| During October Zane Darnell & Justin Avery traveled to Haiti and taught preachers in Lambi and in St Marc.
From Zane:
Our first stop was for three days of Preacher Training in the town of Lambi. Lambi is located about one and a half hours south of Port au Prince. This was the location of the epicenter of the earthquake in 2010. It took almost two weeks for anyone to get to them. There were many people who were killed or lost limbs. The new preacher at the church in Lambi, his daughter lost her right arm and her left hand. It brought tears to my eyes to hear their stories of survival. I really wished when I was here after the earthquake we could have reached them and tried to help them. The main preacher in this area is Jean Joseph St. Juste and he has started 197 churches all over southern Haiti . The church in Lambi sits on top of a mountain. When you look out from the church you see all the beauty of the Caribbean, but you look around the church and you the poverty of Haiti. But you also see the beauty of the people. We started the seminars Monday morning and Justin taught from the Book of Exodus and I taught from the Book of First Timothy. The preachers thoroughly enjoyed it and asked many questions afterwards. It was very encouraging to see them so hungry for the Word.
On Wednesday afternoon we traveled to St. Marc to start our Preacher Training Seminar there. Justin taught on the Lord’s Supper and Baptism and I taught on God and Jesus. There was much discussion and questions during these seminars, which was great. We love when they interact and ask questions. This lets us know they are really enjoying the teaching and really learning. And these preachers were hungry for learning.
Sunday afternoon we headed to our last destination of this trip, Gonaives. In the evenings on Monday through Wednesday, Justin preached at the Royal Christian Church where Jean Raymond Delzume is the Minister. This church is averaging 500 in attendance on Sunday mornings. I preached at the Raboteau Christian Church where Francius Joseph is the Minister and this church is averaging 150 in attendance on Sunday mornings. The crowds were not very big but we had a wonderful time worshipping and sharing God’s Word with them.
We also learned while we are here that a Muslim group, we are not sure if it is ISIS, has come to Haiti and are converting preachers by giving them food and money. Then they get them visas to travel to their Muslim country and are being trained as terrorists. This isn’t in the areas we work, but it could spread. Please pray that all preachers of the Gospel stay strong and true and not let the lure of Satan take them off their path.
Haiti may be a poor country, but they are rich in heart and spirit. they are many things we can learn from the people of Haiti.
From Justin:
We have spent 2 weeks teaching and preaching in churches in various parts of Haiti. We have met with ministers from every part of the nation. It has been an incredible experience in every manner of speaking.
I will share one story, one moment that has stood out among the many. We were conducting a seminar for pastors last week in the Carrefour region south of Port Au Prince. Approximately 25 pastors from all different parts of the country had gathered and we shared great times of teaching and encouragement with them. One pastor in particular was very insistent that Zane and I come visit his church while we were in the area. He assured us that it was close by and so we took one free evening to let him take us to meet with his church.
We were under the impression that his church was a short 15 minute drive away. We were mistaken. Under the best of traffic circumstances it would have been a 40 minute drive but on this particular night it stretched into an hour and a half drive. We were discouraged and frustrated because we had intended to visit another church as well and it was becoming quickly apparent that this was impossible as well as any hope of returning to our hotel before dark. The road wound higher and higher into the hills until eventually the car could travel no further. The pastor insisted the church was only a little further (as he had many times already). Zane needed to stay with the car because the area we were in did not appear to be the place you wanted to leave the car unattended. He left it up to me whether I was willing to hike the remaining distance to our friend’s church.
When I saw the pastor’s face and heard the insistence in his voice I knew I had to go. Ministry can be a lonely place. Being the pastor of a church can easily and frequently lead to feelings of isolation. We become convinced that we are on our own and our labor for the kingdom is unnoticed and in vain. I sensed in our friend that he just needed someone else to know that he was there. He needed to know that there was a brother in ministry who understood what he was doing.
As I stumbled my way back down the mountain in the dark trying to find the car I was no longer frustrated and irritated. I was humbled. God had chosen to use me to be an encouragement to this pastor. He didn’t need me to preach a sermon or bring a gift. He just needed me to be there, to see him where he was working. He needed to know that he wasn’t alone in his labor and his work was not unnoticed.
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