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The Global Christian Book Fund (gcbf.org) recently featured PPI training in its summer newsletter. GCBF has its roots in Christianbook Distributors and its nonprofit organization, Christianbook International Outreach (CIO). Since 2022, CIO (now GCBF) has provided a generous grant to PPI to help us purchase Bibles and other ministry resources. Their newsletter (reprinted below in its entirety) gives another – and encouraging! – perspective on our work in Haiti. To God alone be glory!

More Than a Bible: Training and Equipping Haiti’s Pastors by Daniel Henderson (GCBF)

Haiti is the poorest and one of the most underserved nations in the Western Hemisphere, and its pastors among the most overlooked. Thousands of church leaders across the country shepherd their congregations with little formal training and even fewer resources. Yet their hunger for God’s Word and for genuine equipping is remarkable. That’s where  Partnership of Pastors International (PPI) comes in – and where Global Christian Book Fund is proud to walk alongside them.

Training That Goes Deeper

Established in 2019, PPI has built something remarkable in Haiti: a training program that inspires but also requires something of its participants. Across six courses, church leaders receive 16 -18 hours of foundational ministry training. Pastors complete individual and group assignments and engage deeply with Scripture. These aren’t passive conferences. Pastors attend every session. They do the work.

The results speak for themselves. Church leaders leave PPI training more encouraged in their identity in Christ, more committed to walking in obedience to His Word, more confident in understanding and applying Scripture, and more skilled in leading their churches. As one Haitian pastor put it, “Everywhere in Haiti, pastors are running after PPI training!”

The Challenge of Getting Bibles There

Getting training materials into Haiti is no small feat. PPI has literally loaded Cessna aircraft – two flights worth – with 28 boxes of Thompson Chain Reference Bibles and course materials just to reach church leaders in the south of the country. Each Bible weighs nearly 3.3 lbs, and with 8 Bibles per box, those 28 boxes carried 224 Bibles – over 740 lbs of God’s Word alone. Logistics that might be routine elsewhere become genuine acts of determination in Haiti.

Global Christian Book Fund helps make that possible. Through our ongoing partnership with PPI, we support the supply of Bibles and resources that fuel this training, because we believe that getting the right book into the right hands changes everything. Ken MacGillivray, PPI’s director, said, 

”Without GCBF’s partnership, the number of pastors we equip, the number of cities we impact, and the number of Bibles we provide would be significantly curtailed. We SO appreciate GCBF’s encouragement and generosity in this Kingdom venture!”

The Thompson Bible: More Than a Gift

There is a moment at the end of PPI’s Course 1, “The Message and the Messenger,” that captures why this work matters. Every pastor who successfully completes the course earns the Thompson Chain Reference Bible he or she used throughout the training.

For most of these leaders, this is the finest study Bible they have ever held, and the joy on their faces shows it. It is not handed out freely. It is earned through hours of faithful study and commitment. That makes it all the more meaningful. Church leaders in Les Cayes and Jérémie lit up with joy when they completed the course and received their Bibles. This is what faithful investment in pastors in developing nations looks like.

Why It Matters

When a pastor in Haiti is trained and equipped, his entire congregation benefits. The good news is proclaimed courageously and accurately. Families are shepherded more faithfully. Scripture is taught more clearly. Churches are built on firmer ground. Communities are impacted more holistically. Global Christian Book Fund exists to make moments like these possible – putting books and Bibles into the hands of those who will use them to build the Church.

Would you partner with us to keep this work going? Your gift today helps ensure that the next generation of Haitian pastors receives the training and the tools they need to lead well.

August PPI Courses

I’m so thankful for God’s timing! As you know, Rena’s dad passed away a few days before I was scheduled to leave for Haiti. After a lot of prayer and conversation with Rena and our team, I canceled my part in our August training – but the training went on! The Lord’s “cosmic coordination” of all events of our life and times always amazes me.

For starters, I’m glad I was here in the United States when Dad N went home to Heaven. I want to be with Rena and our family when big life events like this happen. Also, given the difficulty of traveling in and out of Haiti right now, I would have had difficulty getting to Georgia in time for Dad N’s memorial service. Next, we planned last year to offer PPI Courses 1 and 2 in north Haiti in August 2026. Our Haitian team typically leads all of Course 1 and many sessions of Course 2 these days. They were ready and willing to step in to administrate logistics and lead these courses. That would have been much harder for them to do if we had planned to offer, say, Courses 5 and 6. The Lord knew.

