Rena and I just got back from a ministry retreat in the Colorado mountains. We had a full summer and an especially full three weeks before the retreat. Honestly, we were tired and frazzled. I was ready to bail out of the retreat – and said so to Rena –  but the Lord had good plans!

The Sonscape Ministry Retreat in Divide, Colorado, was just that – a retreat. Our leader couple focused on our personal walks with God and our rest in Him. I arrived ready to get feedback on our plans for the next two years of developing PPI. Instead we talked with the Lord and each other, walked the foothills of the Pikes Peak range, and rested.

It was just what we needed after these past 16 months of change and new Kingdom adventures. I read this week:

“If you will take care of the depth of your life and ministry, God will take care of the breadth. If you will stay focused on the root, He will produce the fruit.” (The God Ask by Steve Shadrach)

Jesus said it simply: “Abide in me . . . . Without me you can do nothing” (John 15:4-5). It’s easy for any of us to get so caught up in the opportunities and responsibilities of life that we miss our Savior’s invitation to lead our lives and give us rest along the way. He says to us, “Come away and rest awhile.” That’s what this past week was for us, and we are grateful!

Now we are back home in Michigan, and have resumed climbing the mountains before us here! It’s an exciting, joyful trek and our steps are lighter. Will you pray for us as we:

• Work toward our next pastors training in Gonaives, Haiti in February
• Contact and meet with churches and individuals to develop partnerships with PPI
• Continuing pastoring First Baptist Church and assist in the church’s search for its next permanent pastor

We don’t want to lose what the Lord reminded us of on the mountain!

How are they to hear without someone preaching? 15 And how are they to preach unless they are sent? Romans 10:14-15

PPI completed its first year of Kingdom work on September 15. And what a year it has been – thanks to our Haitian partners, all of you, and a global pandemic!

A Great Start

We officially launched Partnership of Pastors International on September 15, 2019, by mailing our first ministry newsletter, unveiling our ministry website and Facebook page (welcome to the 21st century), and organizing a U.S. mission team for our training conference in February 2020.

You have encouraged us so much – praying and giving to get PPI off the ground! Thanks!

Our First New City 

In February 2020, we took our first step of growth by offering training in a new city in Haiti. We equipped over 100 pastors in Cap Haitien, Haiti, a strategic city of 250,000 people on the north coast of Haiti. Lord willing, we will lead another training course there in July 2021. CLICK HERE to support our next training conferences.

Responding to COVID-19

We had to cancel our training conference in Haiti in July because of COVID 19. Instead God led us to provide food, medicines and Creole Bibles to Haitian believers in our “home base” city of Ouanaminthe. With the hard work of PPI friends -you! – and our partner pastors in Haiti, we put together over 500 food packages and 2500 medicine packets over the last four months. We also provided 234 Creole Bibles to pastors there. God continues to use these resources to save lives, invite people to Jesus, and strengthen churches. CLICK HERE for more on COVID-19 in Haiti

Looking Ahead to Year Two

We have hit the ground running in Year Two! Rena and I will take part in a pastors/missionaries conference in Colorado in early October. We are praying that God uses this retreat time to prepare us for fruitful, Spirit-led ministry this year and beyond.

We are focusing on developing church and individual partnerships this year. To do that we are sending PPI info packets to 30 churches each month, then following up with each church to set up in-person conversations. We have started with churches in Michigan so that I can continue as interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Bad Axe for the next several months. CLICK HERE to learn more about partnering financially with PPI.

We are also working toward training conferences in Haiti in February and July. Although COVID-19 has complicated travel to Haiti (and elsewhere), the Lord is opening doors for us to provide training courses in Haiti in 2021. Please pray with us for these Kingdom efforts.

Thank you for standing with us. We praise God for a good first year of Kingdom ministry, and we are trusting Him for greater impact for Christ in Year Two!

Would you pray for believers in Haiti with tropical storm Laura bearing down on them right now? Haiti is especially vulnerable to natural disasters because of its location and its poverty. 

When a tropical storm hits the United States, we see video of people boarding up homes and businesses, stacking sandbags, and then escaping the area in their cars. None of that happens in Haiti.

