Partnership of Pastors International

Training and resourcing church leaders

So How Many??

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“Do you have an idea how many people PPI training reaches?” A PPI friend asked me this question recently. He was thinking not only of church leaders who take our courses, but people in their churches and beyond. It got me thinking – and excited!

The short answer is, Only the Lord knows how many people PPI training touches for Christ. I don’t. And that’s a good thing. But it still got me thinking.

We typically train 112 church leaders in each course. Every pastor who completes Course 1 receives a Thompson Chain Reference Bible. Each church leader who completes any PPI course receives at least two Creole Bibles. To date, we have entrusted over 1200 Thompson Bibles and resource books to pastors in Haiti, around 3000 Creole Bibles and gospel tracts beyond counting.

But how many people? Roughly 10% of church leaders enrolled in our courses come from the same church. So, approximately 100 churches are represented in each PPI course. And each church ministers to 100 people in its congregation and neighborhood, some more.

It’s not a stretch to think that 1000 people are reached with the life-changing truth of God’s Word through each PPI course.

Let’s paddle this canoe a little farther: This July, we will offer three (3) courses to 336 church leaders in two different cities in northern Haiti. By His grace, the Lord could use our training to touch the lives of more than 3000 people with the truth of the gospel. Let’s keep going: As the Lord provides funding, we plan to offer three more courses this year and 11-12 courses in Haiti in 2023. God could allow us to reach 15,000 people in Haiti this year and next? You begin to see the multiplying Kingdom potential of encouraging, training and resourcing front-line church leaders in Haiti and other developing nations!

It’s good to gaze at the horizon once in a while, but let’s not stay in these clouds, friends. God has called us to faithful, daily and one-by-one ministry. Each course deserves our best in preparation, prayer and implementation. Every church leader who attends needs our respect, encouragement and personal instruction. Each trip requires our best spiritual and logistical preparation.

In whatever we do – in whatever you do – in Jesus’ mission, let’s be faithful, daily and one-by-one. This is the mission strategy that God used to spread the gospel, disciple believers and plant churches across the known world in the first 30 years of the church. It’s proven effective!

DONATE to PPI’s mission HERE

PPI Rasanble Recap

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Rena and I first thought of hosting a PPI update event in 2019 just before COVID-19 closed down most gatherings of people. On May 3, 2022, we did it – with the support of PPI Board members and the Davidson’s Community Group!

Rasanble is a Creole word that means “a gathering of people for a purpose.” It can refer to organizing soldiers for battle. The PPI Rasanble represented the gathering of friends for the Kingdom purpose of encouraging, training and resourcing church leaders in Haiti and other developing countries. That’s us!

Thanks to all of you who attended in person. We had a good time together! And thank you to you who would have attended had it been possible for you. A number of you have watched the video summary already – thank you! HERE’S THE LINK to the Rasanble video summary. I encourage you to watch this video when you get a chance.

Mark Reed snapped a number of photos at the Rasanble. (Thanks, Mark!) Enjoy.

We’re Ready to Go!

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You know those times when you’re puzzling and praying over the best way to do something – and then the light goes on? That happened to me in Gonaives, Haiti, a few weeks ago, and I’m excited to tell you about it! But first an update on our latest training conferences.

Conferences

From February 21-March 4, a total of 223 pastors in two northern cities in Haiti completed PPI’s Course 1. Pastors were excited to be part of the training and were specially attentive and hard-working. Many spoke about the value of this training to their ministries. They also asked me to thank all PPI supporters for providing Thompson Bibles, Creole Bibles and other ministry tools. So on behalf of Haiti’s pastors: Mèsi anpil anpil! (Thank you so very much!)

They further implored us to come back soon (one pastor asked about next month!) to offer our next training courses. By God’s grace, we will return to Haiti in July and in December 2022 to train around 600 church leaders.

