Churches Helping Churches

Mars Hill Church in Seattle sent three pastors last week to the CHC Haitian pastors’ conference: Justin Holcomb and Mike Wilkerson each taught at various sessions, and Jamie Munson came and observed the week, writing and twittering the whole time. Below is Pastor Jamie’s interview of Pastor Mike on the week. Be sure to check out Pastor Jamie’s posts on the Mars Hill blog and photos.

Haiti Pastors Conference from Mars Hill Church on Vimeo.

Stay tuned for much more videos, photos, and posts on the conference, which wrapped up on Friday in Port-au-Prince. And in the meantime, if you live in Chicagoland, head over to our CHC Benefit Concert, hosted by Harvest Bible Chapel, this Sunday.

Jacques Louis sits in an orange chair in a cluttered room, his head against the wall and feet extended, as he checks off a list in a graphing notebook. Someone comes in about every four minutes to ask him a question. The first day of the Churches Helping Churches pastors’ retreat has been a long one.

As the director of S.T.E.P., which is hosting the retreat, and as one of the few people who speak the three relevant languages here–French, Creole, English, Jacques is everybody’s go-to guy. The exhaustion would irritate most, but that’s hardly the thought that’s on his mind.

“I’m pretty relaxed,” he says. “There were lots of worries at the beginning of the day. Not everything was ready, but it all went well.”

He’s talking about the fact that the shipping container with all of CHC’s materials for the event–including the event tent, cots, and audio Bibles for attending pastors–have yet to be released. (Organizers were furiously translating a manifest of the container’s contents into French that evening.) Hence the reason Jacques is holding the list of air mattresses.

“We made do even though it’s not a paradise,” he says, as pastors stretch out on air mattresses, some inside the meeting room, some on the open-air deck a few yards away. “We just want them to sleep well so they can be well rested for tomorrow.”

About 150 pastors–of all ages and dressed nearly uniformly in slacks and a short-sleeved polo shirts–arrived this afternoon from all over the tiny Caribbean nation. The goal was 200, but the space was more limited than expected, and organizers had to turn away some who wanted to attend.

They participated in two sessions on the the purpose of the retreat and being in a time of need, then spent over an hour in group discussions led by pastors from the Haitian diaspora. Next, was dinner where they mingled while eating the rice and beans, chicken, and green beans.

“I was really encouraged to see them come from so far, from all the extremities,” says Leslie, 48, a staff member from Port-au-Prince.

Many of the pastors have come to be able to share with other pastors in their country as they all deal with the effects of the cataclysmic Jan. 12 earthquake. As the leaders in their community, many haven’t had anyone with whom to process the after affects.

At dinner, a middle-aged pastor in a corn-blue button-down shirt and patterned tie eats quietly. He has a walkman holstered on his belt. The tape, he says, is Angeline Sanon, a popular national musician.

Another young pastor wants to find someone to talk to because he’s worried about his sister, who’s been somewhat mentally unhinged since the 7.0 quake hit the impoverished capital four months ago. It’s affecting him a lot, he says, but that was already evident. He’s eventually brought to Jacques to see what, if anything, can be done.

A pastor named Rhony talks about his love of sports (volleyball and “Seattle’s basketball team, the Supersonics!”–yes, news travels slowly here).

Then he stops. “This means a lot to us that you all [from the states] are here,” he says. “There’s all this baggage,” he says, motioning to his head. “After the quake, everybody was coming to us with their problems, saying ‘Pastor, pastor,’ and we didn’t have anyone to go to ourselves.”

Later that night, the dozen American pastors and clinical psychologists who are teaching and leading this week get together to debrief. Pastor Robert is encouraged by the pastors’ participation, that they were open to raising their hands and expressing their fears during the talks this afternoon. Pastor Mike is (pleasantly) surprised by certain small group leaders who, he says, really got the vision for the purpose of the groups. Overall, they get the sense that the Haitian pastors are appreciative of the support and comradeship the conference is providing, and that it’s unifying pastors from across the country and within specific regions.

“This brings a lot of denominations together,” says Pastor Sam, a Haitian from Fort Lauderdale. “This is a great week, and I will hope [the pastors] will spread the word. They’ll go home and talk to others who didn’t have anywhere to go. I think this is a really good accomplishment.”

As the meeting wraps up, CHC Director Thomas Kim walks over to Jacques and puts a hand on the tall Haitian’s shoulder. “Jacques, thank you so much for all you did today getting everything done,” he says.

