Preaching the Gospel

Last night, we were able to go to an evangelistic meeting at the church of one of the pastors who attended the training we had last week (he also happens to be a lawyer who helped with the purchase of the Saut d'Eau property for Pastor Riccardo last year). His church is outside of the capital city of Port au Prince in a region called Cabaret. This place is beautiful! It is North of the capital about 45 minutes but South of National 1 (the main highway throughout the country), which puts it right on the coast.



You can see from the pictures that it is about 700-800 feet in elevation but the ocean is still visible. The second picture is a shot taken back toward Port au Prince at night with the city lights visible. We enjoyed the hospitality of our hosts, along with the cool breeze in the evening that is different from the higher temperatures in the city.


The reason we went to this church was to take part in an evangelistic meeting they were having this week. Sunday through Tuesday night (all night) is Carnival here in Haiti (like Mardi Gras in other places). It is a big party and was held this year outside of the capital in Cap-Haïtien (pronounced Cape Haitian) on the North coast. As with Mardi Gras elsewhere, it is a big party and lots of music (the night clubs in Port au Prince last night were blaring). Many churches hold these evangelistic meetings at this time in contrast to what the rest of the world is doing.

I was able to preach at the meeting and chose Ecclesiastes 10:19 as the text. It is about the world's view of life which is all about doing whatever I need to do to be happy. Parties, wine, and money solve all of our problems. In the book, written by the wisest man on earth, King Solomon, he chronicles the plight of seeking to live life without God (using the phrase throughout the book, "life under the sun"). If you are living life without God, it certainly is all about doing what I need to do to make myself happy. After all, we should "eat, drink, be merry" (Jesus references the rich man in Luke 12:19 who has the same outlook on life).



However, Solomon corrects this misperception of reality in the final two verses of the book in which he states that our duty as humans is to "fear God and keep His commandments." I related this to what Jesus calls us to through the gospel. In John 3:36, Jesus says that "whoever does not obey the Son shall not see life" but the parallel is that "whoever believes in the Son has eternal life." Believing and obeying are linked together. Jesus calls us to believe in him and obey his commandments.

On advice of Galen Currah who is part of our team on this trip, I then referenced the gospel as Jesus declared it. In Luke 24, just before he ascended into heaven, he reminded his disciples of the essence of the gospel. It contains five points.

1. Jesus died


2. Jesus rose from the dead


3. We are called to repentance from our sin


4. We are then called to obey his commandments


5. He gives us the Holy Spirit to enable us to obey

Then we did something at the meeting that I have never seen at such a meeting (again, on advice of Galen). I asked those present to turn to their neighbor and ask if they believe in Jesus and then recite these five elements of the gospel to one another. This was a great exercise since many who attend such meetings are Christians and this was an opportunity to show these believers that they can easily share this gospel with others they know so they can be rescued from the trap of the world in which they seek their own pleasure rather than seeking to obey God's commandments. It was fun too!

Please pray with me that this church will be strengthened and that many will come to believe in Jesus through their testimony.

Location:Haiti