Training Pastors

I'm off to Haiti again! A small team (including two other men—Galen Currah and Paul Goodner) will be heading to Haiti this coming Tuesday for a Sustainable Church Multiplication workshop with a group of pastors from the country. The idea for this trip began about a year and a half ago in conversation with Patrick O'Connor (author of the book, Reproducible Pastoral Training) and a hope to participate together in the types of training that he does, but this time for the church in Haiti.

Patrick and Debbie O'Connor are missionaries supported by our home church, Grace Baptist Church in Newberg, OR. GBC also supports a pastor in Haiti, Riccardo St. Gelus, and the hope was for Patrick and I to go to help Pastor Riccardo train men to plant churches in Haiti, something that is part of Riccardo's vision for his country.

We began the planning process and Patrick introduced me to Paul Goodner, a colleague of his from Action International who has been participating with him in training church leaders around the world. A team was formed. We continued our planning process and decided on early 2013 for our trip.

As the planning process continued, it became clear that Patrick and Debbie were going to have a conflict with the dates for the trip based on his other travel and other ministry opportunities they were asked to participate in. However, Patrick asked Galen Currah, who happens to be a mentor of Patrick and contributed significantly to the materials that they use to train pastors, if he would be willing and able to go. Our team was shifting but God has truly put us together to accomplish His purposes. I am grateful to be part of this team and look forward to learning from them, even as I am able to help lead based on my relationship with Pastor Riccardo and former travel to Haiti.

So, we leave the Pacific Northwest on Tuesday, Feb. 5, and will return home on Friday, Feb. 15. We look forward to serving the church leaders who will attend the workshop that we have planned. We understand that some of these leaders will be coming from some distance and do not typically get to participate in such training opportunities with other pastors. So we ask you to pray for this trip and for the fruit that God can produce through it.

Reid

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Please pray for:

• Safety as our team travels, including easy entry into the country through customs and immigration.
• That we will have the financial resources that we will need to provide the training for these church leaders (we are hoping to help with some transportation costs for those traveling as well as providing lunch for these leaders during the workshop).
• That we will be open to the leading of the Holy Spirit as we interact with these leaders, using examples that will speak to their hearts so they are edified to lead well.
• That we will be protected from spiritual warfare that is very prevalent in country whose primary religion is voodoo (we have seen the effects of this religion during former visits and these pastors are very familiar with its grip on the country).
• That we will have opportunities to visit the homes and locations of some of these pastors to encourage them as they grow and seek to lead their churches well in the power of the Holy Spirit.
• That Pastor Riccardo will also be encouraged and that he and these church leaders will be able to take this training and reproduce it in their country in the training of other church leaders to the glory of God.