Clarity

What became clear on this trip is the best way to achieve our goal of training church leaders in all ten Departments of Haiti. (A “Department” in Haiti is like a large county or a small state.) Here it is: We will lead our six courses in succession in two key cities at a time over three years. We will offer PPI training in the “chief cities” of each of Haiti’s ten Departments. Six courses in two cities at a time over three years.

This strategy allows us to train pastors in each key city twice a year. That frequency maximizes pastors’ learning and ministry skills, deepens our relationship with them for more heart impact, and enables us to better mentor our Haitian ministry teams to lead PPI courses themselves. And three years is the amount of time Jesus took to train His disciples! Six courses in two cities at a time over three years – That’s our strategy.

So beginning in February 2023, as the Lord provides, we will travel to Haiti four times each year to offer 11-12 training courses. That schedule works best for our Haitian ministry teams and allows us to train over 1200 church leaders every year in Haiti. It also enables us to expand our training beyond Haiti, as the Lord leads us.

For more info, join us at our PPI update (Rasanble) on Tuesday, May 3, at 6:00-8:00pm. We plan to livestream this even for those of you who live outside this area – technology permitting. CLICK HERE for more details. 

Commitment

We’re ready to go! Will you help us do it? Here are ways to partner with us in training over 1200 church leaders each year in Haiti:

  • PRAY FOR US as we continue living out God’s calling to give back to church leaders who lack access to ministry training and resources. The Lord opens doors through the faithful prayers of His people.
  • CONTINUE TO SUPPORT US. We thank the Lord for so many of you who “remember the poor” (Galatians 2:10) by investing faithfully and generously in training church leaders in Haiti and other developing countries.
  • JOIN OUR SUPPORT TEAM. If you have not yet committed to regularly supporting PPI, please consider it! This is a step of stewardship and partnership in Jesus’ mission. Get more info on partnering with PPI HERE.

I heard a Christian leader say, “If God’s vision for your ministry doesn’t give you butterflies, it’s not yet God’s vision.” Our vision and strategy for training pastors in Haiti and other developing countries give me butterflies. By God’s grace and with your help, we’re ready to go!

Ready to Rasanble?

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Rasanble is Creole for “a gathering of people for a purpose.” We’re putting together a PPI gathering on Tuesday, May 3, from 6:00-8:00pm for food, info and conversation. YOU’RE INVITED! Join us in person at the Anderson Center in Saginaw or on Facebook Live – @partnershipofpastors. Come when you can and leave when you need to!

We will share more about how we train church leaders in Haiti – with pictures and video. We’ll also talk about our “6(n)2 over 3” strategy for training church leaders in all ten Departments of Haiti and beyond. You’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and – this is cool! – learn the basics of the Thompson Chain Reference Bible (all materials provided). The Thompson Bible is used to train pastors around the world and is our main tool for equipping pastors in Haiti. You’ll see why!

  • What:      PPI update and info 
  • Where:    Anderson Enrichment Center (120 Ezra Rust Drive, Saginaw, MI)
  • When:     Tuesday, May 3, from 6:00-8:00pm
      • 6:00pm – Welcome and refreshments
      • 6:20pm – PPI update and plans
      • 7:20pm – Intro to the Thompson Bible (materials provided)
      • 8:00pm – Closing prayer together

 Ready to rasanble? We look forward to being with you on Tuesday, May 3, at 6:00pm – whether in person or on our Facebook page! Look for your invitation in the mail this week if you’re on the PPI mailing list.

Decisions and Questions

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I’ve had a good first week back – thanks be to God. Rena and I have had good time to talk, walk, pray and spend time with family and friends this week. I’m still spilling over with our time in Haiti. Rena says I talk fast and nonstop when I first get back, but I can’t help it. The Lord is giving us fruit that remains for His glory, and that’s exciting to me! I also have been in touch with our Haitian team this week to look forward to our next three training conferences in July and to work on some of the details.

Before I share more news on that, I thought you may like to read two more faith stories from Haiti, both showing how believers wrestle with everyday life there.

