I’d love to beam each of you into one of our training courses so you can see it for yourselves. The eagerness, energy and struggle then understanding and joy – church leaders experience all these emotions as they participate in our courses. Especially in Course 1. We want you to see PPI training in action. Through this video you can!

Think about how often you use water in a day. What would you do if you didn’t have easy access to water? What if it was expensive and hard to get?

I arrived home from Haiti just after midnight last night. After hugs and conversation with Rena, I took a shower, drank a glass of water and went to bed. When I woke up this morning, Rena already had the sprinklers running on our front lawn and flower beds.

I used the restroom, washed my hands and headed downstairs to make breakfast – oatmeal (made with water not milk) topped with blueberries, juice and coffee. We don’t have a Keurig so I added four cups of water to our coffee maker, ground some beans and began to brew. My favorite smell in the morning! Rena went outside to turn off the sprinklers before she heads to work.

I couldn’t help thinking about it: How many gallons of water did I use between last night and this morning? My 10 minute shower required 20 gallons of water. I flushed 1.5 gallons this morning and no doubt used another gallon to wash my hands and make my breakfast – all while we applied over 200 gallons of water on our lawn and landscaping! Live-work-sleep-repeat. I take all this for granted. Life in these United States.

What if it were different? What if you and I didn’t have easy access to water? What if water was expensive and scarce? What would we do? How would we live?

Welcome to Haiti. Most Haitian families walk to a community well with a hand-pump to get their water for cooking, cleaning and bathing. Wells in Haiti typically are shallow and contaminated. If the family has enough money, they buy drinking water from local suppliers. Those too poor to buy drinking water drink from the well. Families that live in the central part of a city have access to a rudimentary version of city water called Dinepa, but the monthly cost is expensive so many forego the luxury. And they still need to buy drinking water.

Water is precious, expensive and hard to get for most Haitian people. Even in the oppressive heat of July, I doubt Haitians drink more than 16 oz of water in a day. They likely use less than 2 gallons each day for cooking, cleaning and washing up. Thank the Lord for organizations working to provide inexpensive access to clean water in Haiti.

The same is true of the living water of God’s Word. Bibles are precious, expensive and scarce in Haiti. The Thompson Chain Reference Bibles that we use to train Haitian church leaders aren’t sold by any organization in Haiti. Even if it were, it would cost a pastor nearly a month’s pay to buy it. Creole Bibles are nearly as hard to come by. They now cost $13 USD (over 1500 Haitian gourdes) and are hard to get. Donate toward Bibles HERE

By God’s grace and with your faithful partnership, we awarded Thompson Bibles to 112 church leaders who completed PPI Course 1 last week. We provided over 600 Creole Bibles to nearly 300 Haitian pastors who finished any one of three courses we offered over these past two weeks. These Bibles are so needed – and so precious – to these faithful brothers and sisters in Christ!

Let’s open the faucets, friends! Let’s make God’s living water accessible to as many church leaders in Haiti as possible! They are eager for the Lord to use them to help others drink the water of the Word of God.

How can we keep all the Water for ourselves and live in the delusion that “it’s like this everywhere”? It’s not! May God help us to open our eyes and hearts to our brothers and sisters in Christ in nations like Haiti! Donate toward Bibles HERE

 Thanks for listening to my thoughts on my first morning back in the States. Now I need to wash up my breakfast dishes, brush my teeth, and get to work.

When we dismissed for lunch on Saturday, a pastor came to Esau and me to thank us for bringing Thompson Bibles and pastors training to Haiti. “Many said that we could no longer get Bibles in Haiti,” he told us, because of the nation’s political and economic difficulties.

What he said next gave me goosebumps. “A group of pastors prayed together here at this church,” he told us. “After that, an older pastor who had prayed with us had a dream. He saw a plane landing in Haiti. As it landed, seeds came from it that were planted in the ground.” The older pastor told the group not to worry. “God will send us Bibles for Haiti,” he assured them. The pastor looked at Esau and me: “You are the answer to our prayers!”

The Lord is using many good ministries to get Bibles to Haitian pastors and churches. We are honored to be counted among them! As part of our training courses this week and next, we will award 112 Thompson Bibles in Course 1 and distribute 700 Creole Bibles to over 300 Haitian church leaders in all three courses. Pastors here like to give Creole Bibles to new believers when they are baptized to encourage them to learn all that Jesus commanded us (Matthew 28:19-20). We’re excited about these strategic opportunities to help to plant the seed of God’s Word in Haiti!

PPI does NOT just give out Bibles. We award a Thompson Bible and Creole Bibles to every church leader who attends every day of Course 1 and does his or her best on every assignment. Another pastor reminded us why this is important. He told us that a missionary had given him a Thompson Bible in 2004 but that he had had no idea how to use it all these years. His face radiated joy as he said, “Now I know how to use my Thompson Bible for the Lord!” We also give Creole Bibles to every church leader who completes PPI Courses 2-6.

Pastor Pierre (pictured) was so excited to take PPI Course 1 – The Message and the Messenger. He told me that he had pastored in La Romana, Dominican Republic, for seven years before returning to Haiti to lead a church in Ouanamiinthe. He asked if we could consider offering PPI training to the many Haitian church leaders there. “Pastors need this training in La Romana,” he said. I told him that, as the Lord provides funding and opens doors, we will.

