I pulled my three year old daughter Grace up into my lap, pointed to the man seated at the head of the table and whispered “Do you hear how he’s talking?”
“Yeah?” She said.
“That’s Creole. One day you’ll be able to do that. Isn’t that cool?”
She looked at him, then looked at me with wide eyes and said “Wow, Daddy!”
Just a couple weeks ago our dining room here in Texas was filled with the sounds of Creole as several of our Haitian friends in Dallas gathered for dinner.
As I looked at who was seated around the table, I realized it was a glimpse of the team we will be working closely with for the next several years.
To my right was Andrikson and his wife Magdala. Andrikson is a graduate of STEP, the seminary with which we will serve in Haiti. He is working on his Master of Theology (ThM) at Dallas Seminary and after he graduates he will return to STEP and serve as a professor, specializing in counseling.
To their right sat Jean Marie and across from her was her husband Jean. Jean graduated from DTS this past May with his ThM. He and Jean Marie are headed back to Haiti full-time to lead a lay pastor training program using curriculum developed at STEP.
To Jean’s right (my left) sat Frantsner, a graduate of STEP and current student at DTS.
Seated at the head was the man everyone came to hear: Wawa Jean-Baptiste who serves as the President at STEP. Wawa often wears a smile and frequently breaks out with this infectious laughter. He is the son of a former voodoo priest who came to Christ as a young man, was kicked out of his home for it and was taken and discipled by Crossworld missionaries.
Wawa’s story is fascinating (we’ll have to share more of it another time), and it’s his story combined with his vision that makes us so excited to serve under his leadership at STEP.
Wawa knows the power of discipleship because he has experienced it for himself. It was the power of discipleship that helped him go from a boy serving the evil spirits of voodoo to becoming the president of the leading evangelical seminary in Haiti.
Wawa believes, as we do, that for Haiti to see better days there needs to be a new generation of leaders developed that know the Bible and know Theology but also have a heart of integrity.
As Becca and I sat at that table a couple weeks ago and I reached for another serving of Pain-Patate, I thought: Wow! I can’t believe that God has allowed us serve with these guys and be a part of making that vision a reality.
As we move closer to transitioning away from Dallas to finish support raising in New England, would you pray with us about something?
50% by Christmas. We’ve had some great opportunities over the past few weeks to share about our ministry in Haiti and have had a few express interest in joining our team. Would you pray with us that we’ll reach 50% quickly in the next couple of weeks? (Shhh…We’re secretly hoping for 55% or 60%) 😉
In order to reach 50% we need committments covering $918 in new monthly support.
If we have 5 people commit to giving $50 per month and 7 people to commit to giving $100 per month, we’ll reach this goal. Would you pray God would bring these 12 people to our team?