Jacques’ eyes pop, “But it wasn’t me who did anything, it was God!”

For those of you keeping the Haitian pastors and Churches Helping Churches crew in your prayers, here is their schedule for this week.

To keep up with the latest updates and pictures from the trip, please subscribe via RSS or join us on Facebook and Twitter.

Thank you to all of you who’ve supported Churches Helping Churches financially or with prayer. We believe Jesus will use these Haitian pastors to reach a country in need.

“I also want you to hear that, what’s anticipated is not that we’re sending people with American strategies of counseling, but people who are practicing gospeling people here, taking a timeless and transcultural gospel to Haiti, and equipping men to be able to gospel to people that God’s going to give them as they rebuild the churches of Haiti.”

Pastor Bill Clem
Mars Hill Ballard Campus Pastor

From a letter we received about our pastors’ retreat from a Haitian minister who lives in Canada. Emphases, ours.

Dear colleague in the LORD!

Thank you for this interesting invitation to participate in the May conference in Haiti. I find that it is a very good initiative…

I came back from Haiti last Tuesday exhausted, but happy to have served the Lord in this physically devastated, emotionally traumatized country … despite the big number of evangelicals, and of overcrowded churches. The biggest blessing which our country needs it is that of a spiritual awakening of the church of Jesus Christ, and it will have to begin with the leaders.

Post traumatic disturbances of our Haitian brothers and sisters are very real. I saw them myself, having made [sic] the terrible experience of earthquake in Port-au-Prince on January 12th. Training will be very much useful, but it will also be necessary to consider the counseling for the pastors themselves, because they are traumatized shepherds called to serve traumatized people. …

I give you the assurance of my prayers for the ministry which you are going to do for the glory of our common Lord and Savior. I shall ask that God provokes the necessary workers, and uses the team which will leave as good comforters and counselors.

I hope that this conference will be only the first stage of a plan of action which will touch as much soul as mind of the leaders and of their flock. Needed are new leaders for a new church, a new church for a new society, a new society for a new Haiti.

Brotherhood greetings in Jesus Christ,

F.N.
Ottawa, Canada

We just wanted to share a brief encouragement.

After recent communications about our work with Haitian pastors, we saw an uptick in donations. Three groups made substantial donations over the past week, 4 months after the earthquake. These donations are not knee-jerk reactions to the news. These are groups that really believe in what we’re doing. We especially wanted to share that as preparations for Churches Helping Pastors accelerate.  It’s been hard work and long hours to pull this off, but knowing the Kingdom team is behind us means so much!

For more details about this event and to learn how you can participate, go here.

Churches Helping Churches and the Haiti mission, by the numbers:

4 : months to the day since the 7.0 earthquake struck Port-au-Prince

$2 million : donations received thus far for church rebuilding mission in Haiti

$1.7 million : value of medical supplies secured by CHC for local Haitian clinics

200: Haitian pastors who will attend a retreat at the end of May so they can be ministered to and heal personally before they go out and minister in their own communities

5, 15 : number of Biblical counseling experts and pastors from the Haitian diaspora, respectively, who will minister to local Haitian pastors at the retreat

We thank God and all of you for what has been provided so far, and feel blessed to be a part of this mission. But there’s still a tremendous amount of work to be done. There are still pastors who need support, churches that still need rebuilding, and communities that still need the Gospel.

Here’s how you can pray. Here’s where you can give.

[English is after the jump.]

West Palm Beach, Florida

Chers Pasteurs,

Nous vous saluons au nom de notre Seigneur et Sauveur Jésus-Christ.

Nous étions tous émus en voyant sur la Télévision CNN les images de la destruction de notre pays causées par ce terrible tremblement de terre en 35 secondes. C’était horrible de voir nos frères et sœurs sous les décombres cette soirée du 12 Janvier, qui restera indélébile dans notre mémoire. D’urgence, les chrétiens des églises ont été convoqués pour invoquer le nom du Seigneur en faveur de nos bien-aimés. Nous voulons que vous sachiez chers collègues que nous étions avec vous en esprit. Les démarches que nous pouvions faire ont abouti à des fins utiles. Nous remercions le Seigneur pour tout cela. Il nous reste encore beaucoup à faire.

