Perspectives Reformees Graduation 2014

Thirty-five of the thirty-seven graduates since together at the end of the graduation ceremony.

Zach prays that the graduates can use their learning in the Bible correspondence course to serve their communities and churches in Jesus' name.

It is always a blessing to witness the completion of a course of training, whether it be from a three-year-long formal institution or an informal course of study.  On 29 March, Zach participated in the graduation of 37 students from the Perspectives Reformees of Haiti (PRIHA) Bible Correspondence Course.  PRIHA is a ministry of Sous Espwa (the collaboration of CRCNA agencies in Haiti) and is a partnership between Christian Reformed World Missions and Back to God Ministries International.  PRIHA's ministry sits on two pillars: radio broadcast of the Perspectives Reformees program and the distribution of the Bible correspondence course.  Student-listeners of PRIHA can come to the PRIHA follow-up center to get answers to questions about the program and the Bible study.  The numbers of participants in the correspondence course are challenging.  There are approximately 1,500 students at any one time in all three levels of the Bible study (approximately 12 lessons in each level).  The only way that the individual lessons can be graded (as PRIHA has only two full-time staff) is through volunteer graders.  We give thanks for these hard-working servants of God who spend many hours reading through hundreds of lessons.  They only send the hardest questions back to PRIHA's administration to answer!  These graders are an inspiration to us in an age where it is sometimes feels impossible to find volunteers to do the work of the church.  Please pray for PRIHA, its volunteers and its correspondence course ministry!

Segaar-King March 2014 Update

Dear Friends and Family:

Sitting in small Haitian church on a balmy Saturday morning in a suit and tie, perhaps the last thing Zach’s mind was Paul’s words in 2 Timothy 2:2 (“And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable men who will also be qualified to teach others”).  However, this was the theme for the graduation ceremony of 37 participants in the Bible correspondence course run by Perspectives Reformees Haiti (PRIHA), a joint ministry of CRWM and Back to God Ministries International (see our blog for pictures).  Though it was exciting to see so many people graduate (some of which have been in the course for several years), it was bittersweet because this course will no longer be offered (see prayer request below).  At the end of May, these graduates (and hundreds of other participants) will hopefully participate in PRIHA’s Conference for Pastors where we will be looking at the challenges and Biblical solutions to the pit-traps of pastoral ministry.  If you are wondering what these are, just ask your pastor.  Be ready to listen for a long time!

Please join us in giving thanks for:

-Sharon’s successful visit to the Vila de Wòz church in preparation for the annual women’s spiritual conference for the CRC of Haiti churches which will be held at the end of June.  Pray for good preparation!

-The final week of construction on the Savannette church.  Interior walls and doors will be going up.  The next building project will be in Savann Plat, in the Thomassique area.

-A safe return from the Dominican Republic where we had a joint spiritual retreat with Dominican colleagues.  Since returning our team has held a training for a new “youth group” initiative called IMPACT Clubs.

-The beginning of rainy season.  We had 3.5 inches of rain last night at our house!  Drought continues in the North West Department of Haiti where we do Timothy Leadership Training.

Please join us in praying for:

-A supervisory visit from CRWM’s Regional Leader for Latin America and the International Director.

-Our participation in a new theological training program with our partner, the Center for Integrated Christian Development.  We are teaching introduction to New Testament for the next two months.

-A busy month for Timothy Leadership Training in which we will do a presentation of our TLT for pastors and mission leaders (April 25) who will hopefully send students to our biannual training on May 7-9.

-Perspectives Reformees Haiti (PRIHA), our media ministry.  Recently we had to shut down a Bible correspondence course that we have used successfully for five years.  Pray that we will find another good quality course to replace it.

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

Progress on the Ministry for Christian Development Conference Center

In Haiti, roof pouring is done by means of a small cement mixer and a lot of guys with buckets on a ladder.  As you can see, the wet cement is scooped up and handed up to the roof of the building, where it is poured, bucket after bucket, on plywood forms and rebar.  The guys on the ladder handing the buckets up take a "cement shower" as the contents of the bucket spill on their heads and backs.  If you have ever worked with wet cement, you know that such a shower is not good for your skin!

In January and February of 2014, progress was made on the Ministry for Christian Development Conference Center (MCD).  The roof on the building was fully poured (as of the departure of our last work-team in June, 2013, only about 1/3 of the roof had been poured) and a lot of progress was made inside the conference room on concrete finishing work.  There was a bit of a hiccup when one of the project foreman fell off a defective scaffold (a young man named Lyonel or "Lele").  After a visit to the hospital, it was determined that he had no broken bones, but he did need a few weeks to recover.

The vision for this project is to assist our partner, MCD, to have facilities at its disposal that can help it pursue its own vision for training Haitian leaders and can help it gain more financial independence.  Once finished, it is our hope to use the Conference Center for our own training programs like Timothy Leadership Training.  Also, we see the center being rented by other organizations for conferences, weddings, graduations, and other activities.  Financial sustainability is the "900-pound gorilla in the room" of Christian ministries in Haiti like MCD as beneficiaries don't provide much compensation for ministry received.  Pray that this building can soon be completed and put into service for the benefit of MCD and its ministry.

The Contrasts of Haiti

Anyone who has ever visited Haiti knows that it is a land of contrasts: Wealth and poverty, fertile land and desert, celebration and sadness.  Perhaps at no time during the year is this more apparent than the Mardi Gras season (leading up to Ash Wednesday and the season of Lent).  This is the season of Carnival, a four-to-six-week-long time of riotous drinking, rowdy parades and partying (especially on Sundays leading up to and the weekend before Mardi Gras or “Fat Tuesday”).   At this time, massive trailers packed with giant speakers and a large generator (all towed by semi-tractors) block roads and deafen residents.  Young men cover their bodies with black residue from rum distillation and march on the streets, cracking whips and harassing passers-by.  Sometimes groups of voodoo practitioners organize ra ras, or parades, where they dress as gods or spirits and play special drums and trumpets.  On the other hand, churches organize camps and concerts to provide a positive alternative to Carnival.  Children that grow up in Christian homes love this season because of the time they spend friends doing youth activities instead of school.  Adults will hold evangelistic services and visit community members in there homes.  Carnival is also the season of planting in Haiti, where farmers turn the soil over on the hillsides by hand, planting their cherished seeds conserved since the last growing season.  Normally, the first rains of the year fall in late February or March.  Please pray that people would take pleasure in God and his grace instead of self-destruction.