Five days later...

Hurricane Isaac made its presence felt in Haiti last week resulting in intense flooding wreaking havoc in the tent cities where over 400,000 still live, making roads impassable, and causing a harrowing outbreak of cholera, which had already killed over 7000.  Twenty inches of rain is devastating for Port au Prince and its outlying areas.

With Isaac threatening the Florida coast, our trip in and out of Miami was cancelled, and Gilbert reluctantly agreed that with the deteriorating conditions in Port au Prince our seminar and small group training had to be postponed.  Doug Stevens and I, primed and ready to go, were disappointed, but more heartbroken for our Haitian brothers who continue to suffer one setback after another.

Gilbert, our wonderful liaison in Haiti, needs our prayers and encouragement.  My schedule is flexible enough that I will be flying to Haiti with a friend, Mark Hays (he has gone on a work trip to Haiti) September 1-6 with the goal of being an encouragement to our brothers, meeting with some pastors and small group leaders, and seeking to discern what kind of special help we can offer the pastors and churches in Haiti in the aftermath of this storm.  I am excited about looking for creative ways to match churches from the USA with needy Haitian churches through work projects and other ministries that will build sustainable relationships as we move forward with our work with TLC Haiti.

We need your prayers.  I look forward to coming back with a challenging report of opportunities available to us to expand our partnership with Haiti.  Stay tuned.

Five days and counting...

Five days and counting.  It's Wednesday and Sunday Doug and I will be flying through Miami to Port au Prince where we will arrive at noon Monday and then rush to our first teaching and training session.  It is supposed to be 93 degrees there--cooler than usual--though the accompanying 93% humidity will probably make it feel a whole lot warmer!

Welcome to summer in Haiti, where every day feels like summer.

Five days and counting.  For me it is making sure all are materials are in place, all arrangements have been coordinated with our faithful  hard-working Gilbert (we would be lost without him), and that I pack clothing that is appropriately cool and comfortable.  I am always amazed at the well-dressed Haitian pastors in their white shirts and ties while I am trying to wear "sweat-proof" clothing (which doesn't exist).

Five days and counting.  What we really need from you is prayer.  Would you join with us as we prepare to work with small group leaders and conduct leadership seminars at two locations in five action-packed days.
Our motto--"EnCouraging Kingdom Leaders Worldwide"--is what motivates me as we go to Haiti.  These five days will pass quickly and we will, Gilbert has told me, interact with about three hundred pastors.  We will have an opportunity to share our hearts with them, and to share the life-changing truths of God's Word.

Paul wrote about a similar experience he had among the Thessalonicans and this is my prayer, too.
"And we also thank God continually because when you received the Word of God, which you heard from us, you accepted it not as the word of men, but as it actually is, the Word of God,, which is at work in you who believe."  I Thessalonians 2:13.

Five days and counting.  Can we count on you for your prayers?







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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.