Guatemala – “third world” nations where I have had the privilege of spending time with church leaders. These Kingdom workers love Christ and His people. They’re filled with the Spirit and working hard in ministry, usually without pay. They sacrifice deeply and often suffer for the sake of the gospel. But they also struggle and fail unnecessarily because they lack encouragement, Biblical and practical ministry training, and resources.

That’s the reality – and the huge opportunity for people like us. This need to raise up more and better Kingdom workers must rank as one of our highest priorities in missions.

And that’s why I’m excited to get back to Haiti next week. Please pray for our ministry team as we lead three PPI courses in two cities in northern Haiti. We anticipate full courses (112 church leaders in each) and effective times together. Our joy – and priority – is to work behind the scenes to raise up more and better Kingdom workers in Haiti. Thank you for standing with us in prayer and financial support as we do!

YEAR-END REPORT AND THANK YOU

When we’re in Haiti, someone on our ministry team usually preaches for the church that hosts our training. This is one way we thank and honor our host pastors. In Ouanaminthe, where most of our Haitian ministry team live, we do our best to speak in each of our team members’ churches as well. These times of worship and fellowship with Haitian believers challenge our thinking and move our hearts.

In December, Tony de Bari, PPI Board member, had the opportunity to speak in Pastor Ulrick’s church while I preached at our host church. (Ulrick is a PPI ministry team member.) Here are some of Tony’s thoughts on his time in a typical Haitian church:

For me, this was one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had in church. . . . [T]his church had none of the splendor and majesty of those cathedrals [I have visited], it was just sticks and tin. However, it had people who worshiped God as He should be worshiped—with songs of praise and thanks. God obviously doesn’t care what the church looks like—this one is just sticks and tin, but He does care about the people in them. He desires praise and glory, and He certainly got it today. 

These people, some of whom have no idea where their next meal will come from, or even if they will get shot by some of the gangs in Haiti, devote an entire Sunday morning to praise and worship of the God who provides. They understand that all they have comes from Him. . . . 

Our goal and our joy are to encourage, train and resource church leaders like Ulrick all across Haiti and beyond. Godly, well-trained pastors feed, lead and love their congregations on the foundation of Scripture led by the Holy Spirit. Growing, spiritually healthy congregations impact their neighborhoods with practical help and powerful hope in Christ. This is what we’re seeing in Haiti as pastors deepen their understanding of God’s Word, Christ-like character and wise church leadership. This is the lasting fruit of your faithful prayers and financial support!

In 2023, the Lord enabled us to train 752 church leaders in 7 training courses in 5 cities in Haiti. That’s an investment of 120 hours of foundational ministry training for pastors! Through our courses, we awarded 584 Thompson Bibles and distributed 1210 Creole Bibles for their churches. Thanks be to God!

IN 2024

In 2024, we plan to offer 11 PPI courses in 8 key cities in 4 Departments of Haiti. That will enable us to train over 1200 church leaders! We also want to introduce PPI training to pastors in one additional country this year. Accomplishing all that in 2024 will take $169,000. That’s $30,000 more than PPI’s total income in 2023. Will you help us?

“We walk by faith not by sight” as we pursue these plans  (2 Cor 5:7). Thank you for walking with us in training pastors and strengthening churches – and whole communities! – in Haiti. Know that you are a vital Kingdom worker with us on the supplies line of prayer and giving. May the Lord provide for you and fill you with His joy as you invest your life every day of 2024 in what matters for eternity!

Happy New Year and thank you,

Ken for all of us