Carl and Maya Gilles Missionaries with Global Partners in Haiti since 2009

Transcription

1 ANNUAL REPORT 2016 Carl and Maya Gilles Missionaries with Global Partners in Haiti since 2009

2 As I (Maya) was crying out to God on September 29th, feeling heavy from all of our responsibilities, the Lord brought me to Psalm 81 and whispered: Now I will take the load from your shoulders; I will free your hands from their heavy tasks. You cried to me in trouble and I saved you. The Lord still speaks. It was powerful, clear & timely. Dear partner in mission, thank you for joining us on this journey of transforming the future of Haiti. This past year was a year of seeking and confirming God s will for us and our ministry. It was also a time of great challenge and growth. While we were in Dominican Republic for Easter Break, Maya took the week to pray, read God s Word and listen to His voice. In reading Paul s epistles, she felt a reconfirmation of the calling we received back in to make disciples of all nations. For us, this call includes preparing Haitian Missionaries to send to other French nations. In addition, she felt the Lord saying that we needed to let go of some our responsibilities to focus on our calling. These changes have been difficult, yet God has affirmed His direction for us on multiple occasions throughout the year. Acting on the direction from God, we asked to transfer our responsibility for leadership of Global Partners Haiti missionaries to Robin & Beth Churchill. This was a very positive change as we believe the Churchill s have great experience in managing people. They also have tremendous vision and plan for this very important area of leadership. In February, we closed the doors of the PAP Guest House. Our ministry of receiving & leading short-term teams will continue, however we will no longer manage the guest-house. God sent us a Good Samaritan who is continuing the lease, hired our staff and purchased our furniture. Another God story! This transition has enabled us to maintain and build relationships with visiting teams, yet has streamlined our efforts spent on logistics and hosting. While it is difficult & painful to make those changes, we rely on God s wisdom and direction as we go about His work in Haiti. He knows the big picture, we just have to trust and be obedient in the steps He is calling us to take. In our short time of leading the Haiti Team, we realized some of our limitations. The biggest one for us is the need to focus on people where they are, instead of focusing on projects & policies. Someone said that Leadership is relational, and we ve learned this the hard way. We ve also realized that our family is our first ministry. As our children are still very young, it is the time for us to instill God s values in them and we can t do this without time. This refocusing has enabled us to concentrate on projects that God has uniquely positioned and gifted us to develop.

3 Relationship with the National Church Over the past year, we have worked hard at building a trusting relationship between the Haitian National Church and Global Partners missionaries, also known as Haiti Mission. Currently, Global Partners provides organizational leadership to the Haitian National Church. However, both Global Partners and the National Church have agreed on the goal of the Haitian National Church becoming an Established National Conference within the Wesleyan Church. This requires a significant level of collaboration between the two parties. There are no shortcuts to this level of transition it takes much humility, forgiveness and weekly meetings. The goal of Haitian autonomy and self-governance is worthy of the effort required. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. Phil 1:27. Pastor s Summit In October, for the first time since the Wesleyan Church was established in Haiti in 1942, 134 pastors gathered in one location for 4 days for the purpose of inspiring, equipping & empowering. Maya (in concert with the National Board) organized the event and it was sponsored by the Central New York District & Global Partners. The theme of the Summit was found in Phil 1:27. Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel. Highlights of the Summit included: - 3 Haitian missionaries were honoured for - For the first time a common discipleship their pioneering work in Burkina Faso, Africa. curriculum was distributed to all pastors. This will help to ensure unified teaching, - 9 pastors were honoured for their 35+ years of pastoral ministry. doctrine and core beliefs among all Wesleyan Churches into the future. - 1 pastor in each district was celebrated for exceptional leadership and church growth. - Exceptional teaching was provided by Dr. Joey Jennings, Dr. Dave Smith, Dr. Abson Joseph and Carl Gilles on various topics - Flash drives were distributed to all the pastors with resources they can use for their spiritual growth & growth of the church. including holiness, sanctification, salvation, the role of a National Superintendent & District Superintendent, global mission, women in ministry, integration of new - With initiative of the national church, every pastor was connected to a ministry companion from another district to pray for, communicate with and keep accountable. pastors, and preaching in series. - The summit concluded with a fraternity - 36 pastors responded to the call to become missionaries to French Nations. prayer chain, in worship and prayer.

