“And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.” John 1:14
I love this verse because it captures so well the significance of what today represents. Jesus, although fully God, didn’t leave us on our own, but he came to us, and became one of us, so that we might see the glory of the Father and receive grace upon grace. What a miracle!
Not only is this a miracle, but it’s also the most profound example of the kind of servant leadership we aim to cultivate at STEP Seminary.
Here in this culture, leadership often involves creating a distance between yourself and those you lead. We see this on display every day as we watch government officials flying around the capital in their fancy SUV’s with sirens blazing.
At STEP, we’re working to produce leaders who see things differently. We want to see graduates who enter into leadership not for the prestige of the position, but for the opportunity it provides to serve the people God has entrusted to them.
One thing that helps foster this is the “Cleaning Day” we hold twice a semester. Last Friday, everyone from the President, to the professors and students left their ties at home and came to the campus dressed ready to get to work on the grounds.
While students learn a lot in the classroom here, what a profound lesson in leadership for them to see the President of the institution holding a broom and sweeping up trash.
As I watched the professors and students working together last Friday, I thought about Christ – who “did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant”.
As you celebrate with your family today, we want you to know how grateful we are for you. God is doing something wonderful at STEP – and we’re so grateful that this team (us here on the ground and you through your support) gets to be a part of it!
Ministry Snapshots
- In October, we hosted a new missionary couple in our home while they got adjusted to life in Haiti – it was fun for us help this couple in the same way that so many others have done for us while we’ve been adjusting.
- Also in October, we weathered Hurricane Matthew. Here in Port-au-Prince, we had minimal damage – but parts of the southern peninsula were devastated. Luke drove a delegation from STEP to the affected area shortly after it happened to assess the needs. Since then, STEP has been working with our grads to help get them and their churches back on their feet.
- It’s been a privilege for us use our home to host people both overnight and for meals. In November and December, we did a lot of this. In fact, every week now there is someone at our house for dinner at some point – either a missionary friend or a discipleship contact. Yesterday, we had 19 people over for lunch as we celebrated Christmas Eve together. This afternoon we’ll have another group over for another meal. We’re grateful that the Lord has provided a home for us to do this.
- Luke has enjoyed meeting again with the discipleship group he led when he was here years ago at Quisqueya Chapel and Becca has enjoyed developing a relationship with a new single mom at the church who is raising her baby while also navigating a physical disability.
- At STEP, progress continues on the construction on the new academic building. Just a couple weeks ago, the roof was poured and although the building isn’t finished yet, we plan to have classes meet inside next month. Continue praying as construction resumes in January and as STEP continues to pursue the funding needed to complete this.
How can you pray?
1) Pray for patience and endurance in language learning. We’re making progress, but it’s slow going.
2) Pray for peace in the country as Haiti weathers a political storm following the presidential elections last month.
3) Pray for Becca’s family as her father goes in for open heart surgery sometime in the next couple weeks.
4) Pray for some close friends of ours, the Broyles family (serving with MAF). Their son Elijah was medivaced to the US a couple weeks ago after developing severe pneumonia. Pray for his continued recovery.
5) Pray for wisdom in disciple making as we pursue the relationships God has given us here.
Jwaye Nwel!
Luke, Becca, Grace, Lydia and Joshua