We traveled to Cap Haitian yesterday (Sunday) after worshipping with Esau’s church (more on that in a future post). Please pray for us as we begin Course 2 today with church leaders here.

We began the second day of Course 2 – Notre Puissant Evangile (Our Powerful Gospel) with two stories. I told about the big apartment fire near our house the day before we left for Haiti. “What if someone in their apartment didn’t know about the fire?” I asked the pastors. “They wouldn’t realize the danger they were in unless someone knocked on their door and warned them.” Brian and Dawn shared that they met Jesus in their 30s. “If we had not come to Christ, we probably would not be married now,” they said. “God has helped us get through all our trials together.”  Nearly 100 Haitian pastors listened intently.

“These are examples of why we share the good news of Jesus with people around us,” I continued. “Everyone who has not given their lives to Christ is in present and future danger.” For three days using the Thompson Bible, we studied the four essential truths of the gospel in Romans 1-5:

1. God’s rights and wrath.
2. Our rebellion and hypocrisy.
3. Jesus’ sacrifice for us.
4. Saving faith.

The good news about Jesus is the foundation of our churches and the reason for our mission!

Today (Thursday) we started Course 1, our foundational training course, with 112 church leaders (our maximum). They are eager to learn and caught on quickly. I love the moment on Day One when the lights go on for them! That’s the moment church leaders grasp that they can study a Bible topic using the Thompson Bible’s “chain reference” system. They look up with big smiles on their faces. They talk excitedly with one another. They search the Scriptures with energy and joy in completing Assignment 2 in their course workbooks.

Please continue to pray for us! Our ministry team is working hard on the details of registration, attendance, materials, conference lunches and more! We see the Lord giving us joy and strength as we welcome church leaders each day and interact with them. Pray that each church leader will grow in confidence in the truth, authority and life-changing power of God’s Word. Ask the Father to encourage each of them in using the Thompson Bible to understand Scripture and to prepare Bible-rooted sermons and lessons. Pray that the Holy Spirit will move each of them to re-commit to caring, honest, skillful ministry in their churches. Our goal is NOT a well-run training conference but fruit that lasts for the glory of God in Haiti.

THANK YOU for being part of our “supply lines”!

This was a first for me in my 12 years of traveling to Haiti. The Lord’s mission is always an adventure!

Our flights from Detroit to Fort Lauderdale then Fort Lauderdale to Cap Haitien went well. We arrived at the Cap Haitien airport yesterday (Saturday) with a full plane so it took time to work through entry requirements. We exited the plane on the tarmac as usual and walked to the airport building about 100 yards away. At the entrance, two young officials looked over our COVID test results, took our temperature, made notes on a form and gave it to us. Then we stepped inside to join the queue. At the first booth, we showed a young women our passports and paid the required $10 USD entry fee. (Despite time and inflation, this fee has stayed the same in all my years of coming to Haiti!)

Then we moved to the next booth where we submitted our passports and completed VISA papers to another official. She reviewed everything carefully, took our picture and gave us back the part of the form we need to exit the country. We gave a fourth official our health forms as we entered the luggage area. Finally we were ready to pick up our luggage – we thought.

We checked five bags in total – including the rechargeable speaker we use in our training and its stand. The speaker stand travels in a padded PVC tube specially made by a PPI friend for just that purpose. We stood at the luggage carousel for 30 minutes as the suitcases and duffel bags flowed past us and their owners hoisted them off the carousel. We were getting a little concerned and said we hoped Spirit put our bags on the right flight. Then the PVC tube appeared. Relieved, we waited for the rest of our luggage. It never came. Luggage handlers shut off the carousel and closed its outside doors. Now we were really concerned! “I have enough clothes with me,” I thought, “I can get by. We can do without the speaker, but we’ll be hoarse after three courses!” But if Charles Spurgeon could proclaim God’s Word to 10,000 British workers without amplification, we could train 336 pastors without it, too!

We spotted two luggage handlers at the top of the carousel and started toward them. Suddenly Brian said, “I see one of our suitcases!” Several suitcases had been taken off the carousel and piled on the floor, probably before we got to the luggage room. We found all four of our bags in the pile. Thank you, Lord!

We handed the customs officer our final form, worked through baggage check with just a little pressure to pay customs on the speaker, and finally exited the airport. Pastor Esau found us immediately. He greeted us with an apology. “The car’s not good,” he said. No vans had been available so he had hired a tap-tap. This would be a first for us – though our Haitian friends regularly use this mode of transportation. “It’s okay,” we told him. “Thank the Lord we don’t have to walk.” He smiled.

A tap-tap is a small truck made into a people-carrier. It’s genius really. Workers weld narrow benches on each side of the truck’s bed. The benches extend just over the bumper, welded to a frame that features hand-rails and a small step. Thin pads give travelers just enough cushion to make a short trip bearable. We loaded our luggage and climbed in, ready for the 1-1/2 hour ride to Ouanaminthe. We enjoyed the ride, catching up with our Haitian friends and rejoicing that the Lord brought us together once again to encourage, train and resource church leaders in Haiti.

Enjoy the pictures below from the back of our tap-tap –  a first for me in all my years of coming to Haiti.

Today we attend Pastor Jasmin’s church, where I’ll preach the message “God’s Great House” from 2 Chronicles 2:1-5. After lunch our team will meet to pray and begin preparations for our three courses. Thank you for your continued prayers for us!