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!

Later this morning, a DC3 plane carrying all our training materials will land in Cap Haitian. Will you pray for Esau and Jasmin as they pick up materials, negotiate Haiti customs (not an easy task), and hire a truck to carry the materials to our two training locations? They will pick up 24 boxes of PPI materials weighing 660 lbs. in total. This shipment consists of 14 boxes of Thompson Bibles, 3 boxes of course workbooks (345 copies), 1 box of God-Pleasing Worship books, 3 boxes of conference supplies, and 3 boxes of gospel tracts in Creole. Esau already has 700 Creole Bibles at his house for our July training.

Brian and Dawn Clark and I fly to Haiti via Florida this Friday. Will you pray as we go? Your faithful, fervent prayers are one powerful way that God uses you to SEND us to train pastors in Haiti and other developing countries. Ask our Father in Heaven to give us reasonably on-time travels, energy and health in the heat, and especially love, obedience, peace and joy so that we serve Him well as we encourage, train and resource 336 church leaders in two cities in Haiti. Pray that the Lord will keep the pastors healthy and attentive throughout their training and give them open hearts to His Word. Pray that they will be excited and determined to put into practice all that they learn. Ask our powerful Savior to protect us from the attacks and schemes of Satan.

Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit says the Lord Almighty. (Zechariah 4:6)

Apart from Me you can do nothing. (John 15:5)

And when they had prayed, the place in which they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (Acts 4:31)

While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” ³ Then after fasting and praying they laid their hands on them and sent them off. ⁴ So, being sent out by the Holy Spirit, they went . . . (Acts 13:2-4)

We will lead Course 2 and Course 1 back to back in Ouanaminthe on July 11-16 (Mon-Sat), then we’ll travel north to Cap Haitian to lead Course 2 there on July 18-20 (Mon-Weds) before returning to the U.S. on July 21. We will also visit two Haitian churches (I’ll preach for one), lead a Bible College class, and spend time with a group of young adults learning English. We’ll have full days as always!

Please pray for us! Your prayers move the heart and hand of the Lord as He sends His laborers into the harvest fields. These fields are ready for harvest, and we look forward to rejoicing together when we return. Thanks for being part of our Sending Team!

GIVE toward our July training conferences HERE.

“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