DAY THREE (January 4):
I gained an appreciation for the meaning of cockcrow today. I must have slept through it yesterday, but the roosters’ first crow came about 2 a.m. in the third watch of the night (Mark 13:35). Chanticleer let out a resounding call followed in turn by every one of his brothers in Borel—so it seemed. Almost at a signal they all went quiet. That is until about 3 a.m. when the second round began, this time more intense. Mark 14:30 became my predawn meditation. I pledged myself anew to Christ and asked Him to intercede for my weakness. I drifted back into sleep to be awakened at 5 a.m. by gentle music coming from the multipurpose building. At 5:30 a.m. the tempo and volume increased. Obviously this was the “rise and shine” call familiar at every camp. So, we did. The conference began the day with an hour-long praise and worship session at dawn (very appropriate), followed by breakfast.

Haiti Conference In Session

The conference schedule set Friday aside for workshops. Don Dennison began the morning by talking about missions outreach and the dynamics of church growth followed by Pastor George Yerger who focused on stewardship, zeroing in on the Biblical principle of tithing. After lunch, Pastor Primé spoke about church self-sufficiency and stressed what he called “the three pillars.” He said that without these three no congregation could thrive: sound doctrine, good leadership or authority as he called it and clear vision. During the final workshop session, my wife, Linda, and Martha Yerger spoke to the women and I talked with the men about the essential characteristics of godly leadership. We finished about 3:30 p.m. which gave about an hour free time before supper.

The Brass Band

The evening service began with praise and worship and concluded with a challenging message from Pastor Primé. Taking the conference theme of “Rise Up and Walk” from Acts 3, he stressed to the conference that churches need to be self-sufficient and not dependent on others outside to support them. He used the image of a child and said, “It’s understandable that a newborn or a young child needs his mother’s help, but if that child is 21 and still needs her assistance to bathe or feed himself, something is wrong.” After a short break, the Elim church from St. Marc put on a two-hour Biblical drama telling the story of Esther. Everyone enjoyed the play, especially the scenes portraying the beauty pageant and the one depicting Haman’s downfall. After the program we all visited together for a time before turning in about 10:30 p.m.

DAY FOUR (January 5):
Today began like yesterday with the chicken choruses and the morning wake-up music. After the morning devotional hour, the conference gathered in front of the guest house for a group photo. It took a while to get everyone situated, but there was a lot of good-natured teasing about who should stand or sit where.

Breakfast followed with the business session beginning with a roll call at 8:30 a.m. more or less. When it comes to time in Haiti, everything is more or less. The session took all morning and included various reports from the secretary, president, treasurer, youth leader, district overseers and others. Don also gave a report from CGGC Cross-Cultural Ministries. There was a rather intense discussion regarding the problem of getting visa permits from the US government and another concerning local church funding. At the end of the business, outgoing president Pastor Evenson Guerrier recognized a number of people and churches and officially installed the new officers. I had the privilege to offer the dedicatory prayer. The session adjourned at 1:30 p.m. to meet again in January 2009 in conjunction with the International Fellowship of the CGGC which will assemble then in Haiti.

Haiti Conference Officers

The conference provided a parting lunch for all the pastors and delegates. Most of the people headed home quickly, but a number lingered on the compound all afternoon. Pastor Ed Mikkelsen, Stacy Dix and Zach Frederick (from Indian Head in ARC) hitched a ride with delegates from Targette to Gilbert from whence they had a 150-minute hike further into the mountains. They didn’t get leaving until late in the afternoon which meant the hike would be in the dark. Indian Head is the sister church for Targette and is considering helping to build a new facility for worship and the weekday school. Stacy had visited the church two years ago with some others from Indian Head and at that time they were the first blancs (white people) seen there in twelve years.

Our pioneer missionary, Lois Habecker, was the first to hike up into this remote area and conduct Bible studies until a church could be organized. She did this many times over and several of our existing churches trace their start to her indefatigable evangelization.

Lois Habecker

Lois Habecker's Former Home

Heaven’s gain when she died was certainly a great loss to the Haitian work! The guys plan to stay overnight at Targette and worship with the congregation there tomorrow. They will return to Borel sometime tomorrow afternoon. I’m anxious to hear their report as I’d have loved to have gone with them and seen the work myself. We spent the evening on the compound reading and relaxing and went to bed about 9 p.m. as tomorrow we plan to be up at 5 a.m. to get an early start on our church visitation.

To Be Continued

Ed

NOTE: In our writing there will always be the possibility of errors. I just don’t always remember correctly or have all the facts. I beg your indulgence and ask that you give me a call or email me when a correction is needed.