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Kitchen, Camp and Conference

July 13, 2026 by Ken MacGillivray 3 Comments

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.

I’ll Sign Up for That!

June 8, 2026 by Ken MacGillivray

I typically sign my name 345 times every time I travel to Haiti. Yes, you read that right – 345 times! On the final day of each PPI course, we conclude with a time of recognition and ceremony. Every church leader who successfully completes a PPI course receives a certificate of completion and a Thompson Bible (Course 1) or Creole Bibles (Courses 2-6) and other ministry resources. Isaiah, Jasmin and I sign each certificate and emboss it with our PPI stamp before Hebert letters each person’s name on his or her certificate. (Hebert has stellar penmanship.) We place each certificate in a plastic sleeve to protect it along with an official PPI letter describing our courses. Since 2019, we have signed and awarded over 3000 PPI certificates. Before 2026 ends, we will sign 920 more.

Church leaders are very excited to receive the PPI certificate of completion! For them, the certificate respresents three full days of study, discussion and assignments. They have worked hard in the Word! And many of them have overcome hardship and sacrificed significantly to attend a PPI course. Each one has a story. They express gratitude to the Lord for enabling them to take the course, and they rightly experience joy and accomplishment in completing it.

As I inscribed certificate after certificate in south Haiti, I thought more about what – and who – my signature represents. (This is how one’s mind wanders while signing hundreds of documents . . .) I sign the name given to me by my parents, Ken and Loretta MacGillivray. My name, Ken MacGillivray, represents not just me but them – my dad quite literally. They loved me and shaped my life for Christ. Without them, I would not know Jesus and certainly would not be serving in Haiti.

I also sign my name as the Directeur exécutif (Executive Director) of Partenariat avec pasteurs internationaux. In a real way, my signature on each PPI certificate symbolizes the encouragement and affirmation of our Board of Directors and, indeed, all of you as PPI partners and friends. Each time I inscribe a course certificate, I am saying on your behalf: “Well done! We congratulate you on your work in this course. We see the Lord’s hand upon you and are praying for you, your family and your church. We’re behind you as you go back to your community to serve and lead in Jesus’ name!” Even more, we represent the Lord’s encouragement and affirmation of each pastor. That’s very humbling – and motivating.

Thank you for sending Isaiah, Jasmin, Hebert and me to convey your blessing to church leaders in Haiti. We are honored to represent you and Jesus our Lord among dear brothers and sisters in Christ. We’ll sign our name to that!

First Time in South Haiti

May 25, 2026 by Ken MacGillivray

Violence displaces people and also isolates people. In Haiti, nearly 1 million men and women have fled their homes in and around Port au Prince these past five years to find more secure places to live and work. Many church leaders have shared their stories of fear, loss and displacement, and we’ve seen the populations of safer cities in central, northern and northeastern Haiti expand through these unstable years.

Violence also isolates people, and that’s what has happened to over 2 milliion Haitians who live south of Port au Prince. The capital city serves as a geographic bottleneck between areas north and the southern peninsula of Haiti. Gang violence there has choked off most travel and trade between the two parts of the country.

When we train in areas north of Port au Prince, some church leaders will travel several hours – even a day or two – to take a PPI course somewhere. But we don’t know of any pastors from southern Haiti who taken even one PPI course. Add spiritual isolation and lack of development opportunities to the long list of tragedies caused by the gang violence.

Until last week.

Last Wednesday, our ministry team flew to Les Cayes, the chief (capital) city of the South Department. It took two trips in a Cessna 207 to transport our four guys (including me) and nearly 900 lbs of cargo – Thompson Bibles (28 boxes), Course 1 workbooks (2 boxes) and other training materials (4 boxes). On Thursday morning, over 120 church leaders descended on Église Bon Berge de Cambry (Good Shepherd Church of Cambry) to claim a place in Course 1. We enrolled the maximum number we could take – 112 pastors.

Some 30 church leaders chartered a bus to bring them to Les Cayes from Port au Prince and Leogane. One of our team guys told me they paid 100,000 gourdes ($765 USD) for the bus, an enormous sum for average Haitians. They slept where they could – in local pastors’ homes and the church’s lodging – and soaked in the training. Every church leader studied hard to successfully complete the course – and they did. Their joy and excitement at Saturday’s end-of-course celebration raised the roof!

On Sunday afternoon we drove 2-1/2 hours from Les Cayes to Jérémie, going from the south coast to the northwest coast of the southern peninsula of Haiti. We thanked the Lord for the (mostly) paved road and (always) beautiful mountain terrain. Pastor Carl Dimanche and his wife welcomed us into their home in Jérémie and are feeding our team very well! At dinner last night, Pastor Carl thanked us again for coming to his city to strenghen church leaders. He told us that he does not remember having good training like PPI in his city and that our coming here is an answer to his prayers. Our sense of God’s leading has been confirmed again and again. We had prayed and planned for this Kingdom venture into south Haiti for nearly two years

Thank you all for praying for this next step in PPI’s work in Haiti!

This morning (Monday) we began Course 1 at Èglise du Dieu Vivant (Church of the Living God) with 104 church leaders. The living God is with us as we open His Word together to encourage and equip church leaders!