Category: Blog

Time: January 18-21, 2014

Place: Fourby, Haiti (Near Jean Rabel)

Team Members: Philip Rudolph, Glen Yoder, Michael Rudolph, two Haitian translators & the local coordinator

 On Friday morning, January 17, Philip, Glen, and Michael were packed, and leaving Port au Prince for the north!  This trip was highly anticipated for 2 years now by the pastors and leaders in Fourby, Haiti.  The journey from Port au Prince to Fourby in nice weather with “good” roads is approximately 9 ½ hours (with a stop for supplies).  On this trip the team was pleased to find that the roads were passable, though there were some pot holes large enough to drive a truck into, and the dust was 6” thick in some areas. 🙂  However, they did not have breakdowns or get stuck, which was a huge blessing.

Let me give some background and information on Fourby, Haiti…

Fourby is about an hour south of the larger region of Jean Rabel.  This area is one of the poorest regions in northwestern Haiti.  The community of Fourby itself is very isolated, and the poverty extreme.   Approximately three years ago (in 2011), AFH had their first pastor’s conference in Fourby.   Shortly thereafter, some leaders and pastors from this area requested that AFH return to teach them further from the Word of God. They stated that they had a list of 70 men interested in attending another conference for pastors.   Since then, Michael has been contacted by these leaders numerous times, and was told that these 70 men were still eagerly waiting!  God provided AFH with the financial capabilities, as well as other open doors to make it possible to return this January.

Friday evening, the team arrived in Fourby – freshly coated in dust!  They set up the projector, prepared the meeting building for sessions, and got their living area arranged for the next several days, then went to bed. This was no luxury suite – there were 5 men with all their supplies in about an 8′ x 10′ room, and that made for very crowded quarters! 

Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Tuesday each had 3 sessions plus a question and answer time, with Philip and Glen preaching through translators.

Glen is from Kentucky; he is an elder in a sister church to Philip’s assembly in TN.   Philip has known him for 14 years. Glen was in Haiti with a work team in 2013, and he agreed to go along to help teach at this pastor’s conference.  He very quickly adapted to teaching through a translator. His series on “The Man of God” focused on character qualifications and abilities that are required in order to be effective as a leader.  At one point while he was teaching about the various duties that need to be performed by leaders in the church, he began to pull balls out of his pocket and juggle them, to the delight of the men!  While he was juggling, he told them that while they’re fulfilling their task as a teacher, they must also fulfill it as an example; and while they are teaching and being an example, they must also be guarding against the dangers from outside the church. A leader must not drop the ball in any area. It was truly an electric moment, and he was able to reach their hearts through his demonstration and teachings.

Glen and Pastor Bono

Philip taught eight sessions answering the question, “What is the Gospel?” He was able to cover this subject in depth, beginning with man’s responsibility to God as his Creator and reckoning with His holiness. They covered the subject of man – who he is as a sinner, and his separation from God. They looked in depth at the substitutionary death of Christ as the answer to the guilt and sin of man.  They concluded the sessions with man’s response; “…repentance toward God, and faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ.” Acts 20:21

One of the highlights of the conference was the level of maturity found in the men.  This is AFH’s 9^th pastor training week. Usually there are younger men that attend, if there is room.  However this time, it was middle aged and older men, which added a universal maturity and wisdom that is typically uncommon for such a large group. This gave the teachers the opportunity to dive into deeper issues and levels of teaching.  Another highlight was simply the fact that attendance to the sessions was nearly perfect – the men were faithful and so interested in all they could take in.  Such commitment was a huge blessing and encouragement to the team!

These men were noticed between sessions talking about what they were learning, going over their notes, and discussing Scripture. The older man is a deacon and he was explaining more about the lessons they had covered.

Voodoo is deeply ingrained amongst the people in the Fourby area.  The local church has faced some persecution, especially during its beginning years ago as the Christians were starting to step away from the traditions of their community. When they began to build their first meeting house – they would plant and set the first poles of the building into the ground. During the night, someone opposed to them (probably the witchdoctor’s cronies) would come and tear them out, ruining their day’s work and preventing building progression. This event took place a number of times.  Pastor Bono had some people tell him that if he doesn’t stop trying to have a church there, they would put a spell on him and kill him.  But he was determined to press on, and said he didn’t care about their threats – he had to move ahead.  He said that actually, all the men who tried to put a spell on him died within a year.

On this trip to Fourby, the local elders from this assembly requested to have a meeting with Glen, Philip and Michael. They explained that their church separated from another larger denomination some time ago.  They felt it was time to get away from the hierarchy type of church government that they were a part of; that they were being controlled by a denomination rather than the New Testament.  When they were a part of that denomination, they did not have the liberty to pursue their responsibilities as a local church separate from the organization that was over them. They have a vision to be completely under the headship of Christ and His Word.  So they asked for Glen and Philip’s input on a few issues. For one thing, they are having problems with the Haitian government not recognizing them as a registered church. This means that they cannot provide birth certificates or wedding certificates for individuals in the congregation.  Philip and Glen were able to encourage them to be patient and continue on.  They were also able to speak with another friend of theirs to help get permission for this assembly to be a local, New Testament church, and hopefully become recognized by the department of religious affairs in Haiti.  Please pray for God to open doors so that this could happen.

These are some of the primary people who helped make the conference possible – food/lodging/translating/local coordinating.

Wednesday morning, the conference was finished and the team headed south to Port au Prince to fly home the next day.  They are excited about what God did in Fourby, and ask that you join us in prayer for the men who were able to study the Word of God with them. Pray that God would use what the men discussed and learned to further His kingdom for His glory and honor.  The men that attended the conference actually come from many small communities in the Jean Rabel/Fourby area.  They have the potential to impact many people, by God’s grace.  Pray that they would be able to effectively communicate truth and God’s Word in their homes, assemblies, and schools. Pray that God would open hearts as people hear the Gospel and the truth of the Scriptures.