Since our last visit in July, Pastor Benjamin has jumped right into providing Christian ministry to our Peace & Joy families. He’s met several times with the families for Bible study and has given out materials for the kids and adults. Below is a picture he took of his last meeting a few weeks ago.
As we hinted at in our previous post about Pastor Benjamin, we were working on a blessing that could help his ministry flourish. Since we’re in the development stage of intervention (see our approach here), we thought long and hard about the right way to support him. We envisioned a plan where both Espwa and his congregation at EBAC Church could raise some funds. However, rather than thinking we had the perfect solution, we worked with Pastor Benjamin to come up with something that could really be a game-changer for his life and ministry.
We found out that in Haiti, some church congregations have a somewhat jaded perspective of a pastor’s motivations for serving. Many think they are in it for the money, because they’ve seen other pastors serve their own interests more than the interests of the church. This is unfortunate. Because of this, Pastor Benjamin doesn’t want to give his church body the perception that he is in it for the money, so he simply never makes direct pleas for support other than the normal Sunday offerings. We learned that Pastor Benjamin was still working in his primary profession of welding, while leading a congregation of nearly 400 Haitians. He was very concerned with being able to provide for his family and the church as well.
Based on everything we heard and on Pastor Benjamin’s input, we’ve decided to bless him with a welding generator. As he is skilled in this trade, he will be able to take on jobs as necessary without having to rent equipment. When he’s not using it, he can rent it out to other welders to make passive income. Having the generator would free up more time to focus on the church and Peace & Joy ministry while still allowing Pastor Benjamin support his family. Hopefully with the added time, he can get other church members fired up about the Peace & Joy ministry and take care of some of the day-to-day needs that have been a challenge.
One of our Espwa friends, Steven Licht, who accompanied us on a trip in July 2015, decided to take the initiative and raise some funds for this worthy cause. The project is hosted on our Razoo donations page and he’s raised more than half of the funds necessary to purchase the welding generator. We’re asking for your support to make the final push and fully fund the project. We are traveling to Haiti in December and hope to hand deliver the funds, so just over two months remaining for the goal.
Click the button below to be redirected to the funding page. We appreciate your support and look forward to great things in the future as Espwa continues to partner with Pastor Benjamin!