We get a lot of questions about Haiti, PPI and our strategy of encouraging, training and resourcing church leaders. Here are our Top 10 FAQs. If you have a question not addressed here, please feel free to CONTACT US. We will respond to your question promptly.
1. Isn’t Haiti dangerous?
No more dangerous than other places in the world, including the United States. Unfortunately, most of the news you hear about Haiti is negative, often exaggerated and focused on Port au Prince (the capital city). Having said that, Haiti is more volatile now than in past years because of three recent events: 1) withdrawal of UN troops in 2018, 2) assassination of President Jovenel Moïses in 2021 (see our post HERE) and 3) increased inflation and shortages. We have decided to avoid Port au Prince for the time being – though pastors from there consistently come to our training.
2. Why do you use the Thompson Bible to train pastors?
Because it’s one of the best tools for getting church leaders into the Bible for themselves! Other good study Bibles exist, of course, and many are translated into accessible languages such as French for Haiti. But most study Bibles center on commentary – Bible scholars have done the homework for us and given us notes on their study. In contrast, the Thompson Bible provides study tools that gets church leaders into the Bible for themselves, allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture. We believe – along with many others who train international pastors – that this provides the best foundation for ministry.
3. Do church leaders pay for PPI training?
We charge each church leader a registration fee (currently 1200 Haitian Gourdes, about $10 USD). This fee covers most of the cost of the leader’s lunches for the three days of training. PPI covers all other costs of the course, which totals a little over $100 per pastor. Why not provide PPI training for free? The short answer is, God made us to thrive on the dignity of earned success. Church leaders value and commit to our training, in part because they must pre-register and pay a small fee. For the longer answer, we recommend that you read Brian Fikkert’s When Helping Hurts and Becoming Whole. Also, check out the website www.reconciledworld.org.
4. How often do you offer PPI courses?
We’re committed to offering pastors training 4-6 times a year as the Lord provides funding and opens doors of opportunity. Our strategy in Haiti is to offer our training courses in two Departments at a time over three years. READ THIS POST for more info. That means we’ll travel to Haiti four times a year to offer 2-3 training courses over two weeks each time. That frees us up to travel to new countries at least twice each year to establish PPI training and raise up national ministry teams.
5. How can I get involved?
Partner with us in prayer and giving! We’re convinced from Scripture that God intends every believer in Jesus to take part in His mission in the world. But each of us has a different role. Some go (that’s us) and many pray and give (that’s you). In the same way that soldiers need good supply lines, PPI needs many friends and supporters to do what we do! Will you be one of them? Read our UPDATES so you can pray specifically, and CLICK HERE to discover ways to invest financially in training pastors.
6. What is required to “successfully complete” a PPI course?
PPI doesn’t just give away Bibles. Nor do we gather large groups of pastors to preach at them. We focus on training church leaders. Our “win” is pastors leaving a 3-day PPI training:
- More encouraged in their identity in and relationship with Christ
- More committed to walking in humble obedience to His Word in public and private
- More confident in understanding and applying Scripture to life and ministry
- More skilled in shepherding and leading their churches in Jesus’ mission
That’s our win! Because of that, we require pastors to attend every session of the training and to do their best on every assignment in the course. These expectations have caused pastors to highly value and desire PPI training.
7. Are PPI courses accredited?
Not yet, but we’re working on it! PPI is a member of the International Council for Evangelical Theological Education (ICETE), the largest organization of international Bible colleges, seminary and nonformal ministry training programs (like PPI) in the world. We are working with ICETE on recognition and possibly accreditation of our courses. We have also talked with leaders at Dallas Theological Seminary and two evangelical Bible colleges about recognition of our courses. Finally, we’re exploring recognition by departments of education in countries where we offer our training.
8. Who leads the training?
As PPI gets off the ground, Ken is our primary trainer. He is developing our six courses and is a gifted, experienced pastor and trainer. Learn more about Ken HERE. Yet Ken and the PPI Board are committed to raising up national training teams – following the example of the Lord Jesus and the Apostle Paul. We have a good start in “training trainers” in Haiti. Check out this VIDEO.
9. Where do you offer PPI training courses?
The Lord has led us to encourage and train church leaders in Haiti since 2011. When we formally established PPI in 2019, we knew God wanted us to expand our training to all 10 Departments of Haiti and also to be open to training church leaders in other developing nations. As the Lord provides funding, we will offer 10-12 training courses each year in Haiti (see Question 4 above) and be ready to lead training in new countries two times each year. We’ve had many invitations and are praying about and considering each one. For example, we have a good connection with a Haitian pastor in Santiago, Dominican Republic who would like to host PPI training for many Haitian church leaders there.
10. Is PPI part of a larger mission organization?
Not at this time – though that may change as PPI grows. Currently PPI is a member of ICETE (see Question 7 above). We are also part of a “fellowship” of two other mission organizations that train international church leaders using the Thompson Bible. The Thompson Bible International Institute (TBII) led by Dr. John Jauchen has trained pastors in Central and South America as well as Asia for over 40 years. Another friend and mentor, Pastor Chuck Ballard, leads African Pastoral Training (APT) to offer Thompson Bible training to church leaders across French- and English-speaking Africa.