Worshiping God through the Psalms

Zach and Sharon shared the role as speakers and facilitators during the Music and Worship Conference with several other Haitian worship leaders and pastors.

There were approximately 100 participants in this year's Music and Worship Conference held at Quisqueya Chapel

Randy Bouwer, the worship leader of Calvin CRC of Holland, MI, was a speaker and a worship leader at this year's Conference.  Randy's organization, RJB Ministries and Calvin CRC, also supported a portion of the Conference's cost.

If you are at all familiar with the Bible, you know that the Psalms are worship book of Israel.  The Psalms, which have been sung and read in worship for millennia, touch every aspect of the human experience including great joy and praise, thanksgiving to God, heart-rending remorse for sin, and even deep lament.  During this year's Music and Worship Conference, we tried to help the participants understand the importance of the Psalms in Christian worship.  Zach taught sessions worshiping with the Psalms, the nature of worship and how to engage your pastor and preacher in worship leading and planning.  Sharon taught sessions on children in worship and the movements of the worship service.  What was really exciting is that for the first time, Zach and Sharon did not plan the conference.  The planning responsibility was undertaken by Perspectives Reformees, the French-language arm of Back-God-Ministries International.  In addition to being a great learning opportunity, the Conference is also a great opportunity to praise God through song and Scripture.  For the second year, the praise was lead by the Quisqueya Chapel Praise Team, a group of young musicians under the direction of Ronald Pierre, Quisqueya Chapel's worship leader.  Please pray that God will use Perspectives Reformees and the Music and Worship Conference as a vehicle to bless Haitian worship leaders.

The Left Hand of Christian Fellowship

God has been teaching Zach a few lessons about Christian fellowship.  Shaking hands is an important part of Christian fellowship, symbolizing the fraternal connection we all have as Christian brothers and sisters. However, since getting chikungunya fever a few months ago, Zach has pretty horrible arthritic pain in his right hand.  Every time he offers the right hand of fellowship, he cringes in pain, especially among the "importance-of-a-firm-hand-shake" crowd.  So, Zach has taken up offering the "left hand of Christian fellowship."  The only problem is that people don't really know what to do with this, and so a lengthy explanation is often required.  Fortunately, Haiti, where we live and work, is not Africa, where offering the left hand is considered a curse.  But Zach's experience with arthritic pain in his right hand has taught him something.  Even when we are not feeling up to it, Christian fellowship, openness and a warm welcome are necessary for a healthy church and ministry.  Our God welcomes everyone into his kingdom who repent of their sin regardless of sex, age, race, and history.  So also, we, his church, must receive all people and show them God's grace.

Growing in the Desert

We did our training at the Nouveau Kiskeya Guesthouse, a facility perched on the sea-cliffs near Jean Rabel.  Nothing but cacti and thorny scrub-brush grows this harsh environment.

Pastor Bellizaire holds up his "action plan" for the rest of participants to make comments and suggestions.

Timothy Training participants pray and sing before a training session.  Nearly half of the expected participants could not attend because they were stricken with chikungunya fever, a mosquito-borne illness that has reached epidemic proportions in Haiti.

It is amazing how God has designed plants, organisms that typically rely on regular rainfall, to grow in areas in which there is almost no water.  The Jean-Rabel area, a place where we have been doing Timothy Training for the last three years, is such a place.  The plants growing in the parched desert soil have two characteristics: thick rubbery foliage (to keep the water in the leaves from evaporating in the hot desert sun) and thorns (to protect the water inside from thirsty animals).  Timothy Training is very effective at helping church leaders grow and prosper in spiritual deserts.  It teaches leaders the importance of developing key ministry skills and allowing the Holy Spirit to use them to water the dry ground of human hearts.  It teaches ministry leaders to avoid being scorched by spiritual laziness and instead use what they have learned for God's glory.  Most importantly, Timothy Training encourages church leaders to remain faithful for "long-haul" so that they will grow daily, even in difficult conditions.  In fact, to fully complete all six core Timothy Training materials, it will take most participants two-and-a-half to three years (every material requires two months of weekly training sessions and another two-to-four months to implement a ministry plan based on the training the participants received).  In Haiti, many training sessions last one or two days, during which free books and literature are distributed and a certificate is given to each participant at the end.  In contrast, Timothy Training requires participants to pay for their own training and materials and demonstrate what they are doing with the training they have received.  Needless to say, the long-term results of Timothy Training have been very encouraging.  We give thanks to God who sends nourishing spiritual rains just at the right time.  We give thanks to God for how he is using Timothy Training to help churches and Christians grow in difficult spiritual environments!

Fruit of Her Labor

Usually when your sermon is pretty good or a ministry event goes well, you will get a handshake or a pat on the back.  However, after Sharon's participation in the recent Women's Spiritual Retreat for the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti, she received two roosters and a jar of freshly-made peanut butter.  This is a pretty good reward for four days of ministry and travel to a remote location on Haiti's southern coast.  It did not help that the trip got started ten hours late with a broken alternator in one vehicle.  However, God blessed Sharon and the other Haitian leaders and participants who were part of the conference.  More details to come later!

