In the span of one week, Haiti was hit with an earthquake and a tropical storm.
All of this comes as she continues to experience the worst political crisis in a generation that resulted in the assisination of the president last month. Here’s how you can be praying for Haiti right now.
Just after 8:30 in the morning, last Saturday morning, a large earthquake hit Haiti’s southern peninsula. The images from the affected area are horrible.
Good morning!
As I sit here and write this morning, I’m thinking about what the disciples were feeling today – on what has often been called “Holy Saturday.” They just saw their leader brutally crucified, and now he lay in a tomb – dead.
What now? Was hope lost? Think about the disillusionment they must have felt.
Of course, you and I know the rest of the story. A miracle bigger than they imagined was on the way.
Haitians right now are feeling incredibly high levels of disillusionment. Insecurity has become the norm rather than the exception. Kidnapping for ransom has grown well over 100% over the past several months, and each trip out of the house to buy water, or take a child to school comes with the risk of being taken and possibly murdered.
Even as I write that sentence, it feels like it should be hyperbole – but it’s a reality we’re living every day right now.
On Thursday night insecurity crossed a new line when a pastor was kidnapped from his pulpit in the middle of a service just 10 miles from here. I talk about that and how you can pray in the video below.
The question for us is: How do we make disciples during this time? From a human standpoint, there is no hope on the horizon. Many Haitians feel as the disciples did on Holy Saturday – wondering “what do we do now?”
This morning someone reminded me of Psalm 10 – and as I read it I was struck again at how often scripture speaks to situations exactly like we’re facing here right now.
The privilege we have right now as disciple-makers is reminding people that in God’s economy, evil does not have the last word. We know what comes tomorrow morning, and we know how the story ends.
We’d especially appreciate your prayers right now for our brothers and sisters here. To date, foreigners have not been targeted at all – but our Haitian colleagues are at considerable risk. Would you pray for God to encourage their hearts? Would you pray also for us that we would have boldness in the face of fear, and that we would have the right words at the right moment to encourage those God has placed in our path.
We’re grateful for you – and we’re grateful that together as a team, we’re able to shine light and bring encouragement in some of the darkest days of this country’s recent history.
Have you ever ridden a roller coaster? I remember the first time I stood in line for “The Corkscrew” as a kid – I thought “This is crazy!” But, when I got off, I thought – what a ride!
The academic year just wrapped up here. The exams have mostly been taken and the assignments have been turned in. As sit here and look back on this year, the first word that comes to mind to describe how many of us feel is “whiplash”, to be honest.
But, what a year!
We started the year back at the end of August with high hopes that the security situation in the neighborhood would remain stable. It did, for about a week.
Then suddenly in early September, the floor was ripped out from underneath us as Haiti was catapulted into the worst political stalemate in a generation. Countrywide unrest ensued with flaming barricades blocking roads in literally every corner of the country. As one week turned into one month and one month turned into three, we began to realize that Haiti as we knew it was being forever changed.
Confined to our homes, the STEP team began to ask the question: How do we keep the mission going forward while we can’t “meet”? The next thing we knew, we were well on our way down the path of exploring ways to teach that we’d never explored here before.
Of course, we never thought what we were doing would be permanent. As we found ways to teach classes via WhatsApp and other platforms, we did so thinking it would be temporary, a way for us to ride this out.
By December, the political situation calmed. In January, we breathed a sigh of relief when we returned to the campus and saw our classrooms full once again. We just didn’t realize how short-lived that relief would be.
Within a month, the security situation in the neighborhood declined and it was no longer safe to use the campus. We were forced to hold classes in a church on the other side of the city. That worked great until three weeks later when the first cases of the Coronavirus were announced in Haiti. Immediately, schools across the country were closed, gatherings of more than 10 were restricted and the border was shut down.
What we thought was a temporary solution this past fall, turned out to be a test run for the model we will be using for the foreseeable future. We are now well on our way to launching new distance learning options at the seminary that will increase its impact for years to come.
The start/stop/start/stop of the past academic year has left us feeling like we need a neck brace. There isn’t much about this ride that’s been fun. At the same time, the innovation these challenges have produced helps us see great value in this wild ride.
