Partnership of Pastors International

Encouraging, training and resourcing church leaders

Clearly Worship

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Distance Brings Clarity

We sometimes see things more clearly from a distance. As Apollo 8 astronauts orbited the moon in 1968, they were surprised that they focused more on earth than the moon. No one had ever seen the world from 200,000 miles away, our beautiful blue home. One later said, “We traveled to space to discover the moon, but we ended up discovering the earth.”

I’ve had the privilege of worshipping with brothers and sisters in Christ in different parts of the world, especially Haiti. This Sunday we gathered with Haitian believers at Église Baptiste Bethleem (Bethlehem Baptist Church) in Cap-Haitien to sing praise, read Scripture, pray and hear teaching from the Bible. Next Sunday – Resurrection Sunday – we will worship with our host church, Église Méthodiste (Methodist Church), in the town of Limbé. This “distance” has prompted a lot of thought about what we can learn about praise and worship from Haitian churches.

What We Can Learn

I once asked our Haitian team what makes the praise time so effective in their churches. They pointed to:

  • A good praise leader – gifted, genuine, able to direct the instruments as well as the congregation.
  • Good musicians – not only good musically but willing to follow the lead of the diriger (the worship leader)
  • Good songs – words and music (I have yet to encounter a song in the Haitian evangelical church lacking solid words and “singability”)

This is good advice to churches everywhere.  I see three more strengths in the Haitian church that we can learn from:

  • Haitian churches teach and enjoy praise music at all ages. They value children, youth and adult singing groups. People of all ages sing in their classes, and children stay in the worship service to take part in all that happens. Haitians are gifted musically, and churches value and develop these gifts for the Kingdom of God. We can learn from that!
  • The words of Haitian praise songs and hymns, whether in Creole or French, focus on God’s greatness, covenant love and care for His children. In addition, Haitian worship songs often speak to specific areas of personal life. Many songs address our submission to Jesus’ lordship and our commitment to obey Him and live for His mission. As a whole, Haitian worship seems more God-centered and less us-centered.
  • Finally, Haitian churches take extended time in their worship services to praise God. Singing and praise typically last for over an hour, longer on special Sundays. Haitians take time to sing ALL verses of songs (with the chorus) and often come back to repeat a key verse. They linger on the central truth of a song. That engages people’s hearts and emotions. I’m not suggesting that our churches add an hour to our worship services, just that we structure our time to give uninterrupted “linger” time to praising God. 

What Worship Does for Us

What praise and worship can and should accomplish in our gatherings has grown more clear for me. Jesus told us to worship God in Spirit and in truth (John 4:21-24). That is, to genuinely worship the Lord, we must be united with His Spirit (we belong to Christ) and aligned with His truth (we live according to His Word). When we worship God in this way:

  • We’re reminded of God’s truth and promises.
  • We release our doubts, struggles and sins to the Lord.
  • We re-commit to loving Him and following Him.

Reminder then release then re-commitment – I have seen and experienced this progression most clearly in Haitian churches. All this happens – or should happen – whenever and wherever believers in Christ gather to sing, pray and hear from God’s Word! My Haitian friends have taught me to focus on these things whenever I have the joy of gathering with others to worship God. 

By the way, we give the book, God-Pleasing Worship (in Creole translation), to pastors who complete PPI Course 3 – Leading Jesus’ Church (Mission and Strategy). This book is based on an excellent biblical study and sermon series by my long-time friend, Pastor Joe Talone. If you would like a copy of this resource in English for a suggested donation of $10, CLICK HERE. 

Oh come, let us worship and bow down; let us kneel before the Lord, our Maker! 

For he is our God, and we are the people of his pasture, and the sheep of his hand. (Psalm 95:6-7)

Go With It!

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A person plans his course, but the Lord directs his steps. Proverbs 16:9
 
When your plans don’t work out, the Lord may be re-directing your steps. Go with it!  We plan our day. We make plans for the weekend and for next week. We have plans for our children and our jobs. We talk with financial planners, and we talk with the Lord about our plans. But sometimes things change, and our plans don’t work out. How do we respond? We can get frustrated and irritable when our cheese moves – or we can recognize that the Lord is directing our steps and go with it! We can give up and say, “The Lord must not want me to do that” – or we can see the Lord pointing to another (better?) way to do it.