Segaar-King June Update

Dear Friends and Family:

Greetings from Haiti.  We pray that God is giving you his peace!  Our ministry in Haiti has been very busy and more than a little overwhelming the last few weeks.  God has been giving us an extra measure of his grace to get through the days.

Please join us in these prayer requests:

-We would like to ask for special prayers for our health as both Sharon and Zach are suffering continued after-effects of pain from the chikungunya virus we contracted in May.  Though the virus has run its course, it left us with serious joint and connective tissue inflammation which is, essentially, arthritic in nature.  Walking, opening containers, lifting objects and even sleeping is very painful.  In some cases, the arthritic symptoms of chikungunya can last three months to a year.  Pray that ours will go away!

-Preparation for a new family of missionaries, the Vanderstoeps, who come in early August.  We have to move much out of our house to prepare for their arrival.

-Timothy Leadership Training which will be held in Jean-Rabel next week.  Zach and a few others will take a small plane up to this remote location!

Please join us in giving thanks for:

-Sharon’s successful involvement in the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti’s Women’s Spiritual Conference held near Les Cayes on the southern coast of Haiti last week.  There were forty-five participants who came ready to grow in the love and knowledge of Christ.  Sharon had the opportunity to teach and preach on Proverbs 31:10-31.  In great appreciation, the smiling women joyfully gave Sharon two colorful roosters and some homemade peanut butter—this was literally the fruit of her labor.   

-Our children have fully healed from chikungunya fever.  They have enjoyed summer break by riding horses and going to summer camp!

-The safe departure of our colleagues, the Van Dam family.  There is a big hole to fill in our office after twenty-two years of their work.  In fact, both Howard and Ruth worked full time for Sous Espwa/CRWM-Haiti.

 Thanks for your prayers and support,

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

Missionaries to Haiti

Christian Reformed World Missions

Esther, Vivian, Isaiah and Hannah are doing some horse-back riding lessons this summer at a very professional stable in Port-au-Prince.

Segaar-King May Ministry Report

Esther celebrates her birthday a month early on the last day of school as she is a "summer baby."

Isaiah and Vivian do a presentation for their parents on the last day of school.

Dear Friends and Family:

We thank you for your prayers during the month of May as it has been an especially challenging month for us.  During May, Chikungunya Fever has visited our family in a very big way.  Like Dengue Fever, the Chikungunya is a virus spread through bites the aedes mosquito (a common pest in Haiti).  As of today (2 June), everyone in our family has gone through or is going through the illness, which is characterized by severe joint/muscle pain, fever, rash, headache, etc. that can last for 7-14 days.  Also, a missionary friend of ours, George Knoop, was brutally stabbed to death in his home several weeks ago.   Zach has been doing some pastoral counseling for several people who were with George in his final moments.  While we lament the way that his life was taken, we give thanks that George is with his Lord now. 

Please join us in giving thanks for:

-The successful completion of a school-year for our children.  Despite illness, all our children made an effort to participate in the final day of school.

-A successful Pastors Conference held by our Perspectives Reformees ministry team.  Thanks to those of you who supported this project.  For more information, please see our blog.

-We were able to teach our group of theological students Introduction to the New Testament and Old Testament despite suffering from fever in May.

Please join us in praying for:

-The completion of the construction project for the Savann Plat church in the Thomassique area.  This project came about through collaboration with Lakeside CRC of Alto, MI.

-The Women’s Spiritual Retreat of the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti.  This year the conference will be held in Vila de Wòz, near Les Cayes on the south coast of Haiti.  Pray especially that Sharon can endure the especially rough conditions of this area.

-The departure of our ministry colleagues, the Van Dam family in June.  We give thanks for their two decades of service with CRWM in Haiti.

Thanks for your prayers and support,

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

Missionaries to Haiti

Christian Reformed World Missions

Victory and Challenge

Last week Thursday and Friday, 30-31 May, Perspectives Reformees of Haiti held its first Pastor's Conference in Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  The theme of the conference was "Watching Over Your Ministry."  The goal for the two day conference was to assist pastors and church leaders to become aware of the pitfalls of pastoral ministry and the opportunities to make pastoral ministry more effective.  Nearly 100 leaders attended the two day conference that was held on the campus of the Evangelical Baptist Seminary of Port-au-Prince.  Some of the specific subjects include, "A Ministry Free of Bitterness and Hatred," "A Ministry Free of Rebellion," "A Ministry Free of Sexual Sin," and "A Ministry Free of Spiritual Laziness."  All of these subjects are very timely for pastors and church leaders in the Haitian context.  The presenter, Claude Delauge Jacquet, who is a veteran of pastoral ministry, did a very good job presenting these important subjects to the participants.  Thank you to all those who supported this special project through prayer and finances.  It was a tremendous blessing to all.  The next conference that Perspectives Reformees will host is the annual Conference on Music and Adoration, 17-19 July.  Pray that we will be faithful in promoting and planning this especially popular conference.  Finally, please remember to pray for the PR-Haiti staff.  Recently, PR-Haiti was forced to withdraw its Bible Study by Correspondence because the original author of the materials denied PR International permission to use them.  This situation is not only sad, it leaves a giant hole in PR-Haiti's media ministry.  Pray that PR-Haiti can find other French-language materials to put into service as quickly as possible.