Dans les mois qui viennent une organisation dénommée Churches Helping Churches organisera une conférence pour les Pasteurs et Ouvriers en Haïti. Les pasteurs haïtiens et étrangers de tous les coins du monde seront invités à participer à cette rencontre, Churches Helping Pastors, pour apporter leur soutien à vous autres qui sont frappés par ce terrible séisme.

Comme Job avait gardé la foi en Dieu malgré la perte de tous ses biens: ses enfants, sa santé, au moment où tout s’évanouissait autour de lui, nous vous demandons chers pasteurs d’accepter la volonté de Dieu dans tous les domaines de la vie. Nous savons que Dieu vous donnera la force nécessaire pour continuer ce chemin épineux qui est devant vous. Nous savons que lui seul est capable de vous donner la paix et la consolation. Remettez–vous entre les mains de celui qui veille sur ses enfants jour et nuit. Le Ps 121:4 a bien dit « Voici, il ne sommeille ni ne dort, Celui qui garde Israël ».Que le Seigneur soit avec vous. Qu’il vous comble de ses grâces.

Vos frères dans la foi qui seront avec vous le début,

Samuel Laborde, Calvaire Clermont, et Saintil Farilus

Si vous voulez savoir plus à propos de comment vous pouvez assister, s’il vous plaît, référiez-vous à notre post d’hier qui vous fournira les renseignements spécifiques de cet événement.

(more…)

Last week, I was in Seattle with a group of men who shared two things in common: 1) They were all Biblical counseling experts, and 2) they all wanted to help Haitian pastors.

This is the counseling task force that will teach and equip at Churches Helping Pastors in May, where CHC will provide a week-long retreat for the beleaguered Haitian pastors. The team is Robert Cheong from Sojourn Community Church (Louisville, KY), Justin Holcomb from the Resurgence Training Center (Seattle, WA), Paul Randolph from Insight Christian Counseling, Mike Wilkerson of Mars Hill Church’s counseling ministry (Seattle, WA), and one Haitian pastor.

In our opening prayer time, Dr. Randolph prayed, “Lord, I don’t know how I ended up with a bunch of guys I don’t know in the back of a warehouse,” which was exactly how I felt. But, the Lord blessed our time together with aggressive planning and rich fellowship. We walked away with a plan for Churches Helping Pastors that I can’t wait to unleash. (So stay tuned!)

In the meantime, please pray for:

• An effective, gospel-centered counseling curriculum to be delivered to the Haitian pastors
• Sensitivity to the Lord as he is the counselor who will ultimately minister to people
• Haitian pastors who will receive this teaching
• People of Haiti who will receive this counseling from pastors

This week, my Sunday worship was in Haiti.

“This is my first time preaching since the earthquake,” said a pastor at the Tabernacle Baptist Church in Port-au-Prince to open his sermon. “It was difficult choosing a passage. I didn’t know what to say.” He continued, “I spent 24 years building my home, and it was destroyed in less than one minute. I remember pulling out my wife from the rubble …” he said, trailing off.

This week marks three and a half months since the Jan. 12, magnitude-7.0 earthquake struck just outside the capital. The event continues to remain front and center in people’s minds.

We sang songs about not being afraid. Then, in the middle of service, we turned to one another and exhorted, “Do not be afraid!” We read liturgy about not fearing. Then, came the preaching to hope and not be afraid. During that service, “Fear not!” the most frequent command in all of Scripture, took on whole new meaning to me.

When your very foundations have been shaken (literally), the only possible way to “fear not” is to hope in something that is unshakable, namely God. This church was singing it, saying it, preaching it, believing it, and most of all, doing it. Throughout the service, I felt like I was watching my favorite team hold the lead in a championship game.

With Pastor Jacques’ help, I made the announcement about Churches Helping Pastors. I invited pastors and church leaders to join us at the May event. Immediately after service, a woman leader in the church approached Jacques and said, “This is for me. I need this.”

Pastor Vladimir

Meanwhile, I went to speak with one of the pastors of the church. It didn’t take long before Pastor Vladimir, of Tabernacle, gently requested in broken English, “Please pray for me.” Concerned, I encouraged him to elaborate. “In the quake, I lost my wife, my daughter, and my mother-in-law.” He said that he needed Churches Helping Pastors. I prayed for him, took his picture, and promised that others would also be praying. (That’s your cue.)

I discovered that less than one week after this man lost his family, he was spotted coordinating water shipments for the STEP tent city. Those around him were startled. Pastor Vladimir was already serving again. He is an example to us all.

“We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies.” 2 Corinthians 4:8-10