4 For some time now, there has been a conflict between myself and the senior pastor at our church. I decided to leave the church and plant a church across the street from there. Many people followed me. After attending this training, I decided to end the division. Upon my return, I will go back to the church to make peace with the pastor. This training has greatly transformed me. Pastor Saint-Juste Sainvilus, Cap Haitian Equip Haiti Hurricane Matthew - Equip Haiti is gaining traction and recognition - In October, a category 4 hurricane, Matthew, inside and outside the country for the positive impacted Haiti. Over 1,000 people died from effect the program is having on young leaders. the effects and thousands lost their homes and This year we began a contract with World were left without sources of food or water. Over Vision to teach their 320 religious leaders, 1.4 million Haitians were in need of humanitarian formed an Equip-Haiti Team with 8 high assistance, according to the United Nations. capacity contract trainers and, in December, hired a full-time Director: Pastor Ti-Dieuseul - Carl played a key role in coordinating Global Ferdinand. Pastor Ti-Dieuseul is also the Partner s efforts on the ground helping to get National Youth President and pastors the sanitation kits to over 800 families in 4 different biggest church in the North (1200 members). areas. The devastation was incredible in areas He is married & father of two beautiful outside of Port-au-Prince, but we were able to children (3 and 6 months). help in very practical ways. The sanitation kits helped prevent the spread of cholera, which - Our dream and our mission for Equip Haiti is to was a major ongoing risk following the winds leave a legacy of young leaders, equipped for and flooding. Dustin Stephens has taken on service in the local church and in organizations the lead role in the ongoing work and he is throughout the country who have training in now working on Phase 2, which is bringing family life, stewardship, leadership, marriage, CHE (Community Health Evangelism) in and global mission. Like the leaders we train, these communities. Equip Haiti has so much potential! Teams In 2016, we hosted 17 teams. Most of our teams come from Canada and the United States. Some did evangelism, training & construction. We particularily enjoyed having vision teams where we share God s heart for Mission, His love for the Haitian people and our call to come alongside Him in this journey.

5 Church to Church Partnerships (CCP) To date we have connected six official Church to Church Partnerships. These are mutual relationships where a North American church partners with a Haitian church to journey together doing God s ministry. In addition to the current six partnerships, there are discussions in progress that could lead to an additional six. The reason why we believe in CCP is because according to research, most nationals feels that when a missionary leaves, they leave with all the resources & connections. We think that part of our work is to ease the transition and facilitate the connection between the National & International whether we are on the field or not. Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God Kings Church from New Brunswick, Canada and Maïs Gaté Church in Port-au-Prince, Haiti are a beautiful example of partnership. Each year Kings Church brings one or two teams of 8-12 members to visit with the people of Mais Gaté. The teams, supporting the vision of the local Pastor, visit people in their homes, pray for people, play with the kids, and interact with the leaders of the church. This year, they helped building classrooms & finish bathrooms that is attached to the church. They also sponsor roughly 42 Compassion children. In the true spirit of partnership, they have invited Pastor Solon, the pastor of the Maïs Gaté church, and his wife to visit their church in Canada. This offer and the love displayed through the partnership have enlarged the vision of the church, helping them to understand how much they matter to God. The partnership of Kings Church and Maïs Gaté Church is about investing not just in buildings, but in relationship. 2 Cor 1: 3-4 This year, we will take time to establish official agreements and guidelines to maximize the impact of these relationships. If your church would like to partner with a Haitian church, please write to us to request more information.

6 Our Family Update Selah, who is 12, is back home living with us after spending last year in a camp that addresses inner healing. She made a lot of progress in correcting self-destructive behaviours and gaining self-control. We are now homeschooling her. Pray that she will not only conform but be transformed. Thea who is 8, started playing violin this September. She is growing in confidence and in overcoming performance shyness. Zahra, 7, is unfortunately very prone to accidents. She broke an adult tooth in October. We always have to watch out & call upon the angels for protection for her. Aaliah turned 5 on Valentine s Day and loves to pray for others. The youngest 3 attend a Haitian Montessori School. The girls all love carpet time where our family sits on a carpet and worships, prays & reads God s Word together. They also enjoy memorizing Psalms in French, a Haitian Tradition. Help us pray we can bring them to a closer relationship with the Lord.

