After our first week of training in February, Jasmin led our team in a special time of thanking God for victories. We have prayed together this way before (call it “victory prayer”), and I always find it powerful and meaningful. I commend it to you as a way to pray with one heart and one spirit with others in your family, small group, or serving or leadership team.

First, Jasmin read Lamentations 3:22-23 and talked about God’s faithfulness in opening the way for us to train 172 church leaders in two courses in Limbé. Another 74 church leaders would complete Course 4 in Cap-Haitien the following week. Over the two weeks, we would award 112 Thompson Bibles and distribute 480 Creole Bibles to 246 church leaders in two cities in the North Department.

A week earlier, we had talked about postponing or even cancelling this trip because of unrest in Cap, but the Lord brought calm the day before I flew into the city to meet our team. Nou di Seyè a mèsi! (We thank you, Lord!)

Then Jasmin led us in singing (in Creole):

The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases.
His mercies never come to an end.
They are new every morning, new every morning.
Great is your faithfulness, O Lord!
Great is your faithfulness!

We repeated the chorus then sang different lines of it again to remind ourselves that Senyè a vrèman fidèl (The Lord is truly faithful).

After singing, we prayed aloud, all of us at one time. I’ve been in U.S. churches that pray this way and it’s usually chaos – akin to the shouting and dancing of the prophets of Ba’al. This prayer time was not like that at all. We prayed aloud – but not loud – thanking God for His love, faithfulness and victories in the first week of our training. We prayed for each church leader who attended, their families, churches and communities. All that took about 10 minutes. We then concluded by singing the chorus again.

Simple, focused and powerful. I encourage you to lead a special time of “victory prayer” using this format. When you do, let me know if you find the Lord encouraging all of you in a powerful way. And enjoy the pictures below. 

What makes you cheer? I mean, get-all-excited, don’t-care-who-sees-you cheer? (I got close when University of Michigan’s football team won the national championship in January!) Our ministry team saw that kind of cheering on Wednesday (Feb 14), the final day of Course 2. It happened when we announced that each church leader who completed the course would receive three Creole Bibles in addition to their certificate of completion. Three Bibles! The room erupted in applause and shouts of joy. Sixty church leaders raised the roof!

Jasmin, a member of our mission team, told me later that he recently gave a Creole Bible to a young man in his church. The young man hugged him and thanked him repeatedly. “It was like I was his papa,” Jasmin said. Pastor Isaiah noted that he sees far fewer Jehovah’s Witness “bibles” in his city of Ouanaminthe since we have been getting Bibles to churches there. Give toward Creole Bibles HERE

Pastors in Haiti like to give a Creole Bible to an adult after they are baptized as a believer in Christ, but they’re having a harder time than ever getting them. For starters, the Bibles are shipped to only one national distributor in Haiti, the Haitian Bible Society. The HBS is located in Port au Prince, Haiti’s capital, a city now besieged by gangs. And, if they can be found, they’re prohibitively expensive for the average Haitian. Whole Creole Bibles cost nearly $14 each in U.S. dollars. That doesn’t seem like much to us, but for so many Haitians who earn less that each day, having their own Bible is a luxury they just can’t afford.

Hence the cheers!

We will distribute 480 Creole Bibles and 112 Thompson Bibles in our three courses this week and next. Since we officially launched PPI in 2019, the Lord has enabled us to put over 3100 Creole Bibles into the hands of Haitian Christians – not to mention the hundreds of Thompson Bibles church leaders have earned in PPI Course 1.

That’s only possible because of your faithful prayers and partnership with us. Let’s continue to get God’s life-changing Word into the hands of church leaders. Let’s continue to encourage and train those leaders how to teach and live out God’s Word as they shepherd their churches and impact their communities for Christ. Can you imagine how God could use us for eternity? Give toward Creole Bibles HERE

That’s something to cheer about!

My friend, Tim Meyers, painted a mental picture of missions for me that shapes my thinking to this day. Tim was born in Australia but grew up in the jungles of Papua New Guinea, where his dad flew for Missionary Aviation Fellowship. He has some stories! We met in Dallas during our seminary years, became good friends and had a lot of conversations. During one of those talks, Tim shared with me:

Imagine that a doctor lands in an area filled with scores of sick people. As the plane lands, people surround it crying for help. The doctor is filled with compassion. He is tempted to grab his medical bag and get to work. Who wouldn’t be? Is that the way to help the greatest number of people? He could attend to the sick from dawn to dusk for a few days before he collapsed from exhaustion.

