Segaar-King March Update

Dear Friends and Family:

 Greetings from Haiti!   In the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus prayed, “My Father, if it is possible, may this cup be taken from me. Yet not as I will, but as you will.”  At first glance, this prayer is unremarkable.  But when we realize that Jesus was facing torture at the hands of the Romans, death on the Cross, and separation from his heavenly Father, this prayer becomes inspirational.  If only we could learn about the submission and trust that this prayer represents! How our Christian witness would be more dynamic and powerful with these lessons!  Thank you for your prayers and support.  We pray that as we reflect on Easter and Good Friday, God will open our hearts the power of this kind of prayer.

Please join us in giving thanks for:

-Slow but measurable improvement in Zach’s vision.  According to the doctor, it could be another two months for complete healing.
-The ministry of Lesley Toussaint, Diego, her husband, and their children, Julianna and Emilio.  After five years in Haiti, Lesley is returning to Canada.  Please see our blog for more details.
-Continued progress on the Jacquet church building.  We hope the project will be completed in the next two weeks.  Kesnel Ady is back at work on the project after a bout of dangerously high blood-pressure.
-Jacky Chery’s (one of our Haitian colleagues) safe departure from the Central African Republic despite a civil war.  Please see our blog for more details.

 Please pray for:

-A safe and profitable visit to Haiti by Faith Christian Reformed Church of Holland, MI.  Faith will be coming at the end of March for a week-long service and learning visit.
-Important training events that we will be doing in April: A Timothy training promotional meeting on April 12 and a peace-building and reconciliation seminar we will be doing on the 23-25 of April.
-The health conditions of Zach’s grandmother and Sharon’s grandfather are deteriorating quickly.  Pray for strength and patience these final days.

NOTE: We are attaching a link for a You-Tube video that we have produced for our supporters and partner churches.  Please take a look at it receive a visual update of our work in Haiti.  It could even be used as part of a missions update during a Sunday morning service or during a missions/outreach committee meeting at your church.

Here is the link:   http://youtu.be/wzuNHpp_dFA   Depending on your computer, you can either “cut and paste” the link in your web-browser or click on it to view.

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

Good-bye to Another Friend

With a heavy heart we are preparing to say our good-byes to Lesley Toussaint, her husband Diego, and their children, Julianna and Emilio.  Lesley has worked for Sous Espwa as part of the Christian Reformed World Missions portion of the team.  She is a book-keeper by trade and we have benefited immensely from her expertise in dealing with our complicated accounting (we work in two currencies out of several different offices in Port-au-Prince and with at least seven different bank accounts).  In fact, Zach has been already lamenting her pending absence as she has helped many of our partner organizations organize their finances.  Lesley's biggest contribution, however, was in getting Perspectives Reformees (PRIHA) up and running in Haiti.  Though Zach originally championed the idea and continues to serve as a supervisor and liaison to the Haitian staff, it is Lesley's day to day efforts that helped start and sustain the ministry in its infancy.  We give thanks to God that PRIHA now has several competent employees and its broadcasts can be heard throughout Haiti.  Diego, Lesley's husband, was a key employee for the World Renew International Disaster Relief program in Leogane.  Unfortunately, Diego was laid-off last December when the relief-program closed.  Please pray for Lesley, Diego, and their family as they return to Canada where they have purchased a home.  It is very, very difficult for a missionary to leave the field and return to his or her home country.  Pray for patience, grace and a job for Lesley as it will be difficult for Diego to find employment immediately due to his immigration status.  Finally, pray for those who will remain in Haiti that we can manage in Lesley's absence.

The PRIHA congratulates Lesley for her faithful service

Coming to Haiti

On Good Friday a group of 17 youth and adults from Faith Christian Reformed Church of Holland, MI, will depart for Haiti.  The Faith CRC team is coming to Haiti as a “Service and Learning team.” The primary objective of a Service and Learning team is learning about the work and ministry done by Sous Espwa (the ministries of the CRCNA) in Haiti.  Also, there will be a work project which is the construction of the beams (to support the roof) of the conference center of the Ministry for Christian Development.  The Ministry of Christian Development (MCD) is an independent Haitian para-church organization that Sous Espwa engages to train church leaders in isolated rural areas of Haiti like Kenscoff, Hinche, and Meyer.  The goal of the conference center is to provide a place where MCD can hold its training conferences without having to rent facilities.  A secondary, long-term objective, is that MDC will develop local revenue by renting out the conference center to other organizations for training programs.  The learning portion of the trip will include visits to ministry sites, downtown Port-au-Prince, places of historical interest, and a functioning Haitian school.  At the school, Adoration Christian Centre, the team will be helping with "Agricultural Day" activities, which will include planting fruit-bearing trees, flowers, and sending the children home with planted vegetable seeds.  The biblical text for this event is the parable of the Sower (Matt. 13, Mark 4, etc.) where the children will learn how to be "good soil" for the "seed' of the Gospel.  Please pray for safety and success as we host this larger-than-average-group!  Faith CRC is one of our supporting churches and we want them to have a memorable trip.

What You Don't Expect

On Sunday, March 17, the coordinator for PRIHA, Pastor Jacky Chery, boarded a plane intending to go with Pastor Paul Mpindi and his wife to the Central African Republic (CAR).  PRIHA is the name for Perspectives Reformees (PR) in Haiti.  Pastor Paul the director of Perspectives Reformees (the French language branch of Back to God Ministries International) who records the PR's radio shows.  The idea of the trip was that Pastor Paul would mentor Pastor Jacky in the work of PR in the Central African Republic so that Jacky could better develop PR in Haiti.  The trip, originally planned for February, was delayed until the end of March because of a rebel group that was threatening the capital of CAR--Bangui.  Eventually a peace accord was signed between the rebels and the government and things returned to normal.  Several days after Pastor Paul and Jacky's arrival, the rebel group announced that the government of CAR was not honoring the accord and took up arms again.  In the space of three days, the rebel army brought the entire country (which is the size of Texas) under its control and stopped its advance at the outskirts of the Bangui.  Meanwhile, Pastors Paul and Jacky were trying to hold ministry events in Bangui.  Finally, on Palm Sunday, March 24, the rebels entered Bangui and Pastors Paul and Jacky retired to a theological seminary on the outskirts of the city.  Although international news agencies reported some looting and banditry, it appears that a tense calm reigned in Bangui, permitting Jacky and Paul get to the French Embassy on Wednesday, March 27.  On Thursday morning, March 28, Paul and Jacky made good their escape to the airport and flew out of Bangui.  We give thanks to God for protecting them on their trip.  However, we lament the loss of ministry opportunities and that PR’s staff members in CAR will have to continue to manage in a difficult situation.

Jacky Chery, PRIHA Coordinator