My friend, Gilbert

Gilbert is a special man.

He is God's man.

He is my friend.

Gilbert and I were introduced to each other through Michelle Lacourciere, head of an organization that has helps Haitians establish small businesses.  Her work was heralded in a recent issue of World Magazine (Sirona Fuels).

Gilbert and I visited several times on the phone before two friends joined me in our first trip to Port au Prince in May of 2010.  I will never forget the smiling face--a face that has greeted me every time I have flown to Haiti--welcoming us into the 100 degree humidity outside the airport.

The purpose of our iniital visit from Grace Fellowship Church was to determine what we could do that would make any difference in Haiti following the devastating earthquake.  Gilbert answered--"Come and teach my pastors".  He was referring to the 9-10 men who pastored the four churches he had started several years before.  And we accepted that challenge because it represented the thing we desired in our hearts to do most!

We have now sent five groups to Haiti and Gilbert has traveled twice to meet our congregation in Amador County.  We have grown to love him and rejoice in the partnership that exists between our chuch and the four chuirches he pastors in Port au Prince, Carrefourpoy, Desca and Ballenger.

Gilbert is the key contact for us as we join with TLC in its burgeoning ministry in Haiti.  He is the one who publicizes our seminars, encourages the pastors and small group leaders, and facilitates every detailed part of our traveling back and forth.  We simply could not do what we do without Gilbert.

The joy of our ministry in Haiti is seeing how the Haitians respect Gilbert and how he continues to effectively and humbly allow us to participate in the process of teaching pastors.  In the beginning it was 9-10; now it is nearly 500.  Little did we know the influence of Gilbert in reaching his countrymen.

Gilbert is God's man in Haiti.

Join with me in praying for him as we travel to work together with him in Port au prince and Le Cayes later this month.

Water in Carrefourpoy!

Several months ago a member of our church provided the funds for the drilling of well in Carrefourpoy.  we have been waiting for that day and recently learned that there were some people there who would drill it for nothing, allowing us to designate these funds for other work under the umbrella of TLC Haiti.

The drilling began a week ago, after much waiting.  unfortunately, there was no water to be found drilling down to 120 feet and then the drill broke and a part had to be ordered.  It seemed like this worthy project would continue to be stalled indefinitely.

However, yesterday, Gilbert texted me the wonderful words "We have water at 165 feet!"  This is a wonderful answer to prayer and will be a huge blessing the people and children of Carrefourpoy.

Carrefourpoy

One of the churches we serve in Haiti is in a small town in Carrefourpoy, about two hours from Port au Prince.

Grace Fellowship Church, one of our supporting churches, has partnered with the church there and had engaged in several projects including a VBS, a repair of a roof over the sanctuary area, the building of a roof over the school classrooms, providing clothing and shoes for children, the establishment of a matching program for needy children in the school and families form the Grace Fellowship congregation--forty of them-- as well as support for the pastors and school teachers.  Over 300 children attend the school and are a part of a very needy village.

Recently we have partnered with the church in Carrefourpoy for the digging of a well.  This is a much-needed resource for the area and your prayers are appreciated.  Just today as I am writing this article, they have dug down 140 feet and but have still not hit water.  Pray today that God will open the waters to them so that the village can be blessed by clean water.

It is exciting to partner with a congregation in Haiti.  If you're interested in the Grace Fellowship Church story--a mid-size congregation--contact this website for more information.

Keeping up with Haiti

We have done some work on our TLC home page and you can go to either leadconnect.org or leadconnect.org/haiti for the latest news.

Our goal is to let you know what God is doing in Haiti and to enlist your support as we move forward.  We need your prayers specifically for these items currently before us.

1.  We need help in translating from English to french the 52 page manual for servant facilitators that we have just completed.  We need to have it printed for our upcoming seminar.

2.  We ask for your prayers for Gilbert as he is traveling advertising our upcoming seminar and leadership training  August 27-31.

3.  Doug and I would appreciate your prayers as we prepare the teaching materials for these seminars and seek God's leadership in how we can encourage Haitian pastors.


Thanks for your part, too.  We are rejoicing in this open door of opportunity in Haiti!

Prayer Points for TLC Haiti

God is doing exciting things with our new work recently launched in Haiti.  I wanted to share some specific prayer requests so that you will partner with us in prayer in moving forward.

