In Course 2, Our Powerful Gospel, we focus on the essential truths of the gospel by studying Romans chapters 1-5:

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

In a final, key assignment, each pastor writes their personal testimony – how they came to understand their need for Christ and turned to Him in repentance and faith. This assignment tests church leaders’ understanding of gospel truth and gives them, as God’s redeemed, the opportunity to say so (Psalm 107:2). Church leaders share their faith stories with one another in small groups, and we invite a few church leaders to share their testimony with everyone. The stories are as unique as each person.

Pierre Fedelquin, a young pastor, shared that he grew up in a Christian home but rejected Christ. After secondary (high) school, he moved to Port au Prince to pursue a career in acting and singing. He began drinking and taking drugs, a habit that quickly took over his life. One day, Pierre took drugs in the morning, went to work. After work, he drank so much that he had trouble breathing. He thought he as going to die. Half conscious, Pierre saw himself standing before God. The Lord questioned him about his rebellious choices, and he  could say only, “I don’t know why I’m doing this. I’m guilty.” In his vision, Pierre heard Jesus say to him, “I’m going to make you an example to others for Me.”

He woke up in a hospital bed. His wife was there, moistening his mouth with water. He began to weep and told her, “Keep giving me water! I have to tell you what happened to me!” Pierre told his wife about his vision. The following Sunday they went to church, and Pierre confessed Jesus as his Savior and Lord.

LeFran Silvio, a seasoned church leader, told the group that his life started badly. His father worked for a Vodou witch doctor, and LeFran and his siblings beat the drums for the mystical Vodou ceremonies. When he was 12, he knew he had a choice to make. Either he would turn to God or he would follow in his father’s footsteps. Soon after this realization, during a mystical ceremony, devotees of the witch doctor came for LeFran but he ran from them and escaped.

Pastor François (the host pastor for our training) and his wife had ridden their bikes to LeFran’s village of Sabonet to tell people about Christ. LeFran went to François on the street and told him, “I want to be converted to Christ!” François prayed with him and immediately put him in a young man’s singing group at his church to help him grow spiritually. LeFran smiled as he said, “God has changed my life!” When the witch doctor in LeFran’s hometown was dying, he asked that LeFran and a few other Christians visit him and tell him about Jesus. LeFran was overjoyed to do that!

Sharing our testimonies with one another leads to joy and worship! Following this time of worship, I lead a session in our course called “Gospel Truth in All of Ministry.” I remind pastors that the gospel of Jesus Christ is the foundation of the church. We must not add to it or take away from it. God has tasked us with proclaiming the good news of Jesus clearly, compassionately and persuasively. The Holy Spirit will do the rest because “the gospel is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes . . .” (Romans 1:16) We then talk about specific ways to strengthen gospel truth in our churches through personal testimonies and in our preaching and teaching.

What’s your story? When did you first understand that you needed a Savior and that Jesus alone is that Savior? What and who did the Lord use to lead you to turn from your sinful, selfish ways and confess your faith in Jesus Christ, who paid for all your offenses through His death and resurrection? I encourage you to write your personal testimony, worship the One who rescued you, and share your story with your family and friends. I once was blind but now I see! I once was lost but now I’m found! I once was religious, but now I have a personal relationship with God! The Lord uses a Christlike life and a compassionate, courageous witness to spread His good news far and wide!

I have some investment advice. It’s a sure thing, better than tech stocks, CDs or even gold. And it’s  simple: Lend to the Lord. He will repay whatever you loan Him with generous return. God inked that promissory note in Proverbs 19:17, “Whoever is generous to the poor lends to the Lord, and He will repay him for his deed.” Any and every time you and I give generously to the poor, we in fact are lending to the Lord. We can take it to the bank that our God notes that investment of compassion and assigns it a rich return!

Here are two examples, ongoing as I write.

Wedding clothes for Haitian believers

In our recent “Spring Cleaning” post, we invited you to donate prom and wedding dresses to PPI to help couples in Haiti celebrate their wedding with joy and dignity. (See full story in the post.) Enter Thomas, Ashley and the clothing business Ashley owns. Thomas and Ashley know Christ but did not know about our Spring Cleaning challenge. In God’s timing, however, Thomas and Ashley reached out to PPI friends last week to ask them if they knew anyone that could use wedding dresses. Voila! These PPI friends immediately contacted us and a few days later helped us pick up an estimated 400 new wedding, bridesmaid and other formal dresses – a generous loan to the Lord! We’ll organize, re-box and ship the dresses to Pastor Isaiah and Celina in early June.