And our August courses went well – thanks to the Lord and our ministry team! A total of 91 pastors completed Course 1 in Morne Rouge, and 115 church leaders finished Course 2 in Cap-Haitien. Thanks so much for praying for our family and our Haitian team as they led these courses the past two weeks!

Youth Job Training

While our team facilitated PPI courses in northern Haiti, over 1000 young men and women participated in Youth Job Training in central Haiti. This is the largeest number of young people enrolled in the program’s four-year history. They will continue in one of 12 vocational tracks – examples include plumbing, electronics, sewing, cosmetology and music – through August 30. Pastor Laner and the League of Pastors of Hinche continue to develop this opportunity well. Excellent, gospel-centered community development programs like this are so needed in nations like Haiti.

Many of you gave through PPI to help the League make this program possible. Thank you! If your church or group would like to sponsor and get more involved with Youth Job Training in an ongoing way, let me know. I would love to tell you more about it and connect you with Pastor Laner and the League.

We Plan and God Directs

I plan to return to Haiti in October to help our team lead Courses 1, 2 and 4 in the Centre Department, Lord willing. We plan our way and the Lord directs our steps (Proverbs 16:9)! We have a lot to get done before then – revising/printing our Course 4 workbook, securing Thompson Bibles and training materials, and communicating our special South Haiti challenge this fall (stay tuned). Not to mention helping with and officiating our daughter’s wedding and preaching at our church!

We’re planning our way ahead, but we want to live well for the Lord each day. We desire every day to offer our Father in Heaven a sacrifice of worship through our thoughts, words and actions. We trust the Lord to coordinate our steps from there according to His good and perfect will.

Happy summer, everyone! We hope you’re doing well and encouraged in the Lord Jesus. We want to update you on what’s happening and what’s coming – and ask for your prayers.

Kitchen

After five months of repair and remodel, our kitchen is functioning again! Over the next few weeks, we will finish last details of all areas of our house affected by the “Flood of ‘26”, including our basement. Rena and I took a break to celebrate our nation’s 250th birthday with family by enjoying the Bay City fireworks (arguably the best show in Michigan) and exploring Mackinac Island (including the fudge shops). We both said, “Ahh! Our summer has started!” Thank you for your prayers and encouragement along the way.

Camp

Gull Lake Camp invited us again to be mission representatives during one week of their family camp. Our week will be July 25-31. We really enjoyed our first venture as mission reps at Gull Lake in 2024 – presenting PPI, meeting families from across the United States, the water, fun and food! We look forward to sharing the vision of PPI and our part in a growing, global movement of making pastors training accessible. And we pray for good fruit – not only potential partners for PPI, but also growth in passion and strategic thinking for Jesus’ mission in the world.

Conference

Ten days after our time at Gull Lake, I head to Haiti again. Our team will lead PPI Course 1 as part of Pastor Cebien Alexis’ annual pastors conference. I met Pastor Cebien five years ago. He is a godly Christian leader in his country and has planted many churches in Haiti and the Dominican Republic throughout his decades of ministry. But he and other leaders of his EBAC network recognize the pressing need for Biblical and practical ministry training. That’s where PPI comes in!

We tried to coordinate training with Pastor Cebien 3-4 years ago, but he canceled the conference because of unrest in his area. This year, the Lord has cleared the way for us to offer Course 1 during the EBAC conference. While in northern Haiti, we will also offer Course 2 at our usual host church in that area. Please pray for these courses in August!

One summer many years ago, I had the opportunity to hear noted Dutch theologian, Willem VanGemeren, speak in Jackson, Mississippi. I’ll never forget one lecture, in which he talked about the “sacred center” of our lives. Since we belong to God – body, soul and spirit – every moment, every relationship, every event of our lives is sacred. God is involved and is working out His good purposes in us and through us.

Time working on (and working through) a flooded house is sacred. Spending time with families at a Christian camp is an act of worship to our Father in Heaven. Welcoming, loving and equipping church leaders in northern Haiti are offerings of thanksgiving to the One sent to our messed up world to rescue us. Every moment of YOUR summer is holy to the Lord. We pray you have opportunities to invest it for Him and in others as your sacrifice of praise.