The day after I returned from Haiti in February, I received a letter from Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF). (As you know, we use MAF for in-country flights in Haiti – not to be confused with Missionary Flights International (MFI), which we use for shipping Bibles and training materials into Haiti from the USA.) MAF informed us that they are stopping flights in Haiti from April 1 through January 2024 because of security problems in Port au Prince. MAF plans to move its operations out of Port au Prince and, hopefully, will resume in-country flights in February. Pray for them and for all who fly with them in Haiti, including us!

We had planned to offer Course 1 in two north coast areas, Port de Paix and La Tortue, next week, but had to change plans when MAF canceled our flights there. Our Haitian team believes the road is too dangerous for us to drive the seven hours from Cap-Haitien to Port de Paix (see map). So our team prayed, talked and decided to offer Course 1 in Cap-Haitien and Limbe, a town just west of Cap. Neither city requires MAF flights to get there safely.

Our plans have changed, but we see Lord directing our steps! Church leaders in Cap have been asking us for Course 1 again, and our team has talked about offering training in Limbe for over a year. Although we had to shift gears quickly, we’re excited to train church leaders in these two strategic cities! Despite having our wings clipped (MAF stopping flights), we know the Lord intends for us to press on in encouraging, training and resourcing pastors in key cities in all ten Departments in Haiti.

I’ve often wondered how the Holy Spirit guided the Apostle Paul away from Asia and into Macedonia. Acts 16 tells us that God literally directed the steps of Paul and his mission team:

  • They were prevented by the Holy Spirit from speaking the Word in Asia (16:6)
  • The Spirit of Jesus did not allow them to go north into Bithynia (16:7)
  • So instead they went on . . . to the seaport of Troas (16:8)
How specifically did the Holy Spirit “prevent” them from preaching the gospel in Asia? How exactly did they know the Spirit of Jesus was “not allowing” them to travel north to share His good news? Did God speak to them in a dream each time? Did circumstances prevent them? We’re not sure. We are sure they were running out of real estate and options. They needed the Lord to direct their steps, and that’s exactly what He did:

That night Paul had a vision: A man from Macedonia stood and pleaded with him, “Come to Macedonia and help us!” After that, we made plans to depart for Macedonia right away, concluding that God was calling us to preach the good news there. (16:9-10)
 
We didn’t expect our plans to change, but we have concluded that God is calling us to offer Course 1 to church leaders in Cap Haitian and the new city of Limbe. We’re going with it! When your plans change, consider that the Lord may be re-directing your steps for your good and His glory.

Speaking of Course 1, I recently put together a spreadsheet to track which PPI courses we have offered so far in Haiti – where and when. Since 2020 (the first year we “officially” offered PPI training courses), we have led Course 1 seven times in four key cities in Haiti. Praise God! We have offered Course 2 five times in three cities and Course 3 two times in two cities. Lord willing, we will offer Course 4 in Ouanaminthe in December.

By the end of this year, we will have offered Course 1 ten times in five key cities in Haiti. By the end of next year (2024), we will have offered all six ministry training courses in Haiti at least once. That’s our plan anyway . . .

Thank you all for your faithful prayers and support as the Lord directs our steps!

Drop Everything and Do It

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I smelled it before I saw it – hot transmission fluid. Rena and I had taken our Ford F150 to her parents’ house in Georgia. We enjoy our week in the spring with Dad and Mom Nadeja, typically a combination of yard/house projects, fun, conversation and, of course, eating out. This week was coming to an end, and we planned to leave in two days. That’s when I smelled the transmission fluid – and then I saw it. A steady stream across the driveway. Yikes! It was time to drop everything and get it fixed.

