Segaar-King July Update

Dear Friends and Family:

The Psalmist writes in Psalm 63, “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you, my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.”  There are stages in life and ministry where it can seem like we are going through a desert.  Fortunately, God, who even can bring forth water from a dry rock, is walking beside us, before us and behind us.  Some of the most beautiful places in the world are deserts.  With God’s presence, we can find joy and strength in the deserts of life.

We have several special requests for prayer:

1.   The Christian Reformed Church of Haiti, which has been incapacitated by conflict for the last year, has finally come to a resolution of sorts.  The president, elected in July 2014, was removed and a provisional committee of four was put in his place to begin the long process of rehabilitation and healing until a new president can be chosen next year.  While we are thankful for a resolution, we know that there are many hurting leaders and congregations.  Pray that those leaders who opposed this decision would put the good of the church above their desire for payback.

2.   Pray for the church we attend in Haiti, Quisqueya Chapel.  It has just gone through a separation with its pastor and the resignation of a number of key staff.  Please pray for the congregation as it goes through a process of healing as well.  We have been called upon to give some assistance to the Chapel as well in this time of transition.

We give thanks for:

1.   A good visit from Kurt Selles, Back to God Ministries International’s director.  He affirmed his desire to remain in partnership with CRWM even though BTGMI’s French-language ministry, Perspectives Reformees, is in transition.

2.   A good visit from Luis Ruiz, the Latin America and Caribbean ministry leader for the Reformed Church in America (RCA).  We hope through his visit, the partnership between the CRCNA and RCA will continue in Haiti.

3.   Good health and strength to manage during a very busy time since returning to Haiti in June.

Thanks for your prayers and support,

Zachary, Sharon, Hannah, Vivian, Isaiah and Esther Segaar-King

Missionaries to Haiti through Christian Reformed World Missions 

A Little Moisture Would Be Welcome

the Bay of Port-au-Prince and the Chaine des Mattheax in the distance.

Since we've come back to Haiti is has been hot and dry in Port-au-Prince and all over much of Haiti.  In fact, in the entire Caribbean is suffering under a drought supposedly caused by the El-Nino cycle in the Pacific.  During the last two years, Haiti has not received a significant tropical storm system.  This spring, the rainy season was painfully short as well.  For these reasons, the dust has been so bad around our home that we have not seen a beautiful mountain-range to the north of our home called the Chaines des Mattheax in weeks.  One evening after a short rain-shower, these mountains again appeared in the distance as the sun set.  Please pray for Haitians who are suffering not only an historic drought, but a time of rapid inflation.  The Haitian currency, the Gourde, has lost a fifth of its value in the last two months against the dollar.  This is bad news since the vast majority of products in Haiti are imported in exchange for the USD.  It seems like everything is getting more expensive by the day.  As crops are failing across Haiti, increase in the cost of imports is especially troubling.

It’s a Bird! It’s a Plane! No, it’s a…..GENERATOR!

How do you know it's summer in Haiti?  After all, the weather is hot and sunny all year long!  You know it is summer in Haiti because it is in the upper 90s with high humidity.  You know it's summer in Haiti because the power has been out for 48 hours and there is not enough energy to run a fan.  You know it's summer in Haiti because its hot, the power is out, the Internet is not working, and your taking a sweat bath.  Thank God for generators!  Our office generator has been broken down for several months and we finally got a replacement.  The delivery of the replacement was not without hitches.  The crane operator nearly smashed our roof and crushed one of our office employees who was trying to guide it down.  In the end, however, finally have a reliable source of electricity to power our ministry through the inevitable days of blackout to come!  Now, if only the Internet would work....

Goodbye Lunise!

Our former World Renew Country Consultant, Lunise Cerin-Jules stands with our current office-manager, Massillon Coicou.

At the end of June we said goodbye to our friend and colleague of four years, Lunise Cerin-Jules.  Lunise has been serving as the World Renew Country Consultant for Haiti since 2011.  Lunise began her work during a time when our office was struggling with a Haitian government audit and a lot of internal disagreement about the developing disaster relief response to Haiti's 2010 earthquake.  As the daughter of a pastor, Lunise had a deep connection to evangelical Haitian culture.  Her perspective on the challenges posed by our work with Haitian church leaders was invaluable.  Lunise seemed to know so many people who could help us resolve the difficulties that we faced.  Finally, Lunise was a person of deep faith trained in community and organizational development.  She will be greatly missed in our office and in our ministry.  Her replacement, Troy Sanon, has recently begun working in our office.  Pray for Troy as he learns about his responsibilities and the culture of our organization here.

Segaar-King June Ministry Report

Since coming back to Haiti on June 7, we have had a chance to experience some of its beauty

Dear Friends and Family:

Greetings from Haiti!  On June 9 we arrived safely in Haiti with our whole family.  Honestly, it has been a challenging readjustment to life in Haiti.  Nine months is a long time to be gone.  Also, June and July are among our most busy and stressful months with teams and projects.  By God’s grace, we are readapting to life in Haiti little by little.  We would like to thank you for your prayers and also thank our colleagues in Haiti who worked so hard in our absence.

Please join us in giving thanks to God for:

1. A safe and successful trip for the youth team from Cascade CRC and Thornapple Community Church (Grand Rapids, MI).  This team of 34, our second largest team ever, had a busy and impactful week with us.  See our blog for more details.

2. Safe arrival and good health.  Though one of our children was traveling with strep-throat, we finally found the right anti-biotic to treat it.

3. A good reception from our colleagues.  We have been blessed by many phone calls and visits from our colleagues whom we have not seen for nine-months.

4. Lots of ministry needs and opportunities.  It is nice to feel needed!

Please join us in praying for:

1. Our greatest prayer request for the next year is that God would lead a new missionary family to Haiti.  It is critical that we find a qualified candidate as soon as possible.  Please help us spread the word.  The job description is posted at:

 https://re21.ultipro.com/CHR1005/JobBoard/JobDetails.aspx?__ID=*0BF55BF46DB8E951

2. The director of Back to God Ministries International (BTGMI), Pastor Kurt Selles, will be visiting Haiti in July.  BTGMI is the primary supporter of Perspectives Réformées, our French-language radio ministry.  Pray that Kurt’s visit will help shed light on the future of PR in Haiti.

3. Pray for the ongoing conflict within our partner, the CRC of Haiti.  Since part of the conflict is about money, we have engaged an auditing firm to analyze four years-worth of transactions.  We know an audit will not resolve the conflict.  However, pray that it will provide information that can help lead to a resolution.   

Thanks for your prayers and support,

Zachary, Sharon, Hannah, Vivian, Isaiah and Esther Segaar-King

Missionaries to Haiti through Christian Reformed World Missions