In early January, I had the privilege of participating in AFH’s second “Pastor Training” seminar in Fond Doux, Haiti. The training included about 30 men who were pastors from communities around the town of Fond Doux (a little place west of Petit Goave on the HT-2) and 40 other men from those churches who also wanted to learn more about the Bible.
We spent five days from 8am to 4pm covering topics pertinent to men who lead in the local church. These topics included qualities of a church leader, dangers specific to those who lead, God’s design for the local church with Christ as the head of the Church, and an outline of basic church history. Each morning we provided breakfast, then began with roll call, a couple of songs and prayer. We commenced with the topics of the day, divided into hour and a half sessions. The topics were taught and translated real-time by one of our translators. We used an inter-linear Bible on our projector showing the Scriptural texts in English, French and Creole. We even had power-point presentations which included illustrations of prominent figures in church history. We concluded each day with a question and answer session. During the day, our brothers had a book in which they could write questions about the topics. We reviewed this at the end of the day and would comment on some of their questions or have a chance to clarify our comments so we could make sure communication was clear.
Pastor training was conceived a couple of years ago in response to a need voiced by some of our Haitian friends. Many of the men who have the responsibility of preaching and teaching in the local churches possess fervor for the Lord, but they do not have many biblical resources or training opportunities. As a result, they are sometimes ill-equipped to serve the needs of the Body. To this end, we provided a notebook, a pen, and Haitian New Testaments to every man present for the training session. Additionally, we provided Creole concordances, Bible studies in Creole and complete Bibles in Creole to every pastor responsible for a local congregation. For the men who shepherd the local assemblies of believers, this was a welcome gift.
The week in Fond Doux was a refreshing work. I welcomed the privilege to pray and sing with my brothers in Christ, but to get to teach them was a unique experience. I loved seeing their faces, hearing their questions, and experiencing their growth throughout the week. At the end of the week, they thanked us for coming, asked us to come back (after we said we couldn’t stay), and even gave us a gift to give to our wives as a token of their appreciation for the sacrifice of their time.
This marked our second week of Biblical training for church leaders in Fond Doux and we already have plans for August of 2013. We had 74 men who completed the training and received a certificate. Another AFH training seminar takes place each year in Potino in July. We provide these weeks of training at no cost to our Haitian brothers (other than their own travel and time). If you have an interest in helping make these events possible, consider the following: For $15, you can pay for a Haitian pastor to be further trained in God’s word for one day, including two of his meals and some printed material as well. Would you join us in helping educate and equip some of the pastors and elders of Haitian churches? Please pray about how God could use you to help affect believers throughout Haiti.
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