Jesus Withrew

Hills in the Judean countryside where Jesus fasted and prayed during his temptation after his baptism.

The mountains of Galilee where Jesus withdrew to pray during the Galilean portion of his ministry.

Throughout his ministry, the Gospel writers report that Jesus withdrew to desolate places to pray and meditate.  This is one literary technique that the Gospel writers use to encourage us to see the value of prayer and meditation in the Christian life.  For example, in Mark 1:35 we read, "Very early in the morning, while it was still dark, Jesus got up, left the house and went off to a solitary place, where he prayed."  If missionaries and pastors were honest to their supporters and parishioners, they would admit that they often do not spend adequate time in prayer and meditation.  Life is busy and the demands of ministry are high!  We must admit, this is too often true of us.  For this reason, we spent three days at the Hermitage Community, a secluded corner of southwest Michigan where you can pass an entire day sitting in the forest praying and meditating without seeing another person.  Zach passed his days praying and struggling with the book of Ecclesiastes.  Sharon enjoyed bible reading and journaling.  We reflected on our ministry Haiti, searching for God's direction in the future.  By the time our visit finished, God had finally calmed our heart and given us the assurance to move forward.  Thanks for supporting us in prayer.

Segaar-King October Update

Dear Friends and Family:

Greetings!  The Gospels tell us that often in his ministry, Jesus withdrew by himself (or sometimes with his disciples) to pray and meditate (e.g., Mark 1:35).  Since the Gospel writers say nothing by accident, we can be assured that these reports of Jesus’ habits are meant to be models for the Christian life.  In October, we have focused on prayer and spiritual growth by taking several days to pray, reflect and seek direction for our ministry.  We hope that you all will be able to take advantage of quiet moments for prayer and reflection.  God can use these powerfully in our lives!

Please join us in giving thanks for:

-Blessings in our support raising.  We are enjoying our visits with you and your church this fall.  We will be visiting 12^th Avenue CRC in Jenison, MI (a.m.) on November 2, Faith CRC in Holland, MI (a.m.) on November 9, Peace Community Church in Frankfort, IL (a.m.) on November 16, Lakeside CRC in Caledonia, MI (a.m.) on November 23, and Brooten Community Church (a.m.) in Brooten, MN on November 30.

-Improved health for our family. 

-A successful Timothy Leadership conference in October in Haiti.  We had 60 participants.  See our blog for more info.

-For opportunities for spiritual growth and renewal.  We spent several days at the Hermitage Community (for prayer and reflection) and a Marriage Encounter (marriage growth seminar).

-The opportunity to be a part of the discussion in October about a new epoch for the Back to God Ministry International’s Perspectives Réformées (PR) French-language program.  In the coming months, new materials and programming will be making its way to PR in Haiti.

Please join us in praying for:

-Peace and understanding as the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti goes through a major leadership transition and an ongoing financial crisis.

-Our radio ministry, Perspectives Réformées, which is going through a difficult time of transition.

-Pray for our good friend and ministry colleague, Pastor David Maisonneuve, who was recently hit by a motorcycle while standing on the road-side.  The extent of his injuries is not yet known, but he is at home resting.

-A lot of travel in November to Minnesota and Illinois to visit our supporting churches.

 -Zach as he tries to find time to work on his New Testament dissertation and Sharon as she has begun her Clinical Pastoral Education.

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, Vivian, Isaiah and Esther Segaar-King

Missionaries to Haiti through Christian Reformed World Missions 

Progress in October

The Timothy Leadership Training event was held in the partially finished conference center.  We hope to complete the center with the help of several teams in the winter of 2015. 

A group of TLT students interact in one of MCD's administrative offices.

Since 2009 a major project of the Haiti field has been helping our partner, the Ministry for Christian Development (MCD), to build an office and conference center.  MCD is a small Haitian para-church organization that trains evangelical Haitian church leaders in isolated rural communities.  The conference center provides a central location for training events.  However, when not being used by MCD, we hope that the conference center can be rented to other organizations and individuals for their events.  The revenue from these rentals can support MCD's ministry which often faces financial hardships.  In October, the partially-completed conference center hosted our biannual Timothy Leadership Training event.  For three days, 60 Haitian church leaders learned practical ministry skills like pastoral care, stewardship, teaching, preaching and several others.  We give thanks that this event was a success even though we were in Michigan for our home-service and could not participate.  We pray that these leaders will continue to grow in the love and knowledge of God through this training.