While this year has been a roller coaster we would never choose to get on, now that the assignments are in and the exams are taken, we give thanks to God. He has provided for us and protected us just as generously as He always has – and He has shown us anew how He is able to work all things out for good.
Thank you for partnering with us!
Remember us talking about the number of people coming to Christ in the neighborhoods just outside of the seminary walls last year?
Well, several months ago, some of our fourth-year students began to host bible studies for a few groups of these new believers. It’s been exciting to hear about the growth in these new believers lives as a result!
Just over a week ago this photo was taken in a neighborhood just outside of the seminary gate. This group is being led by one of our recent graduates along with some current students. Please pray for those involved with leading these groups as they continue working to serve the folks in our neighborhood.
Last weekend, Alex made his debut as a member of team Perkins in Haiti as we attended the missions conference at Calvary Bible Chruch in Derry, NH.
What a joy to have the chance to talk about missions and what God is doing in Haiti with these folks. We were encouraged to see so many come out for each of the sessions of this three day missions event here in New England. In a couple weeks, we should have the green light to travel a little more with Alex and we’re looking forward to getting him out to meet some more of you!
In the coming months, we want to introduce you to the team we work with on the ground. We’d love it if you would consider praying for them, just as you so faithfully pray for us.
This month, meet Andrikson Descollines. Andrikson serves as the Academic Dean at STEP while also teaching a full load of courses and helping with the preaching team at Quisqueya Chapel. He’s a busy guy!
I first met Andrikson in Haiti just as he was preparing to head to the States to begin studies at Dallas Seminary. It was a joy to later get to know him and his family during our time together in Dallas.
He graduated with a ThM from DTS in 2015 and immediately returned to Haiti to begin teaching at STEP. He quickly distinguished himself as a talented professor and was eventually promoted to the position of Academic Dean. Andrikson is a lot of fun to work with. He laughs alot and you can usually find him in his office with a pile of students as he helps them navigate their assignments.
When I asked him how we can pray for him, he said: “Pray for my wife’s health. Pray for my boys to focus well at school and to grow in their love for the Lord. Pray for my work at STEP, sometimes it can be overwhelming and very challenging. Pray for peace and safety for the area where STEP is located. Finally, pray for financial resources so that I can be able to provide for my family.”
Would you join us in praying for Andrikson and his family?
We’ve come across a couple exciting resources lately that we think you might find helpful.
First, the book: A Better Way: Make Disciples Wherever Life Happens, written by Crossworld President Dale Losch is available for free on Kindle today and tomorrow (Nov 10-11, 2018). This is a great book that looks at the explosive power of disciple-making and about “innovatively using one’s profession to launch disciple-making communities in the world’s least reached marketplaces.”
We may be a little biased, but we’re fans of Crossworld and of Dale 🙂 We think you’ll enjoy this read.
Also, we wanted to mention that Dallas Theological Seminary now has several free online classes available. Classes in everything from “The Life of Christ” to “Romans” to “Can you Trust the Bible?”
Click here to see what courses are available.
Grateful to be in partnership with you!
Luke, Becca, Grace, Lydia, Joshua and Alexander.
He’s here!
Exciting news!! We’re excited to introduce the newest member of our family, Alexander Chester Perkins, born Friday, October 12 on the side of the highway in the front seat of the car while we were on the way to the birth center.
You read that right. It turned out to be quite an exciting arrival.
Becca had been having contractions for a couple of weeks. They would come, and then they’d stall out again. So on that Friday, we weren’t sure if it was the real thing until later on in the evening. As soon as we did, we hopped in the car and headed for the birth center. Shortly after we got on the highway, Becca said: “OK, I think we’re gonna need to pull over.” By the time I got the car to a stop in the breakdown lane, Alex had arrived. I put the car in park, looked over and there he was. I couldn’t (and still can’t) believe it!
We’re so grateful for the Lord’s hand of protection on Becca and Alex during the delivery. Both Becca and the baby are doing great!
What were the stats? He was born weighing 5 lbs 12 oz and 19.5″ long.
What about that name? Alexander is a small town in northeastern Maine where many of our Perkins relatives come from and where we would vacation every year. Chester is the middle name of Luke’s grandfather, a wonderful godly man who was one of the first disciple-makers we ever met.
Where was he born? On the westbound side of RT 101 in New Hampshire. Approximately here.
