For many years, Haitians have struggled to regain their economic foothold in the world. Hurricane after hurricane has ravaged their nation and caused unimaginable destruction. But God has even used the disasters they’ve faced to send His workers to help. Hopevale Church and CLC’s Multi-Language Media (MLM) team are two of many teams who have stepped up and began accomplishing great things within the impoverished communities left behind.
Hopevale Church in Saginaw, Michigan began partnering with Univers in Ouanaminthe, Haiti 12 years ago. They’ve been steadily working hard to improve the lives of Haitians for over 10 years, and started by taking medical, dental, optical, and even chiropractic teams to Ouanaminthe to partner with the Univers Medical Clinic. Continuing to grow the ministry, they also began to lead children’s camps and providing work teams to help physically rebuild the country. Finally, the Lord recently led one of their pastors, Ken MacGillivray, to establish the nonprofit organization Partnership of Pastors International to focus on encouraging, training, and resourcing Haitian church leaders. Their third conference happened in February 2018, and they immediately began planning the next one. Pastors Ken MacGillivray & Adam Harbaugh speak about the experience:
“A total of 175 Haitian pastors took part in the week-long conference, [while] learning to use the Thompson Bible and the other pastors’ reference books to strengthen their churches and reach their communities for Christ. It was amazing to see how eager and engaged these brothers and sisters in Christ were as we investigated God’s word together. They were so appreciative of these valuable resources for their ministries. None of that would have been possible without the over-and-above help of [Multi-Language Media]. We’re already planning a [fourth] pastors conference in early May 2019 – rescheduled from early March because of the social unrest in Haiti.”
Even among the hope that Pastor Ken and his team is offering, headlines like “Haiti braces for more violence” and “U.S. and Canada Warn Against Travel to Haiti” have appeared more and more in recent years. Recent violence has sparked among villages, so much so that mission trips and the next conference were postponed for safety. They need Jesus more than ever.
“We’ve seen the Lord use this conference over the past eight years to cross denominational lines and unite pastors in gospel ministry as well as congregational care and community development. And we’re just getting started in what the Lord can do to restore people and communities to Himself!”
Are you ready to answer the call? Share this story with your church. Pray for and with the Hopevale team as they continue to offer hope to the lost and hurting people of Haiti. Take part in the mission with a donation to MLM, specifying “Haiti” in your donation notes.