What if instead, filled with compassion, the doctor identifies people in the crowd well enough to walk, trains them to record vital signs, treat fevers and cleanse wounds while he attends to people with life-threatening symptoms. Over just a few days, how many more people could they help? The number would be multiplied!

This word picture aligns with Scripture (for example, Ephesians 4:11-15 and 2 Timothy 2:2) and continues to shape my thinking about missions and church ministry to this day.

Matthew tells us that Jesus traveled throughout northern Israel with his disciples, helping those in need and proclaiming God’s good news to them. He was moved with compassion for people’s physical and spiritual needs. What was His solution?

Then Jesus said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.” (Matthew 9:37-38)

The Lord‘s response is, “We need more workers in the harvest! Let’s pray for that.” And His example of training His followers demonstrates that Jesus wants not just warm bodies, but better workers, laborers trained in heart, character and skill.

Here’s the reality today: The church is growing fastest in nations with the fewest opportunities for church leaders to be trained. Global mission leaders tell us that most pastors in poor countries have little to no intentional Bible and ministry training. That aligns with what I have found in Haiti, Dominican Republic, Malawi and Guatemala – “third world” nations where I have had the privilege of spending time with church leaders. These Kingdom workers love Christ and His people. They’re filled with the Spirit and working hard in ministry, usually without pay. They sacrifice deeply and often suffer for the sake of the gospel. But they also struggle and fail unnecessarily because they lack encouragement, Biblical and practical ministry training, and resources.

That’s the reality – and the huge opportunity for people like us. This need to raise up more and better Kingdom workers must rank as one of our highest priorities in missions.

And that’s why I’m excited to get back to Haiti next week. Please pray for our ministry team as we lead three PPI courses in two cities in northern Haiti. We anticipate full courses (112 church leaders in each) and effective times together. Our joy – and priority – is to work behind the scenes to raise up more and better Kingdom workers in Haiti. Thank you for standing with us in prayer and financial support as we do!

YEAR-END REPORT AND THANK YOU

When we’re in Haiti, someone on our ministry team usually preaches for the church that hosts our training. This is one way we thank and honor our host pastors. In Ouanaminthe, where most of our Haitian ministry team live, we do our best to speak in each of our team members’ churches as well. These times of worship and fellowship with Haitian believers challenge our thinking and move our hearts.

In December, Tony de Bari, PPI Board member, had the opportunity to speak in Pastor Ulrick’s church while I preached at our host church. (Ulrick is a PPI ministry team member.) Here are some of Tony’s thoughts on his time in a typical Haitian church:

For me, this was one of the most moving experiences I’ve ever had in church. . . . [T]his church had none of the splendor and majesty of those cathedrals [I have visited], it was just sticks and tin. However, it had people who worshiped God as He should be worshiped—with songs of praise and thanks. God obviously doesn’t care what the church looks like—this one is just sticks and tin, but He does care about the people in them. He desires praise and glory, and He certainly got it today. 

These people, some of whom have no idea where their next meal will come from, or even if they will get shot by some of the gangs in Haiti, devote an entire Sunday morning to praise and worship of the God who provides. They understand that all they have comes from Him. . . . 

Our goal and our joy are to encourage, train and resource church leaders like Ulrick all across Haiti and beyond. Godly, well-trained pastors feed, lead and love their congregations on the foundation of Scripture led by the Holy Spirit. Growing, spiritually healthy congregations impact their neighborhoods with practical help and powerful hope in Christ. This is what we’re seeing in Haiti as pastors deepen their understanding of God’s Word, Christ-like character and wise church leadership. This is the lasting fruit of your faithful prayers and financial support!

In 2023, the Lord enabled us to train 752 church leaders in 7 training courses in 5 cities in Haiti. That’s an investment of 120 hours of foundational ministry training for pastors! Through our courses, we awarded 584 Thompson Bibles and distributed 1210 Creole Bibles for their churches. Thanks be to God!

IN 2024

In 2024, we plan to offer 11 PPI courses in 8 key cities in 4 Departments of Haiti. That will enable us to train over 1200 church leaders! We also want to introduce PPI training to pastors in one additional country this year. Accomplishing all that in 2024 will take $169,000. That’s $30,000 more than PPI’s total income in 2023. Will you help us?

“We walk by faith not by sight” as we pursue these plans  (2 Cor 5:7). Thank you for walking with us in training pastors and strengthening churches – and whole communities! – in Haiti. Know that you are a vital Kingdom worker with us on the supplies line of prayer and giving. May the Lord provide for you and fill you with His joy as you invest your life every day of 2024 in what matters for eternity!

Happy New Year and thank you,

Ken for all of us