“I have just returned this past Wednesday night from a week of ministry in the Caribbean. The first few days were spent preaching a series of services for Haitians living in Abaco, Bahamas—which number in the thousands. There are also 3 growing Haitian Churches there that came together for these services. The meetings were sponsored by our primary Caribbean partners in the BECA, or “Bahamas Evangelical Church Association” headed by Pastor Wilbur Outten. After the meetings in Abaco, I made a brief visit to Freeport, then on to Port-au-Prince, Haiti—our oldest field of service dating back some 40 years. I was accompanied in each place by NDI Board Member, Coy Tillett, who has led annual building teams to Haiti and the Bahamas for over 20 years. He was down with me on a recon trip to scope out the next church-building project that we will tackle early in 2008. I hope the following pictures will give you a quick overview of our time there.”
Each night we were blessed and inspired by the singing and worship of different Haitian choirs.
These meetings were organized by Pastor Wilbur Outten, from Freeport, who has been a close personal friend and NDI partner for over 30 years.
Me greeting the people after the service.If you think it was hot in the States last week—you should have been with me in the Bahamas! Each night after preaching I looked like I had just stepped out of a shower with my clothes on!
Some of the leading Haitian pastors and leaders who participated in the Conference.
After each service—lasting from 7:30 PM - 10:00 PM, Coy and I were soaking wet.
It was a joy to be at the Freeport Bible Church to preach twice on Sunday morning—where I have ministered many times across the years. NOTE:You can go to the “Biblical Principles for Living” page on this site to download the sermon I preached there on “Forceful Faith.”
Here is Pastor Tony, the young Haitian-Bahamian that Wilbur has been mentoring this past year.He is the one who will take up leadership in the BECA Church we built last year in Andros.After this year of practical mentoring under Wilbur, he will take up the leadership of the Andros Church by the end of this year.
It was a special joy to present to Pastor Outten and his wife Barbara, the plaque from the ECI Church that their church built in India this past year.They have a commitment to build 4 mission churches through NDI in as many years.
Here is Pastor Outten with Coy beside the van that NDI sent down to their church over a dozen years ago!It now needs to be replaced—and we need to find two more 12 - 15 passenger ones to send to Andros.So if you or your church has a good one to donate, please contact me ASAP.
This is the new church that Pastor Wilbur hopes to move his congregation in by the end of this year.It will be one of the largest in the Bahamas.
Pastor Wilbur inside of one of the Haitian churches we visited while we were in Abaco.It is under the BECA.When completed it will seat over 1,000 people and be the largest Haitian Church in the Bahamas.The Haitian members have already raised $125,000 to bring it to this level—but now need another $100,000 to complete it.Pray with us for a BIG miracle of God’s provision!
An outside view of this Haitian Church showing the large sanctuary area plus Sunday School rooms on each side.
This is the outside of a small dilapidated Haitian Church in Abaco that we plan to replace this next year with a prefabricated metal one that Coy will lead a building team down to complete.
When Coy and I were in Haiti, we spent time with NDI partner, Paul Fortune.This is his house that we hope to help him complete by the end of this year costing between $5,000 - $6,000.We welcome any help on this project for a very deserving brother and partner—and one who has been kidnapped twice!
This is a Hydraform Brickmaking machine that our friends from the VanWingerden Family bought in Africa and shipped to Haiti.They are going to make bricks for low-income houses in Haiti.This is the same system that we are hoping to purchase for two of our key partners in Africa—costing $25,000 each.They will be both job-creation and income-generating.
By the time this email reaches most of you, Patt and I will again be “in the air” headed for Africa!With only a 3 day turn-around from the Bahamas and Haiti, I am headed back to the African Continent.We will be ministering in Ghana, West Africa, then Ethiopia, followed by Sudan and Kenya.We will be conducting Conferences in both Ghana and Ethiopia, in addition to visiting new and growing agricultural projects in each country.In addition to Patt, NDI staff member, Matt Smith, will be going to Ghana with me to co-teach in a Conference on evangelism entitled: “Fulfilling Your Mission.“We will have several hundred pastors and Christian leaders from across Ghana, as well as from several surrounding countries.And as we do each year, we will be bringing down a number from the Moslem dominated north.
We will also be accompanied on this mission by my sister Judy Baer, and Lynell Bell, who will be teaching with Patt in the Women’s Conferences.Also, Len and Elaine VanWingerden, will meet us in Ghana to visit a new NDI/Double Harvest project there.After that we will be met by Bert Lemkes and Kelly Cantrell in Ethiopia.They will be with us as we visit NDI?DH projects in Ethiopia, Sudan and Kenya.So please be praying us through the following itinerary:
Aug. 19: Fly from RDU to Ghana
Aug. 20: Arrive in Accra, Ghana
Aug. 21-24: Conference in Kumasi, Ghana, with NDI partner, Yaw Asante
Aug. 24-27: Work on the Mfensi Conference Center and DH Farm
Aug. 28: Night flight to Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (only about 7% of Addas’ 4 million people have been evangelized)
Aug. 28-31: Conference for Women and Men sponsored by the Kale Heywet Church (KHC), NDI partners for over 25 years
Sept. 1-2: Dedicate new KHC Churches in Ethiopia
Sept. 2: Afternoon flight to Nairobi, Kenya
Sept. 3-7: Work and ministry in Yei, Sudan, with NDI partner, Dr. John Nyikako, at the “Eden Keeper’s Farm”
Sept. 7-8: Brief visit to South Horr, Kenya, to expand new farm project among the Samburu tribe with NDI partner, Stakwell Yurenimo
Sept. 8: Night flight home to the States
Sept. 9: Back home by God’s grace and through your prayers and support!
May God richly bless you for your spiritual and financial support of this latest mission trip!
For His Kingdom & Glory,
P.S. “The primary focus of our time in Ghana and Ethiopia is to equip pastors and church leaders through Conferences. In Ghana we will be conducting a Conference on evangelism and mission entitled: “Fulfill Your Ministry” from Paul’s admonition in II Tim. 4:5. In Ethiopia we will conduct another “Millennium Conference” (Since the Ethiopian Calendar is 7 years behind ours, they are just entering the “new Millennium!”). Each Conference will be attended by several hundred key men and women. And we feed them both spiritually and physically each day. We need $5,000 for each of these Conferences – which we have already sent by faith! We hope you will help us meet the financial needs of these Conferences by a generous gift – and as quickly as possible! Your gift will be a strategic investment in the spiritual life and ministry of key national leaders! God bless you for supporting Patt and me in this “ministry to ministers.”
I am primarily an evangelist and teacher who travels around the world in apostolic ministry as God leads and enables me. In addition to preaching and teaching the Bible, I mentor our key partners to be more strategic and impactful for the Gospel in their countries and cultures, just as they continue to mentor me. I am relationally focused rather than program or project focused in ministry relationships and partnerships. 
