Once again God has proven His promise that He is able to do way more than we could ever ask or imagine. Once again I am blown away by how our God works. Once again I humbly write a blog update excited to tell of what the LORD is doing.
So, we have been dreaming of and praying for having a reformed church connected to the school and work being done here, a church which we could encourage people to attend and be a living and active member of, a church in this section of Port-au-Prince. Well, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church (OPC) and the Presbyterian Church of America (PCA) are both working here in Haiti, and have wanted to do a church plant in Port-au-Prince too. So we have connected with them, and after much talking, researching, planning, and prayer, we have decided to partner with them, for them to do a church plant here at the school. They will be doing the church plant, we will just be helping them out.
The goal is to establish a presbyterian and reformed church in the capital city of Port-au-Prince: a Bible-believing, prayer-saturated, God-glorifying, Spirit-led, Christ-exalting, outreach-focused, Training-oriented, worshipped-filled, people-loving body of believers.
The Name of the church is (in English), the First Presbyterian Church of Port-au-Prince.
Leadership Team:I am super excited about the leadership team the LORD has given us, and allowed us to work with, for this church plant. Let me briefly introduce them:
• Pastor Benjamin Hopp (ordained OPC pastor).
• Pastor Charles Amicy (ordained PCA pastor)
• Pastor Octavius Delfils (ordained PCA pastor)
• Pastor Leon Amicy (ordained PMH pastor)
• Randy Lodder (director of Adoration)
I am truly excited to work with this team. They have many years of experience, bring many different gifts to the table, and each have a passion for the magnifying the Name of the LORD, and spreading His fame and awesomeness here in Haiti. They also love the Word of God, and the Reformed faith, and see the need for this in Haiti. And also, what I am truly pumped about and thankful for, is Charles, Octavius and Leon are all Haitians: they are indigenous pastors, who know Haitian culture, the language and how the gospel needs to be contextualized within this setting, and have years of experience, and are fully trained and ordained. How amazing is that. (God can and will do way more than we can possibly imagine.) I am truly excited to be a part of their team and learn so much from them, as they have much they can teach me. I am so thankful for that.
A Brief History:
I just want to provide a brief history of the organizations involves, and how it has lead up to this point, with us moving forward with this church plant.
The Presbyterian Mission of Haiti (PMH)(PCA) has been working outside the city for the past 10 years, up the coast, with churches from Cabaret to Saint Marc. They desire to work their way all the way up to the D.R. They have a ministry center in Messailler (close to Cabaret), which includes a Training Center, Church, School, Orphanage, Office and House. (The center has received a lot of damage due to the last storms.) At this stage, they desire to do a church plant in the capital city, as there is no church in the capital at this point. Also, all three pastors live in the capital now, so of course it is on their hearts to have a church here in the city too.
The Orthodox Presbyterian Mission of Haiti (OPMH)(OPC) has their churches on the island of Lagonav. They had also started a church plant in the capital of Port-au-Prince, but this work was closed down in August of 2007. They, as well, desire to target the capital, as they see the need for a presbyterian and reformed church here in Port-au-Prince.
The PMH and OPMH are partnering to form a presbytery here in Haiti. This would allow them to have a governing body over the churches, as well as to further organize training for, and to ordain, leaders (pastors, elders and deacons). This has been agreed to in principle and work is going ahead to form a presbytery in 2009.
We, Adoration Christian School, (and CDIA) are working in Haiti as an Aid Organization, with a Medical, Educational and Spiritual thrust. We have been searching and praying about the opportunity to have a Reformed Church here in Port-au-Prince, which the organization could work side by side with, as right now there is no particular church in which we encourage people to attend and be an active and growing member of. Partnering with the PMH and OPMH is a huge blessing to establish a presbyterian/reformed church which could teach people about the Reformed faith and in which people could have their membership. We are excited about this possibility, to say the least. Again, CDIA is not doing a church plant, nor is Adoration. We are, and will be kept separate from it. It will be the PMH and the OPMH who are responsible for it. But the church plant will be using our facilities.
Starting Date – This Sunday: We are having our first Worship Service this Sunday - Sunday, October 26! I know this is 1 day from now, with not much warning, but things are moving. This service should be a beautiful one as all pastors are participating in it, a board member is here for the occasion, and we have a work team visiting us, who can witness it as well.
I guess things has happened rather quickly, but we have talked about it, sought out advice, planned, and brought it before the LORD. And now we are moving forward, with much prayer, humility, boldness, and expectation.
Prayer:Please pray for us as this church plant begins. We pray that a church may be established: one that is what our vision hopes and longs for: a Bible-believing, prayer-saturated, God-glorifying, Spirit-led, Christ-exalting, outreach-focused, Training-oriented, worshipped-filled, people-loving body of believers. This is Christ’s church and He will build it, and it is for Him. Our prayer is that we may have this as our focus and that we would move forward only in His strength, and for His glory.
Visitor/Team Update:Well, before I sign off, I wanted to give a quick update about the team that is here right now helping us out. Nicole DJ came last week and has been busy doing many, many tasks, from helping in the medical clinic, to building things, putting together teachers’ desks, taking over the office on occasions for us, organizing and cleaning. We are having a lot of fun with her, especially because she lets me win Ticket to Ride every night.
John K arrived on Wednesday and we have been having some great meetings with him and working through a lot of the work that is happening, reporting, evaluating, and planning. It has been a real blessing. And 4 other team members arrived Thursday: Leanne and Tanya from Carmen, and Andrew and Pierre from Carlyle and Glanbrook respectively. They finished their first day of work today, and got much accomplished. They did some concrete work and installed a drainage pipe, cemented a great platform for a pulpit, and have been doing a lot of fix-up jobs. They also plan to raise the front wall next week, and do a few fix-up jobs and build a few things for us. I don’t have any pictures right now, but we will post them as the week progresses. They also brought with them many donations, which we praise God for. Thank-you to so many people who donated materials, clothing, school supplies, etc. These donations will be put to good use, and will be a blessing to many people.
Anyway, I better get to bed, as it is getting pretty late.
Randy
Handing out invitations to the church to the patients at the medical clinic at Adoration.
Having a meeting, planning for first service.
The Leadership Team for the church plant, from left to right: me,(Randy), Pastor Charles Amicy, Pastor Ben Hopp, Pastor Ocatavius Delfils, Pastor Leon Amicy.
