Pentecost Perspective

Pastor Jacky receives a token of his ordination (which was done completely in French): a Haitian Kreyol Bible. 



Pastor Jacky blesses the congregation for the first time as an ordained pastor in the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Haiti

In Acts 2, we read about the appearance of the "tongues of fire" which descended on the Apostles in the Upper Room in Jerusalem on the first Pentecost Day.  The immediate result of this miracle was the Apostles began to preaching in the languages they did not know, the languages of the nations surrounding Israel.  The Jewish pilgrims who had gathered in Jerusalem for the Feast of Weeks (or Pentecost as it was known in Greek) heard these uneducated and unsophisticated Jewish men preaching in the languages of the diaspora nations (Arabic, Greek, Ethiopic, etc.) from which they came.  The sign of languages and the power of the preaching brought about a tremendous transformation.  On that day three thousand Jews responded to Gospel and the Jerusalem Church grew by leaps and bounds.  On Pentecost Day, 2013, we celebrated by attending the ordination service of Pastor Jacky Chery.  Pastor Jacky was our Kreyol teacher when we first came to Haiti in January of 2006.  Six-and-a-half years later, after graduating from the local Baptist Seminary, he became the National Coordinator of Perspectives Reformees in Haiti (PRIHA), our French and Kreyol-language media ministry.  A year after starting his ministry with PRIHA, on May 19, 2013, Jacky was ordained as a pastor by his denomination, the Union of Evangelical Baptist Churches of Haiti (UEBH), a denomination which we also partner with for several programs.  We give God thanks for Pastor Jacky.  His passion and gifts for ministry are an encouragement to us all.  And perhaps Jacky's ordination is a great example of what the Holy Spirit did on the first Pentecost Day.  On that day, the Jewish faith held by a few of Jesus' disciples became a universal faith accessible to people from all nations.  Today God is raising up apostles from all nations, including Haiti and our friend and colleague, Jacky Chery.

A Birthday Surprise

May 21 was Zachary's birthday.  Like any good birthday, it was full of surprises.  Zach got up early (4:30 am)  to work on a handout for Pentecostal Theology that he will be teaching on the 23rd.  The kids woke up early as usual (5:30 am).  There was a lot of pressure to get breakfast made, lunches prepared, and kids out the door.  We all piled into our grey Nissan Patrol, turned the key, and.... nothing (but a few weak cranks from the starter).  Zach tinkered awhile, eventually giving up and sent everyone to our 95 Toyota 4Runner.  Sharon turned the key and.......nothing.  Not even a groan from the starter.  Zach played around for a few minutes trying to disable the security system.  Still nothing.  By this time the kids were late to school.  Providentially, a neighbor who goes to the same school was late herself and gave the kids a ride.   After dismounting the two car batteries, we purchased two more.  Zach and Sharon faced a challenging day preparing for training sessions for the training events planned for Wednesday and Thursday and dealing with some problems at the office.  Sharon and Zach took an hour to go out for lunch because May 20 was our thirteenth wedding anniversary (we didn't have a babysitter to go out for our actual anniversary.  After finishing our training materials late in the afternoon, we went home to another surprise.  A large transparent bug was crawling across our floor.  Having never before seen a large transparent insect, we where taken aback.  What could it be?  We have tarantulas, millipedes, scorpions, and plenty of other creepy-crawlies--but nothing that resembled this creature.  Apparently, it was an albino cockroach!  Now everyone fights a constant battle against tropical pests in Haiti.  Moreover, no one wants to find a cockroach in their home.  But nothing is more disturbing than finding an albino cockroach crawling across one's floor.  While Zach was looking for more cockroaches, he discovered that a wood-boring beetle was destroying some of our kitchen furniture.  Despite these surprises, Zach had a nice evening with his family and received a new harmonica to practice with!      

Zach gives takes his best shot at cutting a birthday cake for hungry kids.  It doesn't get any easier as you age....

God Wins!

The Villa de Woz church with its new wood-truss roof

The view outside the church where vetiver, a plant producing perfume, is grown

Isn’t it interesting how God can snatch victory from the jaws of defeat?  In the hills above Le Cayes, one of the larger towns in Haiti, sits Villa de Woz, a collection of several houses, a half-completed road, an unfinished foundation for a school, and a church without a roof.  Anyone with some knowledge of and experience in Haiti would not be surprised at the half-finished nature of the village, because the story of Villa de Woz is oft-repeated.  A handful of expatriate residents of the village immigrated overseas, made a living, and sent their savings back home to assist the community.  The goal of these immigrants was to build a road, a school and a church in the village.  The result was somewhat less impressive.  The person that they had chosen to administer the funds, a director of a local bank branch, pocketed at least half of the money transfers, leaving the projects barely started or, at most, half-finished.  Eventually, the residents ran this bank administrator out of town, but the money was lost (a Haitian would say: "Kob la te kraze" which, translated, means "the money was trashed").  When our partner, the CRC of Haiti, suggested helping finish the Villa de Woz church building, we were incredulous.  Could a successful project be mounted in a village of half-finished ones?  But God continued to convince us.  Eventually, after doing a small "test project" with the church, our donor SONBEAM International developed plans to put a truss roof on the church.  12,000 screws later the building and roof were finally completed.  The Villa de Woz church stands as a testimony that despite evil intentions, good can come about when serious Christians seek the Lord's will together.  We attended the dedication of the church building last April in the beautiful mountains of Haiti (see above).  Please pray for the Villa de Woz congregation as it discerns what direction God is leading it in ministry to its community!  Give thanks that, in the end, God wins!

