God did an amazing thing the first day of Course 5 in Limbé. It had poured rain all night, so much so that it woke us up. Our team drove to the host church in a drizzle. We all thought fewer pastors would come. We had seen it before. When it rains like this in Haiti, many homes get wet and roads can be treacherous. And most Haitians ride motorcycles.
We of little faith. Church leaders came early and kept on coming! They shed coats or garbage-bag ponchos and lined up at the registration table. Eight church leaders had traveled for two days to get to the training. A total of 115 men and women registered for Course 5, limited only by the number of course workbooks we brought. We were amazed – and humbled. CLICK HERE to help us train pastors
I thought of times Jesus commended great faith. The centurion who believed Christ could say the word and heal his servant (Matthew 8:5-13), the Gentile woman willing to eat crumbs from her Master’s table (Matthew 15:21-28), the suffering soul who pushed through the crowd until she could touch Jesus’ robe (Luke 8:43-48) – all these examples of faith have one thing in common. They persisted through difficulties to get to Jesus. They refused to give up when it got hard. They didn’t care what people thought or said. For them, encountering the most amazing Person on earth was worth it!
I began that morning with Hebrews 11:6: “Without faith it is impossible to please God because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who diligently seek Him.” I thanked the pastors for pushing through the rain and roads, and prayed that God would reward them, their families and their churches for their diligence in seeking Him.
We enjoyed three exceptional days together. Course 5 is our second course on church leadership (Course 3 is the other) and focuses on what Scripture teaches about 1) leaders for the church and 2) effective organization of the church. The pastors worked hard on the assignments and had a lot of practical questions! On our last day, they asked Pastor Isaiah and me to answer their questions during lunch. They wanted all the course time they could get! So Isaiah and I sat on chairs in the front of the room, snatching bites of food while responding to their questions.
Pray for these leaders, their churches and communities. I have no doubt the Lord will fulfill His promise to reward their rainy day faith. INVEST HERE in church leaders training
(PICTURES. Top left – The group of 8 church leaders who traveled for two days from Belladere to Limbé for the training. Middle – Two more church leaders completed all six PPI courses and received their diplomas. Total to date – 49. Right – 115 church leaders celebrate successfully completing Course 5 and our team with them! Bottom – Our team celebrated Isaiah’s 46th birthday in Limbè. We sang “Happy Birthday” in Creole (“Bòn fèt), English and Spanish (“Cumpleaños feliz”) and gave him a card and gift. The cake tasted good, though the frosting was super sweet!
Thank you for reading this post to the end. CLICK HERE to enjoy Haitian believers singing!
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