Karen Davis, long-time missionary in Haiti, wrote yesterday:

I do know we are supposed to have another storm heading our way.  And yes, it’s supposed to turn into a hurricane.  So, what do the people of Haiti do to prepare for this??? THEY PRAY!  They open the churches for concentrated prayer.  They can’t buy ahead what they need, since they can’t even buy what they need daily.  They can’t “move” to another place…no where to move to!  But they can PRAY, and boy, do they pray.  And the Lord has heard them before in times like these, and He’ll hear them again!!

Would you pray with us for our friends in Haiti? Pray that God will protect them from the worst effects of this storm. Pray that the Lord will assure His children of His presence and care. Pray that He will give them opportunities to point to the hope of Christ through this fearful situation.

Thank you for lifting our friends to our Father of mercies.

Ken

Rena and I have quoted James 4:15 a lot lately: If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that. AD 2020 has been that kind of year for all of us, hasn’t it? It certainly has for us!

A While Longer

For starters, I will continue a while longer as the interim pastor at First Baptist Church in Bad Axe. The church has been actively searching for its next permanent pastor for the past 10 months. One final candidate withdrew from consideration, and the Search team decided not to go forward with the second final candidate. We trust the Lord’s guidance in this – the search process is working! We restarted the pastor search  last week and already have some good prospective candidates. Please pray for our Pastoral Search Committee and the congregation as we move forward together. If the Lord wills, FBC will call its next permanent pastor by early 2021.

Developing Support – A Little Slower

As we continue with First Baptist, we take joy in knowing the Lord is working out His timing for the church and for PPI! As planned, we will start developing church support for PPI in September – just a little slower. Instead of devoting full-time to contacting and meeting with churches this fall, we will do it part-time with focus on Michigan and the Midwest. We trust the Lord’s timing in this change! Many churches likely need more time to regroup after the COVID-19 outbreak before talking with a new potential mission partner (us!). If the Lord wills, we will be able to meet with and partner with a number of churches this fall. 

Family Time and Pastors Conference

We enjoyed some vacation time last week with our kids and our grandson, Hunter. Since our kids live out of town – like many of yours – these times are especially precious to us. We talked life, cooked food, swam, walked and played games. We enjoyed a day at Oak Beach in Huron County – one of our “finds” from living part-time in Bad Axe. We’re so grateful to the Lord for our children and grandson! If the Lord wills, we will be together again for Thanksgiving and Christmas.

In early October – if the Lord wills – Rena and I will take part in a pastors conference in Colorado. We’re looking forward to the time together and conversation with other pastors and missionaries. We are asking God to refresh and re-fire our hearts for the season of Kingdom work ahead. We desire to encourage, train and resource church leaders in Haiti and other developing countries – beyond what we could ask or imagine –  if the Lord wills . . . Invest in pastors training HERE

Two big boxes of medicines will arrive in Cap Haitien this week. PPI friends put together hundreds of med packages at our Volunteer Workday on July 23. (Thank you again!) We shipped them to Missionary Flights International (MFI), who will fly them this week to the Cap Haitien airport. Our ministry partners will pick up the meds, navigate Haiti customs (pray for this!), and then take them to Ouanaminthe to distribute to pastors. Church leaders will give the meds to people in their congregations and neighborhoods who need them – opening doors to strengthen believers and share the good news with nonbelievers.

Thank you for your soft hearts, faith-filled prayers, and generous giving for the people of Haiti. These past four months, you have enabled PPI to provide:

• Over 500 food packages to Haitian families. Each food package can feed a family of 4 for two weeks.
• 234 Creole Bibles to churches for use in discipling believers
• Around 2500 packages of over-the-counter medicines such as ibuprofen, anti-diarrheals, and multivitamins for men, women and children.

We are humbled by the opportunities to make a difference for Christ and so grateful for your partnership with us. One Haitian pastor wrote last week:

Only God knows how much you help our nation by your prayers, training, feeding, medicines, books and Bibles. Thanks again. God bless you!

If the Lord wills and by His grace, we have only just begun! DONATE HERE