Hebert and Nandjie’s Unselfish Decision

Hebert Elien Johnson is a young pastor, just getting started in ministry. He knows English quite well and has served as one of our translators for 3-4 years. Hebert loves the Lord and is in love with Nandjie (pronounced Non-jee), a wonderful Christian girl, who lives in Port au Paix. Hebert now lives and works in Gonaives, a 3-4 hour drive away over rough roads. They talk on the phone every morning and evening (at least). Cell phone reception isn’t good in Haiti, and Hebert often says “Koman?” (What?) and has to call back. But the young couple presses on despite weak cell service so they can be together via phone.

Hebert and Nandjie are looking forward to getting married, but Hebert told me that he plans to wait at least two years. I didn’t understand. Hebert is 26 and now has a steady job in Gonaives making $350 a month – a handsome sum in a country where a “good job” pays between $150 and $200 a month. So I asked him, “Why wait? Why not get married sooner?”

Hebert explained to me that he wants to help his family first. He regularly sends money to his parents to cover the cost of school for his two younger siblings. Nandjie understands and supports this unselfish decision. I know the Lord is pleased.

Ulrick’s Haunting Question

After our last day of training in Cap Haitien, our team returned to the Heberson Paradis Hotel to unwind. The training went well, and we were rejoicing in the Lord. We had worked hard, and it was time to relax.

Later that evening we gathered in Michel and Ulrick’s room to hang out and talk. Haitians love to tease and laugh, and the team was in fine form when I walked in the room. Aided by Esau’s translation, I couldn’t help joining in the fun. We teased Pastor Michel about retiring from his church (he’s 68). After sharing our ages and birthdays, I couldn’t help ribbing Hebert about his bebe face. We had a good laugh. 

And we discussed the Bible, church concerns and life. Haitian pastors read the Bible a lot, and they know the content of Scripture well, including chapter and verse. God has blessed believers in Haiti with more freedom from distractions like TV, internet and stuff – thorns that, if we’re not careful, can choke out good fruit in our lives as American believers (Luke 8:14).

By nature Haitians are passionate and expressive people, pastors more so as they discuss the things of God. I wasn’t surprised when our discussion grew louder and more animated. You know Haitians are engaged when everyone talks at once – and loudly! I was trying to keep up with my limited grasp of Creole.

The pastors discussed the meaning and application of Jesus’ words in Matthew 6:33: “Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things will be added to you.” What does it mean to “seek” God’s kingdom? What are “these things” that Jesus’ promises will be added to us? What about people who don’t seek God’s kingdom yet have “these things” added to them? How do we explain that? We talked about all this, pointing to many Scriptures, for nearly an hour. I loved it and added my input when appropriate.

I learned long ago that these discussions aren’t just theoretical or theological in Haiti. They address the harsh realities of everyday life there.

Near the end of our conversation, Pastor Ulrick looked across the room at me and said, “Pastor Ken, I have a question for you?” The other pastors stopped talking as Esau translated. “Do you think Haitian Christians are not seeking God’s Kingdom well enough because many of us do not have what we need?” His question broke my heart. I teared up and stammered, “No, not at all, brother. The larger political and economic problems in your country affect you and everyone in Haiti. You are seeking God’s Kingdom very well.” We sat in silence for several minutes before our conversation continued in quiet tones. Ulrick’s question has haunted my thoughts and prayers since.

Meet Our Team

Esau Paulema, Co-Founder and Haiti Liaison We consider Pastor Esau the founder of Thompson Bible pastoral training in Haiti. In 2010, he asked us to return to Haiti to train pastors. Since then Esau has prayed and worked tirelessly to make every conference happen. He is a humble, … Read More

ABOUT KEN

“In so many ways the Lord has prepared me all my life for this season of Kingdom work . . .”  Read More »

About Us

Partnership of Pastors International​, a nonprofit organization committed to encouraging, equipping, and resourcing pastors and churches in developing countries.

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