1.  Pastor Gilbert Jules is currently in Cayes, one of the areas in which we will beholding our teaching and training seminars.  He is there this week doing some introductory training of our servant facilitators there and preparing them for our seminar August 27-September 1.  he will be doing the same thing in Port au Prince in the next few weeks.  Gilbert is our on-site director of the work in Haiti.

2.  I am currently putting the finishing touches on an introductory servant facilitator;s manual for our Haitian pastors.  TLC has an excellent manual that we are retrofitting for our Haitian brothers.  This will be an ongoing work as we learn more about how we can most effectively serve them.  I need to have this to Gilbert next week for translation (one of the many things he does for us), so that we can print it for distribution when we travel to Haiti in August.

3.  Pray for Doug Stevens and me as we prepare our materials for the leadership seminar.  Doug is formulating the topics we will be sharing.  In addition, we will be doing a training seminar in Cayes and Port au Prince for our sixty servant facilitators.  It will be hot in Haiti, incidentally, so pray that Doug and I will be energized in advance for our teaching responsibilities!

4.  I am actively fund-raising for TLC Haiti; we have a budget of about $120,000 for 2012-2013.  I recently set out communication about our goals and objectives for the next eighteen months to friends and family.  If you're interested in knowing more about TLC Haiti and want to be part of our team, please contact me at dale@leadconnect.org or daleabarrett@gmail.com.


Thanks for praying with us for God's work in Haiti.

Haiti...cholera again!

In a  recent conversation with Gilbert he informed that once again cholera has begun to ravage parts of Haiti, resulting in the severe illness of several within his extended church family.  He asked us to pray for his country.

Cholera is carried in water and when the rainy season comes and the streets swell with refuse and  runoff, coupled with thousands of people still living in tent cities with inadequate facilities, cholera becomes the marauding invader, and, often, killer.  Small children are the most common victims.

The frustration is that cholera is preventable and treatable.  Medical facilities and sometimes medical supplies are not readily accessible and the biggest antidote--education--is not always available.

Let's continue to pray for the leadership of Haiti--especially pastors who are leading congregations and schools and seeking to direct their families to the source of hope and help in Christ, while at the same time educating them about the ravages of disease--both physical and spiritual.

WHY TLC in Haiti?

There are numerous organizations at work in Haiti.  Many seek to address the physical needs of medical care, housing, food, clothing and job creation.  Still others are motivated to respond to the educational needs through the financing of private schools, the supplying of trained teachers, the provision of books and materials, and the simple task of getting children to school.

All of these are critical to Haiti's recovery and reconstruction after decades of political unrest and instability and the slow development and response of the country's infrastructure in the face of the seemingly relentless assault of natural disasters.

But the most important component of Haiti's long-term rebuilding may be determined by how well she responds to the deeply-exposed spiritual needs she has experienced in the face of pain and poverty, as well as devastation and death.

To these special needs organizations have responded as well with churches across America, as well as from other countries, sending missionaries and work teams to be ministers of Christ's love as well as to lay a foundation for hope.

So why TLC?  Are we reduplicating what others are doing?  Are we intentionally meeting a specific need?  Have we consulted with Haitian leaders in developing a plan to meet these needs?  These are all great questions and worthy of careful response.

1.  Are we reduplicating what others are doing?
     It is our goal to teach and train pastors so they can utilize their God-given gifts to serve their people.  It is hard to believe that there could be too many people doing this--fulfilling a biblical mandate (Matthew 28:19,20)-- in a country of over 9,000,000 people.

2.  Are we intentionally meeting a specific need?
     Our goal is to connect pastors to trained servant-facilitators (we will train them) in a small group setting where they can be encouraged and equipped for more effective ministry through peer accountability and problem-solving dynamics generated from within the group.

3.  Have we consulted with Haitian leaders in developing a plan to meet these needs?
     Gilbert Jules, an important Haitian leader and administrator(our liaison there), has told us that the primary need of the pastors is biblical teaching and training.  The small group dynamic he has affirmed as essential to ongoing spiritual development in the lives of Haiti's pastor/leaders.

I am sure others are doing ministries that address some of the same concerns.  However, it is our specific purpose to "EnCourage Kingdom Leaders Worldwide" and Haiti provides a special opportunity for us to do just that though quarterly seminars and monthly small group meetings.

Pray for us as we continue to do what God is calling to do in Haiti.  We've only just begun!!!