Graduation for Pastor Guillometre

Pastor Guillometre is from a little-known place called Savannplat (translation: "flat savannah"). You can get to Savannplat during the dry season by car.  Otherwise, a mule or good walking shoes will be necessary.  When we first visited Savannplat, Pastor Guillometre and his church were meeting in the shade of palm branches spread over a "lean-to" structure.  A landowner in the area had allowed the church to use his land for the church.  Pastor Guillometre just graduated from the first level of Timothy Training, which means that he taught and participated in two modules, "Caring for God's People" and "Stewardship."  In order to graduate, he completed an action plan which including visiting struggling people in his community and improving the material condition of his congregation.  Pastor Guillometre is reserved and a hard working.  In fact, he is one of our better students (we taught him for three years in another program).  His congregation is struggling, however, as there are no schools in the area and farming has been tough the last few years (in Savannplat, peanuts, which are susceptible to drought and flooding, are the primary crops).  Pastor Guillometre has struggled too.  Just several miles away from Savannplat is the town of Thomassique, where World Vision has just constructed sparkling new offices.  Thomassique is also the recipient of several large aid programs (well-digging, agricultural development, and fruit tree planting).  We get the sense that Pastor Guillometre is a little discouraged that this kind of aid hasn't reached his church and community.  The power of the Timothy Training program in which Pastor Guillometre participates is that it encourages Christian leaders not to wait for aid from the outside and instead look to God and local resources for the answer to pressing physical needs.  We give thanks for a grant from Lakeside CRC of Alto, MI, which has assisted pastors from the Thomassique area, like Pastor Guillometre, to participate in Timothy Training.  Please pray that the vision of Timothy Training will catch on and churches will be empowered to seek the well-being of their communities through the power of the Holy Spirit!

Segaar-King April Update

Dear Friends and Family:

Thank you for your prayers and support of our ministry in Haiti.  It has been a very busy April.  We have received a team of 17 from Faith CRC of Holland, MI, and organized two training events in addition to our normal ministry activities.  Also, we have had a few challenges.  A Haitian orthopedic doctor diagnosed Sharon with a “partial avulsion of the quadriceps tendon” which means that when she fell, her tendon above her knee partially tore and took with it a small part of the kneecap.  The injury occurred in February and wasn’t immediately treated (as it should have been treated with a cast) because Zach was in the US for treatment of an eye problem so Sharon was alone taking care of the kids.  Now we are in the process of figuring out treatment for her hurting left knee.  We would appreciate your prayers.

Please join us in giving thanks for:

-A profitable visit to Haiti by Faith Christian Reformed Church of Holland, MI.  We give thanks especially for safety as much of the work was done on scaffolding.

-A successful training on conflict resolution and restoration in April.  Sharon helped organize this training in which two trainers from FaithCARE taught us and our partner organizations methods to enhance team functioning, build community and restore broken relationships.  Please pray that we and our Haitian partner organizations will continue to apply this training to our ministry—we have already seen some fruit from this experience.

-A successful Timothy Leadership training promotional event that Zachary helped lead in April.  A number of key leaders agreed to send their colleagues to our main training event in May.

-The joy that our children bring us with little kisses, hugs, and chocolate smiles.

Please join us in praying for:

-Our Timothy Leadership Training event on May 8-10.  Please pray that God would send a solid group including new and continuing participants and that everyone would be touched by God’s leading.

-Theological and ministry training in May for the leaders from the CRC of Haiti.  This group will be graduating in August and we would like to finish well.

-Pray for patience and healing for Sharon and her knee problem.

-Zach and Sharon’s family as Sharon’s grandfather and Zach’s grandmother both passed away in April.  Sharon’s last surviving grandmother is suffering from heart and liver failure as well.

FOR MORE PICTURES, STORIES, AND INFORMATION ABOUT OUR MINISTRY AND FAMILY, PLEASE SEE OUR BLOG AT segaarking.blogspot.com

Thanks for your prayers and support,

Zachary, Sharon, Hannah, Isaiah, Vivian and Esther Segaar-King
Missionaries to Haiti
Christian Reformed World Missions