Delays and Divine Appointments

I’m not crazy about delays – understatement! I don’t think any of us are. So my heart was sick when we had to cancel our March-April training in northeast Haiti. We had planned to offer three courses, including Course 1 in Fort-Libertè, the chief (capital) city of the Northeast Department. Solomon understood. ”Hope deferred makes the heart sick,” he intoned in Proverbs 12:12, “but a desire fulfilled is a tree of life.” 

I’m excited to get back to Haiti (including Fort-Libertè) in July, but God has had plans for this delay. I’m thankful that our delays can be His “divine appointments,” if we trust Him and resist the funk and self-focus that thwarted plans cause. Here are some of our divine appointments in this delay:

1. Learning Creole. Career missionaries typically devote a year or more full-time to language learning before starting their ministry work. Since we already were neck-deep in training pastors when we established PPI, I have tried to fit Creole study into a full schedule of training and traveling, course writing and partner development. So this delay has given me consistent time each day to study Creole, and I’m gaining more understanding and confidence in the language. As a measure of progress, I’ve noticed our Haitian team is now messaging me without English translation by Pastor Isaiah. And they’re expecting me to message back in Creole, which I’m able to do more and more. Gras a Dye! (Thanks to God!)

2. Developing Course 5. Leading Jesus’ Church – Servant-Leaders and Organization is our second course on Biblical church leadership. Our delay in getting back to Haiti has enabled me to devote significant time for prayer, study, writing and refining this course. I realized early on in the preparation of this course that I needed the extra time more than I realized. Leadership roles and titles (and what about apostles and prophets today?), biblical qualifications, developing/appointing/discipling church leaders, church organization, finances and focus – these are some areas I’m studying, re-studying, thinking through in an international context, and including in Course 5. Please pray for the development of this next course!

3. Helping to plan a corporate prayer event for Haiti. We’re amazed that our church has three organizations dedicated to ministry in Haiti! So Brooke Wildey, who leads our church’s mission team and is also involved in Haiti missions, proposed a church-wide worship and prayer night for Haiti. She is working closely with our pastor and reached out to us and to Tom Taugher, a co-leader of Project Piti Pami, a medical mission in Haiti, to help her organize the prayer time. It’s coming together well! So mark your calendars for Sunday, June 30, at 6:00pm at New Life Christian Fellowship. Let’s pray for Haiti’s politicians, people and pastors!

4. Practicing Prayer. Speaking of prayer, Rena and I are taking a class called Practicing Prayer at our church on Wednesday nights. It’s fantastic! The Lord is refreshing us in our relationship with Him and growing us in faith-filled, Scriptural prayer. Pastor Ken Cline is leading this class and sharing his own growth in prayer. The biblical and practical focus of this class is exactly what the Lord knew I needed right now in my walk with Him. I’m so thankful for His individual care and shepherding in my life.

5. Partnering on care for elderly Haitians. The elderly (granmoun) and the youngest (timoun) in Haiti are the most vulnerable to extreme poverty, sickness and neglect – as in other developing nations. Haiti has none of the support programs for older people that we take for granted in the United States, programs such as Social Security, Medicare, Meals on Wheels, and senior centers. The elderly there face greater risk of starvation, untreated medical conditions, loneliness, depression and unnecessary early death. Pastor Jasmin and the association of pastors he leads are determined to do more to provide and care for elderly people in their churches and communities. Jasmin and I talked about this need on my last trip to Haiti in February, and on my way home, I reached out to a doctor friend, who co-leads a wonderful organization focused on sustainable community healthcare in Haiti. We have met, talked and prayed these past two months and sense the Lord’s direction and favor in partnering with Jasmin and the association of pastors in caring well for “widows in their distress” in Haiti.

6. Exploring potential next steps in pastors training. Last Monday evening, Rena and I met with leaders and missionaries at an area church to explore avenues of encouragement and partnership in equipping church leaders in another Caribbean country. We enjoyed dinner and conversation together and will continue to pray and talk about possibilities to partner in the Lord’s mission.

These weeks have been filled with fruitful Kingdom work. I’ve realized again that delays are never chance or circumstance, but in the hands of our Father in Heaven and opportunities for divine appointments. That’s what we’re experiencing right now! Hope deferred but desires fulfilled.