When we step out in faith God always shows His faithfulness. I have heard this, preached this and have even tried to live this but the trip to Haiti was a stretch of my faith. So many details had to fall into place that unfortunately or fortunately I had no control over. (Proverbs 3:5-6) I will take the next several days to share the details of how God came through in so many ways but today I want to give you an overview of what God did.
Island of La Gonove:
After three hours of taxi and boat rides, no one speaking English, and wondering where in the world my contact was we finally arrived to explore opportunities for ministry on La Gonove. La Gonove is an Island of three hundred thousand people and very few churches. While ministering on the Island we worked in four distinct communities bringing encouragement to the believers and sharing the gospel with unbelievers. Pastor Benies was our main contact and he was located on the far side of the Island in a mountainous region called Mapou Village. We worked in Fregade, Palma and Las Titans as well. During our time we were able to train twenty-seven leaders in church planting and saw twenty-four others give their lives to Christ. Again, our main purpose on the Island was to explore future possibilities for church planting and the possibility of creating partnerships with churches in the U.S.. May the Lord give wisdom as we consider our future work on La Gonove.
On the Mainland:
Our time began by praying earnestly that our ride would be there to take us from the port. Only forty-five minutes late, praise God our ride arrived. While on the Island there was little to eat and nothing but hot bottled water to drink. When we saw a Coke stand God spoke to our hearts about getting a couple cold ones! From there, Pastor Rigaud, the precious man of God we worked with on the mainland, took over and was a wonderful help. We began locating the unassembled homes provided by our good friends at Agriboard. We were greatly encouraged to see the pastor’s home in Cabera completed by our partners from California. [Thanks HOPE and Come Over Ministries for a job well done!] Cabera is the area where we launched a new church plant the last time we were in Haiti. The ministry is being led by Pastor McGraw and has over eighty new disciples growing in the Lord. What a testimony of God’s faithfulness. From there we went on to locate the other unassembled homes provided by Agriboard. With many parts scattered into about ten different areas we set out prayerfully to organize the remainder of the homes. The young man traveling with me, Matthew Sirmans, took it all in stride and graciously took over the building process. What a blessing he was both on the Island and building the homes! We were able to sort things out and begin the process of building and pass off the finishing to a team God provided from Texas. I can’t say enough about the faithfulness of our God. We are beginning a new ministry in Jerusalem where hundreds of thousands have settled since the earthquake hit Port au Prince over a year ago. It will be led by Pastor Midace pictured below. With no churches in that area, this church plant has enormous potential. By the grace of God, Pastor Regaud and I believe we can see over three thousand being discipled in the next couple of years. From there we visited another area we had launched a new work last visit. In La Saline we were informed that the ministry was growing and over two hundred are actively being discipled in Christ. Our team from Texas is scheduled to finish that building this week.
William Carey said, "Expect great things from God… Attempt great things for God!" In the midst of overwhelming opposition God accomplished so much for His glory. In the end, we will see four new churches. Thirty-three leaders were trained in Church planting. Forty-four new believers came to faith in Christ and about four hundred and fifty are being discipled. The labor is never easy but always worth it.
Joan and I want to thank you for praying for this ministry and us. Thank you for partnering with us to fulfill the great commission and planting churches around the globe.
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