Kick the Tires

To be effective in our work, we all need time to “sharpen the saw.” Conferences, courses, workshops, on-site studies – continuing education comes in many forms. I’ve benefited most over the years from 1) deep dives and 2) kicking the tires. In 2021, for example, I participated in the Evangelical Theological Society (ETS) national conference in Fort Worth, Texas, the focus of which was “wealth and poverty.” (I’ve been a member of ETS for many years.) For three days, I soaked in sessions that explored wealth and poverty biblically, theologically, historically, economically and socially. A deep dive!

Deep dives are good, but we have to come up for air and make it practical. Kick-the-tires times (aka ministry visits) help me do that. Some years ago, for example, I arranged visits with three Michigan churches that seemed to be doing missions well. I took our then missions pastor along to kick the tires. We asked questions such as, What is your strategy for global and local missions? How are you working it out? What has been effective for you in getting your congregation involved and committed? These kick-the-tires visits helped us assess and improve our church’s missions vision and strategy.

Last week, I traveled to Medellin, Colombia with Grady Davidson, a regional leader with Timothy Two Project International (TTPI) (www.timothytwo.org), to assist him in leading a training workshop for 12 Colombian church leaders. I planned the trip with two purposes in mind. First, I wanted to “kick the tires” with another international pastors training ministry. This was a continuing education trip for me. Second, I intended to explore a cooperative relationship with that ministry. Like many other ministries to Haiti, TTPI’s efforts there ceased with the onset of COVID-19 and rising gang violence. I have encouraged TTPI leaders over the last two years in ways they can return to Haiti to help encourage and equip church leaders there.

Mission accomplished – and more! I was encouraged by our study of the attributes of God and refreshed by the many conversations with Grady and our host couple. Justin and Jaimie Smith (pictured) are young missionaries with Mesa Global, formerly United World Missions. They’re helping pastors plant churches in communities around Medellin and beyond. What a joy to hear their heart and learn about their work in church planting. 

Before moving to Colombia nearly two years ago, Justin and Jeimmy served in the Dominican Republic for three years. They told me about the sizable groups of Haitians in the DR, the discrimination against them, and their need for encouragement and training. They’re in the process of recommending PPI training to Haitian church leaders they know in two cities in the DR. The Lord is opening the way for our training there. Please pray for our upcoming training in Haiti (update below) and for future training of Haitian pastors in the Dominican Republic.

** UPDATES **

December training

U.S. flights to Haiti are suspended until (at least) December 12 (READ MORE). However, Missionary Flights (MFI) has obtained two 1-day waivers from the FAA, allowing them to fly cargo and passengers to Cap-Haitien and Pignon. Thanks so much for praying! On their latest approved flight on Monday, MFI was able to carry 30 diploma covers to Pastor Jasmin. We purchased these for the ITEPHA Bible College graduation in December. Praise God!

Please pray for additional waivers for MFI that will allow us, at a minimum, to ship Thompson Bibles and all our training materials to our Haitian team no later than December 12. That will enable our team to lead Course 1 in Hinche and Pignon on schedule, which they are more than capable of doing. Ideally, MFI will get a waiver for December 12 allowing me, two other American brothers and our materials to fly to Pignon as originally planned.

Spread the Word 2024

Our Spread the Word 2024 challenge kicked off well! As of Friday, PPI friends and supporters have donated a total of $9,315, which will be matched dollar for dollar. Many thanks to all of you who have given so far! We’ve had a great start!

That means we need $10,685 in contributions between now and December 31 to reach our goal of $20,000 and use all the matching funds. Would you help us fund the purchase of 2,024 Creole Bibles by the end of this year? GIVE HERE