The mission of Hope For The Hungry is to "Share the Bread of Life with a Starving World". God has called us to serve people who suffer from hunger that is both spiritual and physical. According to scriptural mandate, we offer food for the body and salvation for the spirit to those who do not know Jesus Christ and will suffer eternal death without Him.

Monday, April 20, 2015

In Awe

We are headed home today with joyous hearts for what God has done this week.

As we said goodbye to pastors on Friday and Saturday, I was amazed at what they gave up to come to the conference this past week.

First, none of these pastors work in churches that are able to pay them.  They all serve because God has called them to serve.  This means they all have other jobs to help provide for their families.  Most of these pastors are from rural areas where they farm too.  To spend four days with us, plus a day of travel at either end of those four days, meant great sacrifice for the pastors and their families.  It says a great deal about their hearts and where their priorities truly lie.

Secondly, many of these pastors traveled very far to join us.  While Haiti is a small country the road system is lacking which makes travel much more difficult.  We had many pastors that traveled from villages that were more than 6 hours away.  One group of 5 pastors walked  from a village far in the mountins where there are no roads.  Their journey took them over five hours one-way, EVERY DAY.  Folks, that is commitment.

Finally, these pastors are hungry for God's Word and for biblical encouragement.  I've already mentioned in the previous blog how excited they were to receive the discipleship materials we were able to provide.  I wish I could accurately describe the joy on each face as they received their materials.  It brings new understanding to "the joy of the Lord" and "delight in His Word".

Thank you again for your prayers.  Please continue to lift these pastors in prayer as the Lord brings them to your mind.  We are already praying and thinking about what the Lord will have us do for the 2016 Pastors Conference.

Friday, April 17, 2015

Pastors Conference 2015 Final Day

It is been a joy to share this week with these Haitian pastors and church leaders.  They are all such tremendous men and women of God and I am honored to have been a part of this conference.  Our American pastors have been fantastic and done such a wonderful job sharing their hearts.

Today we distributed the discipleship materials and books that we brought with us.  52 churches were blessed with new discipleship materials that will train and equip their people to grow in their relationship with Christ.  Thank you to everyone that has donated to make this possible.  Thank you to CLC Canada and Rod Fowler for working with me on getting these resources together.  Thanks to Nueva Vida en Cristo (New Life in Christ) for their support and generous provision of materials for these pastors.  I cannot begin to describe the joy and excitement as these pastors received their new materials. 

To our great surprise, the Haitian pastors blessed each of our American pastors with a small memento of our time here in Haiti.  They all thanked us and then the pastors gather around our team and prayed for us.  It is overwhelming to here so many people crying out to the Lord over you and for you.  It only serves to deepen my affection for these wonderful servants of the Lord and the communities they serve.

We have enjoyed our time with at the conference but we are ready for our day of rest tomorrow.  Pray the Lord gives us the rest and recharge we need as we prepare to preach in different churches on Sunday.









Thursday, April 16, 2015

Pastors Conference Day 3

We finished our third day of the conference well today.  Today we focused on some practical application of discipleship methods in the church.  The pastors were challenged and very excited about the information and the opportunities they would have in the near future to apply their learning.

Pray for these Haitian pastors.  They have tremendous hearts for the Lord and for their people.  We have bombarded them with a great deal of information, advice, scripture, and instruction.  I know that at times the flood of data has been overwhelming.  Pray that the Lord will give them a clear place to start and the patience and perseverance to see it through.

There are a group of young seminary students that have joined us this week.  They have traveled from a village over 4 hours to the south-west of where we are meeting.  One of the young men in the group had his 25th birthday today.  We sang happy birthday to him during the conference meeting.  This young students are eager to learn and I am glad they have had the opportunity to join us this week.  I look back on my seminary days and wonder if I would have traveled four hours away from home to spend a week at a pastors conference rather than celebrating with family and friends.

Tomorrow is the final day of the conference.  Pray for our team that the Lord will energize us to finish well.  I am looking forward to distributing the materials we have been able to bring with us.  I am so grateful for the many people that have helped make this possible through their prayers and their generosity.  As I left the office last week, we were still far short of our financial goal but I continue to trust the Lord to provide as we follow Him in obedience and work diligently to empower His church here in Haiti.

If you would like to donate in support of this Pastors Conference, make a donation to Hope for the Hungry, PO Box 786, Belton, TX 76513 and designate the gift for Haiti Pastors Conference.

I praise the Lord for what He has done and will continue to do.  He has brought together a wonderful team that is blessing the lives and ministries of these pastors and church leaders.  I look forward to a strong finish tomorrow.

Wednesday, April 15, 2015

Pastors Conference 2015 Day 2

Another great day has come to an end.  Today we focused on the topic of Discipleship and the role pastors must play in equipping their churches to grow in their walk with the Lord.  Once again the pastors and church leaders were so engaged and attentive.  They had many great questions centered around their desire to know more and be all that God has called them to be.

I am amazed at the dedication of these men and women of the Lord.  Almost all of them receive no salary from their church and yet never waiver in their dedication to God's call on their lives.  They all have limited materials, buildings, and resources and yet manage to lead growing, dynamic churches.  Most have no formal training, but are faithful to the Word of God and passionate in their witness to His saving work through Jesus Christ.

Thank you all for your continued prayers.




Tuesday, April 14, 2015

Pastors Conference 2015 Day 1

We are off to a great start.  The pastors and church leaders poured in from all over the country to worship and learn.  They are so engaged and so grateful for the time we are getting to spend encouraging and challenging them with God's Word and His instruction.

Today's topic was Church Administration.  This is a difficult concept to teach and a difficult concept to keep people interested in, but our American pastors did a fantastic job.  The Haitian pastors and church leaders were connected from beginning to end and had some great follow-up and clarification questions.  They are hungry for knowledge and wisdom and I am so glad that we are able to partner with each one of them and their churches.

It is such a blessing to be able to invest in local churches here in Haiti.  They are here in the trenches of daily life, serving the Haitian people for the glory of God.  Foreign aid may come and go.  Short-term teams serve their purpose and then depart.  But these pastors are here day-in and day-out loving their people, reaching the lost, and equipping the next generation of leaders.  It is our great joy that God would use us to come alongside these leaders and pastors to help them accomplish all that the Lord has called them to do.

Continue to pray for our team, our translators, and the pastors.  We begin to dive deeper into the material tomorrow as we tackle to topic of Disciple-making.  We are eager to see what the Lord has in store for us as we obediently serve Him.

We have arrived!

After a couple of days of very easy travel our team has arrived in Haiti once again.

We are excited to be here and look forward to what the Lord wants to do this week.

Please pray for all the pastors and church leaders that will join us this week from all over the country. We are anticipating close to 250 in attendance.

Pray for our team as we teach and lead.  Our heart's desire is to be an encouragement to these leaders and to lift high the name of Jesus for His glory in the churches here in Haiti.

Pray for our translators.  Pray that our words are clear and easy to communicate.  Pray that God's Truth is clear and speaks beyond language and cultural differences.