It was our first full day in Haiti and it was wonderfully full! One thing that keeps coming up on our team is how encouraged we are to see such awesome National leadership here. Haitian Christian Ministries is all Haitian led and the pastors and administrators we’ve met have already impressed us so much. Their heart for their people, passion to share Jesus and joy in ministry have been truly inspiring.
Haitian Christian Ministries started with a small group of people that met under a tree in a rural town about an hour outside of Cap Haitian (the 2nd largest city in Haiti). That tree still stands in the middle of what is now a beautiful campus with a church where 600 people worship now, a Christian School that serves 1,400 children and a medical clinic that meets the needs of the children and their families with two full time Haitian doctors and staff. That original church has also birthed 4 more church plants and is raising up leaders through a local seminary to deploy evangelists and plant churches is the least reached places of Northern Haiti. It’s amazing to see what God has done here already!
This morning we worshipped at the first church plant in village called Lory. It was so wonderful to worship with our Haitian family in Christ. We were given such a warm welcome and it was beautiful to hear some familiar and beloved hymns sung in Haitian Creole. The pastor of that church shared with us that he first felt called to go into full time ministry while praying on a mountain and he told God that he was willing to serve, but did not have the resources to be trained. He came down from the mountain committed to serving God the rest of his life and was met at the bottom by a stranger who offered to pay for him to go to seminary! There is a phrase that ‘God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called’. It is amazing what He can do with willing heart.
We spent this afternoon doing our first GO DEEP session. We will be spending a couple of hours each day in the morning in an extended devotion time where we will engage Scripture’s view on what it means to be on mission with God. Today we wrestled with being confronted with the heart wrenching poverty that seems to pervade Haiti. We were reminded that we are all poor in so much that without Jesus we are destitute in our sin. But praise the Lord that there is hope in the resurrection of Christ! He reminds us that our suffering is temporary and eternal glory is available to all of us…in Savannah, GA and in Haiti. We are praying that we would have open hearts to a move of His Spirit this week and that while we can’t alleviate the physical suffering in Haiti, we can choose compassion…and see what happens.
Thank you for praying!
– Carolyn
Excited about the welcome you have received thus far! Trusting God will continue to Bless each of you with a life changing experience during your amazing mission adventure! Open your hearts and be filled with His presence as you glorify His name in all you do. My prayer is that each of you will overwhelm the Haitian people, and … each of you will in turn be overwhelmed by those you meet with the Joy, Love, Peace, and Hope only found in Jesus! Be Blessed and be a Blessing!