Training church leaders in developing countries should have the same priority for us as American Christians! Will YOU help us do it? Join our support team HERE

Mission leaders widely agree: Most pastors in poor nations have little to no biblical or practical training. As one global leader told a group of us recently, “Church planting is moving at the speed of a bullet train [he’s British], and national pastors training is following behind on an old bicycle.” Training national leaders well is one of THE best investments we can make in international missions today. And the quality training offered by PPI and other like-minded ministries is a big part of the solution. Why? Because PPI provides short-term, high impact pastors training in locations and at times accessible to the greatest number of front-line church leaders. Dr. David Stevens puts this in perspective:

[T]hough biblically based Bible schools and seminaries exist . . ., such institutional approaches to pastoral training cannot keep pace with the rapid growth of the church and its need of pastoral leadership. lt is estimated that even if the presently established Bible schools and seminaries were filled to 120 percent capacity, they could only train 10 percent of the remaining 90 percent of pastors that desperately need such training. 

David serves alongside my friend, Pastor Chuck Ballard, with African Pastoral Ministries (APT). **

In Haiti, Bible colleges are closed right now because of the political and economic turmoil – some permanently. Yet over the last three months God has enabled PPI to train around 600 pastors in four strategic cities. I will return to Haiti on March 31, and, Lord willing, our team will train 224 more church leaders in Course 1. Clearly, PPI training is part of God’s solution for equipping and resourcing church leaders in Haiti! More broadly, Partnership of Pastors International is part of a growing, exciting movement addressing the need for effective biblical and practical training of church leaders around the world.

The Lord is giving us so many opportunities and open doors to encourage and train pastors! On average, I receive 2-3 messages a week inviting us – sometimes literally begging us – to come to their city, their country to train church leaders. PPI is a newer ministry, and our need now to expand our base of committed financial support so that we can respond to this great need and these many opportunities. After I return from Haiti in mid-April, we will spend several months focusing on partnership development with U.S. churches and individuals. Please pray for this important next step for PPI.

THANK YOU to our many friends who see this priority and have committed to regularly supporting PPI. We thank the Lord for each of you! Would you tell others about PPI and encourage them to support us?

If you haven’t already, would YOU commit to regularly giving to our work? Training national leaders well is one of THE best investments you can make in Jesus’ global mission today! Get more info and donate HERE Thank you!

**This past year, the Lord enabled African Pastoral Training (APT) to train nearly 4000 church leaders across French- and English-speaking Africa using the Thompson Bible. The Thompson Bible International Institute (TBII), led by friend and mentor Dr. John Jauchen, equips thousands of church leaders across Central and South America and Asia each year. It’s exciting to think about how God is using equipping ministries like PPI to train church leaders around the world. Let’s drop everything and do this!

Back in Gonaives

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We drove back to Gonaives this afternoon with no problems and will begin the first of two PPI courses here tomorrow (Thursday) morning. Friends, thanks so much for your prayers and encouraging words throughout our time in L’Estére. I often remind our Haitian team that many friends and supporters in the United States are behind us in training church leaders in Haiit. Many Haiti friends are praying for us as well!

Ninety-eight (98) church leaders completed Course 1 yesterday, and they were excited! As always, pastors came from surrounding areas, including Port au Prince, to attend the traning. Word continues to spread about PPI equipping in Haiti. Pastors thanked us again and again for coming to their town even though it is dangerous. They worked hard in the course and did very well. We have no doubt they will use the Thompson Bible in their churches and will be more effective in their communities for Christ. This grass-roots, gospel-rooted change life by life, community by community is the real hope of Haiti!

Aside from the instruction they received, many church leaders thanked us for bringing them together and encouraging them to work together for the gospel in their towns. Wilson Bellenton, our host pastor, moved all of us with his words at our closing ceremony. “We have been concerned about our security and all the problems here,” he said. “But now we have been strengthened and equipped to continue on for Christ with our churches.” Pastor Wilson presented me with a special gift (pictured) and our team with a big bag of rice and roast goat. No doubt, he and others sacrificed to give us these gifts of love. Isaiah spoke for all of us last night: “I’m ready to go back to L’Estére!” I thought of the Apostle Paul’s words:

A great door of effective work has opened for [us], and there are many adversaries . . . (1 Corinthians 16:9)

Enjoy a few pictures from our time in L’Estére. Please continue to pray for us as we lead two courses in Gonaives this week and then head back to our families for a time. Thank you for partnering with us in this work!