Bible college roof

In the Spring Cleaning challenge, we also invited you to help Pastor Jasmin build the roof on the new ITEPHA Bible college building. (See the Spring Cleaning post for more info.) PPI donated $2000 and others of you invested as well. Thank you! We’re excited to tell you construction of the roof has begun and is progressing nicely. Check out Jasmin’s progress video from a few days ago. More funds are need to complete the roof. Give toward the roof HERE. 

I love seeing God use people like us bring real progress and joy to believers in Haiti! In leading PPI, Rena and I also see how God repays our PPI friends and supporters with the satisfaction of making a difference for Christ where it’s needed most.

Bottom line: Invest!

I’m writing this post at the Detroit airport on my way to central Haiti. Over the next 16 days, we have the privilege of training some 340 church leaders in three PPI courses there. I can assure you personally that our God keeps His promise to repay us with true wealth that money cannot buy! As we’re generous to the poor, the Lord rewards us with joy, purpose, deep satisfaction and peace, abiding relationships and a front-row seat to God’s amazing work through His people, including you!

Bottom line? Invest! Lend to the Lord by helping those with legitimate needs in your family, church, community, and international organizations engaged with the poor, organizations like PPI. As you do, you can expect a rich return on your investment. Guaranteed.

I’d like to introduce you to our new ministry team member. Modie (pronounced “Mo-dee-ay”) embodies what we teach about church leadership in Haiti. I met Modie four years ago in Cap-Haïtien. He participated in PPI Course 1 along with 111 other church leaders, but I noticed him right away. For starters, Modie dresses impeccably in bright colors – yellow, red, blue suits. You can’t miss him. More importantly, he seemed to know everyone there. During our break times and at lunch, he moved among the crowd of pastors, smiling, shaking hands, patting shoulders and speaking to them. Our ministry team met him and liked him immediately.

Modie brought several other church leaders with him to the next PPI course. He began helping our team in any way he could – passing out water on hot afternoons, organizing Thompson Bibles for the day’s training. He has volunteered at nearly every PPI course in northern or northeastern Haiti since then, quietly but energetically, expecting nothing. On top of that, Modie champions our training in northern Haiti. He has invited scores of church leaders to our courses.

I talked with our team last year about asking Modie to join our ministry team “officially” for our training in March. They agreed without hesitation, and Modie helped us lead Course 3 (two times) and Course 1 in Limbé and Cap-Haïtien in early March. His servant’s heart and stellar work ethic have shone through every day – even on a day he (and our entire team) wasn’t feeling well.

One evening in our team meeting, I asked Modie to tell us more about himself and share how he met Christ. He began quietly:

I was born in Ferrier [a village in northeast Haiti]. My father didn’t take care of me so I was given to my uncle, but he treated me badly. I ran away to Cap-Haïtien when I was 12, but I didn’t know anyone there. I just tried to find something better. A pastor took me in and helped me. He sent me to school and had others teach me how to build. I started building when I was 14 years old.

Modie smiled as he told us how the pastor and his wife included him in their family, introduced him to Christ and discipled him. After finishing high school, he attended a building trades school and two years of Bible college. He is an accomplished designer-builder and has built houses, churches and businesses  across Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

He continued, “I thank God. Street kids in Haiti become criminals and die young. The Lord rescued me. He has a purpose for me and I want to follow it.” Modie’s pastor-mentor died from complications of diabetes in late February. Modie helped the family plan his funeral over the two weeks of our training, paying for much of it himself.

I was moved by Modie’s story. I couldn’t help connecting it with the content of PPI Course 3, which we led two times over the two weeks of training. Course 3 is our first course on church leadership, in which we focus on the mission and strategy of the church. We study and discuss foundational truths about the church in Scriptures such as Matthew 16:13-18 (Jesus’ first teaching on the church), Matthew 28:16-20, Ephesians 4:11-16, etc.

We spend a lot of time in Matthew 28:16-20, where the Lord made clear His mission for the church and His strategy for fulfilling it. “Make disciples of all nations,” He commands us, by going, baptizing and teaching them to obey. We answer from Scripture questions such as:

• What is a “disciple”?
• How does Jesus intend for us to “make” them?
• How can our churches be more effective in fulfilling the Lord’s mission?

We tell pastors that making disciples is Job One for the church and that church leaders must exemplify disciple-making as well as teach it. Modie’s pastor did that. He opened his heart and his home to a boy from the streets. He loved him, won him to Christ and discipled him over many years. That boy was Modie. God changed his life and now he loves Jesus and serves faithfully in His mission – a perfect picture of what we teach church leaders in Course 3. May God use this course to inspire and equip church leaders to devote themselves to making disciples in Haiti!