7 Kingswood! Luciano is performing well at Kingswood. He worked at Caton s Island this summer and discovered a passion for spiritual formation. His Caton s is preparing him to be a camp director in Haiti someday! Naomie Ruth Octavius joined Kingwood January 3rd Both of these students are studying in youth ministry with the hope & plan of returning to Haiti and bring this knowledge to Haitians. A little secret - both students play piano beautifully. If you are around them, please ask them to play for you. Whoever pursues righteousness and love finds life, prosperity or righteousness and honor. Prov 21: 21 Our big DREAM for this year As we were thinking about ways to maximize Carl s gifts and increase the impact exponentially, we decided it would be good for Carl to have a studio at home to enable him to teach leadership podcasts in Creole & French. These podcasts would be available online for Haitians or French speakers in-country and abroad for use in church as a teaching tool or for personal growth. We plan to use Whatsapp & Youtube since both are broadly used around the world. Looking Forward to 2017 (a little tease for what s ahead!) Jesus Film - John Croft Director of Jesus Film did an exceptional training on how to use the Jesus Film to do church planting (March) Wellsprings of Freedom International Training (May 17-19) - About 100 people will be equipped to use the tools Jesus has given us to take authority over the enemy. Celebrating Recovery (CR) (April) Training for local church leaders Perspective Class (for Haitian missionaries) This is being translated in French and will be the first course for our Haitian Missionaries to take. Ordination Class (similar to FLAME) Youth Leaders Leadership Seminars (continuing in all four districts) Leadership podcasts Church to church Partnership

8 HOW YOU CAN HELP For we are not fighting against flesh-and-blood enemies, but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places. Eph 6:12 Prayer: In Haiti there is a lot of spiritual warfare. We feel it especially when God something is being done that has an eternal impact - like equipping leaders. Usually, a few days prior our training, something major happens in our family life (an accident, a sickness, a conflict, etc). We ve learned (and are still learning) to identify and overcome the enemy s work. In September & October, the warfare was severe. Maya felt lethargic and emotional, lacking in the energy needed to meet the day; she had never experienced this before. Thankfully, she chose to fight by meeting with God every morning and seeking prayers from our family & friends. On the Sunday afternoon leading up to the Pastor s Summit, she experienced deliverance! More than you may understand, your prayers are crucial to our family & ministry. Please also continue to pray for our safety amidst the daily often violent (rock throwing, shooting, car burning) political demonstrations in Port-au-Prince. The earnest prayer of a righteous person has great power and produces wonderful results. James 5:16 Financially: This past year has been a difficult one financially for us and our ministry here in Haiti. While the number of financial partners has remained steady over the past several years, we have many partners from Canada and the value of the Canadian dollar has been low compared to our required US currency. As we work in, and fundraise for, our various ministries, often the ongoing need of missionary support for our family also goes unmentioned. We appreciate our partners greatly and would ask that you refer us to anyone who may be open to partnering with us. We will soon have reached the end of our second 4 year contract with Global Partners and renewing for the 3rd one. Between June we will be doing our Partnership Development Training (PDT) in Indiana. If you would like us to visit your church during our visit (October & November), please us.

9 Hands-on Missions Work You can help in a tangible, hands-on way by bringing a team to help with the construction of a church. There are several churches in need of a new building and others in need of repair. Additionally, we need churches who are interested in a long-term investment with a church in Haiti, known as Church to Church Partnership. THANK YOU! We all play a part in this journey none of us could do it on our own. There is a Haitian Proverb which says: men anpil chay pa lou - With many hands, the load is light. men anpil chay pa lou With many hands, the load is light.

10 CONTACT INFORMATION New s: Skype: equiphaiti Facebook: 1) Carl n Maya Gilles Mobile phone in Haiti: (C) (M) ) Equip Haiti