Pastor Robert Cheong, of Sojourn Community Church in Louisville, Kentucky, was one of four counseling experts from the U.S. who taught at our pastors retreat last month. The following are excerpts from his travel journal entries, published in full over on Sojourn’s blog.
At the end of April 2010, I received an invitation to be a part of a team to lead a pastors retreat in Port-au-Prince, Haiti sponsored by CHC. We had one month to plan and pull together all of the details! The goal of the retreat was two-fold: first, to renew, encourage, and strengthen Haitian pastors with the gospel, and second, to equip them to care for and counsel their people with the gospel once they returned to their towns.
Day 1: Reality in Haiti
Sunday, May 23
I stepped into Sea-Tac airport in Seattle, already tired and fatigued after teaching a Doctoral level class in Marriage and Family Counseling at Northwest Baptist Seminary in Tacoma, WA for three days straight for a total of 24 hours. God had blessed my time there as the students gained a better grasp of the gospel for their own lives, family, and ministry. I prayed that the Haitian pastors would experience this same transformation but I knew that we would have extra challenges with teaching through translators.
Day 2: God’s Faithfulness
Monday, May 24
God was working powerfully as we saw Him breaking down the stoic culture of Haitian men through two specific ways. First, the Haitian pastors who agreed to lead the 25 small group arranged by regional clusters agreed to lead their groups with honesty and openness regarding their struggles since the earthquake. Second, when Paul Randolph was listing the symptoms of post-traumatic Stress in the first session, the pastors were openly acknowledging their struggles through a show of hands. Pastor Luke shared about his suffering as he lost both a son and daughter on the same day through the collapse of two separate educational buildings. His son was the only student who was killed at STEP seminary and his daughter was killed as she attended classes in a downtown building. God used Pastor Luke’s testimony to personalize the grief and pain in my heart and mind-suffering in Haiti was no longer a concept, but real grief was now connected to a real person, up close and personal.
Day 3: A Birthday and a Spiritual Battle
Tuesday, May 25
During a Q&A time that followed the teaching sessions, a pastor shared that he had taught the 1 John 4 passage many times, but he never saw the connection that his failure to love made him a hypocrite. He went on to share that the Lord convicted him deeply about being a hypocrite-he was referring to the point I made that growing in God’s love drives out hypocrisy (cf. v. 20), “If anyone says, “I love God,” yet hates his brother, he is a liar. For anyone who does not love his brother, whom he has seen, cannot love God, whom he has not seen.” He shared very openly and honestly that he was bitter against a friend who distributed relief aid to surrounding churches, except to him and his church. I praised God not only for the Spirit’s conviction but also for compelling the pastor to share transparently before his fellow pastors.
Day 4: Teaching & Longing for Home
Wednesday, May 26
The rest of the day was highlighted by an energetic Q&A session where the pastors asked thoughtful questions about Christian counseling versus secular counseling, how to minister to children in their grief, how to equip members for gospel ministry given they are the only paid staff, note-taking during counseling, how to teach church members about love in tangible ways, and how to minister to those dealing with anger, confusion, and fear-especially fear of going back into homes or other buildings with concrete roofs. Whew! The pastors seemed to get a lot from these Q&A sessions.
Lunch was a choice between whole fried fish, heads and all, or goat, along with rice and beans and a delicious grapefruit casserole. I chucked because I remembered seeing Wah-Wah off load several ‘hog-tied’ goats from the back of his pick-up truck earlier in the morning.
Day 5: The God of All Comfort & Tent Cities
Thursday, May 27
I woke up around 3:45am by a loudspeaker that amplified the drone of a Haitian man whose message was delivered in a militant-like cadence. It was hard to go back to sleep because I thought I heard the jeer of a crowd, which caused my mind to imagine a rebellious uprising taking place right outside the seminary walls. The loudspeaker finally died down after about 30 minutes and I fell back to sleep. I woke up around 5:45am by the ritual rising of the tropical sun, the raspy crows of roosters and the charcoal smell of the open-fire kitchens. Immediately after waking up, the Lord reminded me of my craving for comfort, but more importantly, He reminded me of who He is. Forgive me Lord for seeking comfort apart from You, the God of all comfort (cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-5).
… We were all tired but extremely thankful for the privilege to minister to our Haitian brothers. We praised God for His faithfulness and for enabling the gospel to do its transforming work in our hearts and in the lives of the Haitian pastors. We were amazed how God lavished his grace and wisdom upon us as he allowed us to get a glimpse of His vision, to witness the conference become a reality and to take part in a God-sized event that will have a lasting impact on the pastors and people of Haiti!
Day 6: Leaving Haiti & the Trip Home
Friday, May 28
The flight from Haiti to Miami was a blessing as I sat between an Army soldier stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and a non-profit business owner who has devoted her life helping the Haitian people find jobs. The conversation was filled with talk about God, His gracious and saving work accomplished through His Son Jesus Christ, and the need to share the gospel. I also marveled at God’s creation as we flew over several Caribbean islands embedded in a sea of deep blue and emerald green waters. I always flash back to my days in the Navy when I experienced the beauty of the vast ocean, whether on an old destroyer, cruiser, or a super aircraft carrier. God has blessed me with diverse life experiences that He has used to grow and change me. Praise Him!
… I praise God for the unique opportunity to minister with a team of pastors from across the country to pastors who lived in totally different country. Despite the ethnic and culturally differences, we are all one family, who share the same faith, hope, and love in Christ! We all recognized that God enabled us to participate in something that was above and beyond what we could ever ask or think (cf. Eph. 3:20).
Pastor Robert serves in the Care & Counseling ministry at Sojourn. Dr. Cheong, holds a PhD in counseling and MDiv from the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, and served in the U.S. Navy and trained in nuclear power matters before becoming a pastor.