Always an Adventure!

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Training church leaders in Haiti is always an adventure – in exciting and sometimes not-so-exciting ways. All the more reason we are grateful for your prayers. The Lord is answering each one!

Creole Bible Delivery

Our Creole Bibles arrived Thursday in Gonaives after nearly two weeks’ delay. It seems a delivery driver from a reputable delivery business in Port au Prince decided to hold out for more money. A few days before, he contacted our host pastor in Gonaives (who would receive the delivery) and demanded more cash or no Bibles. Pastor Robert wisely refused. Magda Victor, the director of Haitian Bible Society, worked closely with the owner of the delivery business and we all prayed. The result? We have 700 Creole Bibles ready for church leaders taking one of our three courses!

Coordinating Customs

When I arrived in Haiti, our plan was to meet a Haiti Customs officer and Vero, an MFI worker, at 7:30am to get our Thompson Bibles and conference materials out of MFI’s shipping container and on an MAF in-country flight to Gonaives. (Missionary Flights International (MFI) flies these items to Haiti for us each time we train pastors here.) We had checked and double-checked this plan to be sure a Customs officer would come early since our cross-country flight to Gonaives departed Cap airport at 8:40am. We were assured the officer would meet us at the airport at 7:30am. Best laid plans . . .

Customs officials showed up at 8:30am, their regular starting time. Vero was frustrated. We were concerned our MAF pilot wouldn’t wait for us since they had another flight scheduled right after ours. We  did all we could to be ready to get through security, get our conference materials from the shipping container to the MAF plane and prayed for the Lord to help us once again. Result: We were on the plane to Gonaives with all our Thompson Bibles and materials shortly after 9:00am.

Dangerous Road to L’Estére

More than a hiccup, our biggest challenge this week was deciding whether or not to cancel training in L’Estére. This town lies approximately 30 minutes south of Gonaives by car, and by all accounts the road there can be dangerous, especially for privately owned cars. Gangs have stopped cars and motorcycles to check registrations. If someone lacks vehicle registration papers, their car or motorcycle likely will be taken from them. Who can prove who owns an undocumented vehicle? Gangsters in the area also rob, kidnap and kill.

On the other hand, we knew that taxis and commercial trucks were going back and forth to L’Estere, that schools were open in town, and that the town itself was pretty quiet. What to do? We had initially planned to stay in Gonaives and drive back and forth to L’Estere. After talking again with Gonaives pastors on Friday, our plans changed – especially in light of last week’s violence on the road. Pastor Robert and Pastor Christoph now advised us to stay in L’Estere for the duration of our training here. Fortunately, Michel, one of our ministry team members, has family in L’Estére, who arranged for us to stay with a Christian engineer and his wife. Their home is tastefully appointed and surrounded by beautiful flowering plants, an oasis for us.

So we prayed, packed and set out for L’Estére on Sunday afternoon in a taxi van. We were quiet and watchful all the way but pulled into town with no other problem than a significantly overloaded van. We began Course 1 this morning here with 99 church leaders so thankful that we came and very eager to learn!  I was so moved by their expressions of gratitude, I had a hard time speaking as we began the training. What a privilege to spend three days of learning and fellowship with these faithful brothers and sisters in Christ!

Lessons for Disciples

We’re learning more about coordinating in-country travel (in the air and on the ground). We’re figuring out how to navigate potentially dangerous roads. But the greater adventure is in our walk with Christ. We’re learning patience, persevering prayer and trust in God through the hiccups – especially me! God is faithful to work in us as He works out the details we’re concerned about. We can count it all joy as we face trials of many kinds because we know that the testing of our faith in our all-powerful, ever-present Savior leads to maturity and joy (James 1:2-4). Knowing Christ and making Him known – that’s the greatest adventure for each of us!

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  to dedicated to encouraging, equipping, and resourcing pastors and churches in developing countries.

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