Pastor and Church Leader Training with Past Board President

Pastor Eric Hausler has been bringing Work Study Friendship Teams to HAFF since the 1990's. He has also served as HAFF Board President. His fluency in Haitian Creole is a big draw when he presents a Saturday conference for local pastors and church leaders.

“Ti” Pastè (little Pastor) Eric, as the Haitians affectionately call him, (yes, there is a “Gwo” or Big Pastor Eric!) was the team leader for the January team from Michigan. Saturday of the team's week at HAFF he lead a pastors' conference attended by 36 men from various churches around the Central Plateau.

Before Eric started his study, each of his team members shared with the men about their favorite person from the Bible. The team members shared honestly about their personal testimonies. The pastors greatly appreciated the many new insights they gained into how God talks to each of us today through His servants from the past. The team then left to do other activities and Eric spent the rest of the day with the men.

With a break for lunch provided by the visitors, Eric taught the men from Romans 1 and 8, speaking about “the lostness of humanity, the need for the Gospel, and the promises to them that believe.” The churches these men lead likely heard sermons from this conference for a number of weeks!

While the team was preparing to come to Haiti, they collected donated ties. After the conference, each conference participant was able to choose 4 ties. The ties are valued as a means of showing the respect these leaders have for their calling and will encourage their congregations to show them greater respect as well. There were still ties left after all 36 men had chosen theirs, so the ones remaining were given to the teachers at HAFF's secondary school.

Since the costs associated with a seminar are normally covered by a team of visitors and the seminars are taught by the visiting pastor, the program has been an intermittent one. However, the frequency of the meetings does not equal the value of them to the pastors and church leaders. Few pastors in Haiti have formal Biblical training. Often times, local churches are led by individuals who have grown up in the community as active members of the church who naturally take over leadership of the local congregations as previous leaders leave their positions. This natural transition and lack of formal training creates a great hunger in local pastors for a better understanding of God's Word and how to effectively teach Biblical principles. The Executive Committee in Haiti would like to sponsor seminars like this more frequently. They would also like to have more of a formal program of study designed to help church leaders gain a better understanding of the whole Bible. Also, there are Haitian pastors who could provide excellent seminars if HAFF had the means to cover the costs of the seminars.

Seminars also offer pastors time for valuable fellowship with church leaders from other areas and an opportunity for the men (and sometimes women as well) to “encourage one another and build each other up” (1 Thes 5:11 NIV) and “spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Heb 10:24 NIV). Please pray for these leaders as they work in, often, very dark areas, shining the light of Christ on people who are caught in the grip of voodoo. Pray that the Holy Spirit would illuminate Scripture for them and protect and guide them.