A Prayer Request for Jean David Maisonneuve

Dear Friends and Supporters:

We would like to request prayer for our friend and colleague Jean-David Maisonneuve.  David is the pastor of an independent Baptist church in Port-au-Prince.  He is also a long time supporter and trainer in Timothy Leadership Training (TLT).  Pastor David discovered TLT on the Internet before it was officially offered by World Missions in Haiti in 2009.  After the official kick-off of TLT training in Haiti, he immediately became a key volunteer trainer and a real driving force behind all that we have been doing with the training program.  Pastor David lost his home in the earthquake of 2010 and some money was allocated from disaster relief funds to help him rebuild.  Several months ago he was standing on the side of the road when he was struck by an out-of-control motorcyclist.  Since the accident, Pastor David has not been able to get around and could not participate in the October training event.  Please pray for Pastor David's healing so that he can return to his pastoral ministry and his training ministry with TLT in Haiti.

Segaar-King September Ministry Report

Dear Friends and Family:

This fall as we have been visiting churches we have been talking about God’s compassion for lost and suffering people and what it means for us.  As God’s people, God calls us to have his “heart.”  Thus, compassion should motivate us just as it did Jesus, who after seeing “the crowds...had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd” (Matt. 9:36).  We thank you for giving us the opportunity to prepare Haitian leaders for the important task of showing God’s compassion to the lost and suffering people in their communities.

Please join us in giving thanks for:

-A good start to our support raising.  We are looking forwarding to visiting you and your church this fall.  In October we will be at 2^nd CRC of Allendale (5^th am), Jamestown CRC (12^th am), Calvin CRC of Grand Rapids (12^th pm), Calvin CRC of Holland (19^th am) and Eastern Ave. CRC (19^th pm).  

-Improved health for our family.   Half of our family started weekly allergy shots.  Also, we have all been to the dentist and we are working on getting everyone in for doctor checkups. 

-Our new ministry colleague, John Vanderstoep, has taught some of our training sessions in Haiti.

-No damaging storms in Haiti so far this hurricane season (with still a month to go).

-Joyful fun activities.  Sharon sings with Calvin’s Oratorio Society, Hannah is in theater and plays the flute, Zach bikes, Esther swims, Isaiah plays soccer and Vivian plays the violin.

Please join us in praying for:

-Peace and understanding as the Christian Reformed Church of Haiti goes through a major leadership transition and an ongoing financial crisis.

-Our radio ministry, Perspectives Réformées that is going through a time of transition as it seeks a new bible correspondence course and a new direction after the departure of Paul Mpindi, the long-time voice of the French-language radio program broadcasted in Haiti.

-The Timothy Leadership Training seminar that will happen in Haiti on 16-18^th of October in our absence.  Pray especially for good promotion and good turnout.

-Our children as they adjust to the new academic and social environment at school.

-Spiritual renewal as we will take three days in October to refocus on prayer and spiritual discernment.

 -Zach as he tries to find time to work on his New Testament dissertation and Sharon as she begins her Clinical Pastoral Education in mid-October.

Please see our attached September newsletter!  We have published a second new video about our ministry in Haiti on YouTube at http://youtu.be/QOdt5_OCOdM

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, Vivian, Isaiah and Esther Segaar-King

Missionaries to Haiti through Christian Reformed World Missions 

Thank You for Your Support

Most people are surprised to learn just how expensive life and ministry are in Haiti where the costs of food, fuel and other items are 50% more than in a medium-sized American city.  Without your generous support of our ministry, our family could not live and work in Haiti.  Your support pays our salary, housing, travel, health insurance, minister’s pension, and administrative requirements. During our last fiscal year, we met our support raising goal.  This fiscal year (beginning in July), our sending organization, Christian Reformed World Missions (CRWM), is asking us to raise $113,500 USD.  We ask you to prayerfully consider supporting or continuing supporting our work in Haiti.  Thank you for making our life in Haiti possible.

A Big Vision

The Northwest Province of Haiti is known for its beauty.  It also known to be the “graveyard” of big non-government aid organization (NGO) projects.  Broken-down irrigation projects, faded plaques announcing failed agriculture initiatives and shuttered clinics dot the region.  There are plenty of reasons why these projects have failed, most of which lie with mismanagement of the NGOs themselves.  However, one reason for the failure is that the perspectives of the local population which contribute to their situation remain unchanged.  Our work with Timothy Leadership Training (TLT) aims to leverage spiritual growth in Christ to bring physical change in communities.  For example, Pastor Tardieu (front row, second from right in picture above), has covenanted to teach Christian stewardship to 300 leaders.  He uses TLT to teach not only faithful tithing, but also the importance of faithfully developing livelihoods to better support family, community, and  the poor.  Pastor Tardieu labors to change the popular belief among his neighbors that they are merely “poor Haitians” who can never change their situation despite their faith in Christ.  In contrast, some big aid projects have avoided addressing unhealthy perspectives and beliefs that contribute to poverty.  Please pray for Pastor Tardieu and his TLT teams as they try to make the kinds of changes that have eluded the NGO community and its millions in the Northwest Province.

A group of graduates from the TLT training in the Northwest Province pose with the trainers including Zach