Empowering leaders in Haiti

Here at Lifeline, we believe the future of the church is only as strong as the leaders who lead them. That’s why investing in our field pastors and church leaders is so important!

At a recent leadership seminar in Haiti, Brad shares how our leaders are being equipped and poured into...

Written by Brad Hammond, Lifeline’s Field Leadership Coach

On April 30, Lifeline pastors and church leaders from all over Haiti began to arrive at our Port au Prince campus for our semi-annual Leadership Seminar.

Together, we spent the next three days worshipping, praying, and working through what Jesus meant when he preached the gospel, “The kingdom of God is here!”  

At the Leadership Seminar, we heard leaders share their personal stories of God delivering them from the other kingdom, the kingdom of darkness.

We celebrated how God, in his infinite grace, is at work in Lifeline’s churches. We celebrated the physical healing that God has given one of our oldest pastors through the prayers of his brothers and sisters in Christ. We struggled through the implications of what happens when a church preaches an incomplete gospel.

We spoke openly about the real difficulties of overcoming the historical racial tension and mistrust that plague relationships in Haiti. We thought through and questioned if we are simply adding members in our churches or making real disciples of Jesus who preach and prove the gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit. We laughed together… we laughed together A LOT! Needless to say, we didn’t mess around with the time we had together!

There are literally hundreds of things that we could talk about when we gather the Lifeline pastors and leaders in Haiti.

However, we are very intentional about continually keeping our focus on the gospel of the kingdom of God and making disciples who preach and prove that gospel through the power of the Holy Spirit.  

We are also always keeping the Five Marks of a Lifeline Church in the forefront of our minds:

• FREEDOM
  We are not bound by tradition, past failures, limitations, or the expectations of others. Jesus Christ has released us to live generously, to love unconditionally, to hope eternally, to redeem brokenness, and to believe in the impossible.

• LIFE CHANGING
  We make disciples who know how to listen to God and whose lives are forever changed because they do what he says. We ought to look like Jesus.

• UNITED
  While relationships can be messy, we are better together. Everyone has a personal calling and valuable role in the Kingdom, so we must equip and engage them all, uniting together under the authority of Jesus Christ. It’s not about any one of us (or our churches). It is about advancing his Kingdom.

• MULTIPLYING
  We will never be satisfied with simply adding people into our churches. Jesus commands us to make disciples who make disciples. To develop leaders who develop leaders. To plant churches that plant churches. Reproduction is a sign of health and vitality.

• FEARLESS
  The most repeated command in the Bible is “Fear not!” We refuse to allow doubt or caution to stand in the way of dreaming big dreams or believing God can do more than all we ask or imagine.
  

We invite you to pray daily for our pastors and leaders in Haiti as they equip their people for ministry. Pray that they would live in the great power and authority that Jesus has shared with them. And above all else, pray that through the Church in Haiti those who are caught in the clutches of darkness might experience liberation through King Jesus and His announcement that his kingdom, the kingdom of God, is indeed here! Let’s go!