Blessings from Haiti! We returned just over a week ago and we are so glad to be back and living the difference in country. Casey and Whitney Carlson, HBM’s Assistant Director and his wife, accompanied us over to begin their lives as missionaries in Haiti. They are off to a great start! As they’ve been settling in to their new living space and adjusting to their new lives they’ve already begun building relationships here in Jèrèmie. Just as the locals have, you’ll love getting to know Casey and Whitney as they share their hearts in upcoming notes and updates.
As you all know, HBM’s heart and focus is raising up indigenous, Haitian leaders. There’s no better example of this vision in action than Eldet Tines, Director of Haitian Ministries. He is living proof of God’s hand in this ministry. While we were stateside, Eldet led our Haitian team in his first large-scale construction project.
In our absence, work continued on the building of the new guest-quarters, including pouring the concrete roof. That is an ENORMOUS undertaking! We are so proud of Eldet for his emerging leadership skills and discernment, and we are so thankful for his servant’s heart. We are proud of all of our leaders who continue taking ownership and to work hard in our absence.
Another momentous event took place this week; we began a new leadership development curriculum with HBM leaders. This accredited Biblical instruction program is comprised of two levels. The first will be mandatory for all employees. The second, longer unit is for pastors and will serve to sharpen our pastoral staff as we grow our team in numbers and in depth. This is a huge blessing for us and for them, and we’re so excited to be able to share about it in our next Newsletter.
As you can already see, we have a very busy spring and summer. We begin next week with a team from Montana that will be putting a solar water-pumping system in at Te Wouj! What a blessing that will be.
Thank you all for your continued prayers and support!!!
Mark Stockeland, Executive Director
Casey Carlson, Assistant Director