Who We Are

In this video, Pastor Mike talks about how he responded to that question, and how the Holy Spirit intercedes in the deep suffering we don’t even know how to identify.

According to United Nations statistics, the incidence of natural disasters rose by a factor of 20 during the 20th century. We anticipate more disasters on par with the Haiti and Kashmir earthquakes and the Asian tsunami, for example.

Churches Helping Churches is the first church-focused ministry of its kind. We specifically are looking to partner alongside churches and communities that would struggle otherwise rebuild themselves on their own, and, without direct aid, would stagnate indefinitely. It is time for the people of God to move from reactive to proactive with prepared, strategic responses to such crises.

We serve local churches in crisis by operating as a:

NETWORK

By God’s grace, there are many great resources deployed to offer help in crisis. The problem is often one of coordination and networking. Organizations have specialized expertise but are looking for the “end users.” CHC finds local churches, ascertains their needs, and then we connect those churches with our partnered churches and organizations that have corresponding resources. A clear example of this is a medical supplies distribution project to 22 local churches completed in partnership with International Aid and New Mission.

CHC is intently creating opportunities for churches in crisis to build relationships with partner churches – a mutual relationship of encouragement and support. We are particularly excited about this program. It will be one of the deep and lasting ways to build up both churches in crisis and donor churches. Please stay tuned for updates as we unfold this program.

OPERATION

Where key needs exist without strategic projects to address them, CHC may formulate and execute initiatives with local implementation partners.

Churches Helping Pastors, a retreat to renew and equip pastors, is an example of this. It is currently being led by STEP seminary and will be hosted in major cities throughout Haiti.

FUND

Where a church already has strategic projects planned, CHC will issue grants with little to no further involvement. A strategic project is defined as one that significantly strengthens the testimony of a local church. Specifically, strong candidates will demonstrate a track record of gospel-centered mission in their communities before and after the crisis. We are already seeing this become a great source of empowerment for churches to create plans and mobilize their people.

Large grants have been issued to STEP Seminary and Calvary Chapel in Jacmel for reconstruction.

If you are a local church interested in applying for a grant, please contact dshin [at] churcheshelpingchurches [dot] com. (Because of the autonomous nature of grants, awards are highly selective.)

In this clip, Pastor Mike Wilkerson of Mars Hill Church in Seattle talks about how the team prepared to minister and teach Haitian pastors, despite very real language and life experience barriers. Haitian men, especially pastors, are expected to be strong and are not often allowed to be vulnerable; this retreat was one of the first times these men were able to let themselves be ministered to, as Pastor Mike saw.

Pastor Mike, who oversees the Biblical Living department at Mars Hill’s Ballard campus, was one of four biblical counseling experts CHC brought down for the first Churches Helping Pastors retreat in Port-au-Prince, Haiti in May 2010. The goal of the retreat was to support and renew the pastors as they personally recover from the earthquake, and also to build them up as they go back into their communities and support the people in their churches.

CHC Haiti partner Pastor Jacques Louis is featured in the summer issue of Neue magazine. Here is an excerpt from the story, found on pp. 46-48:

What kind of messages are you preaching now?

At first, people were thinking, “This is the end of the world.” You have to tell them the earthquake is a natural disaster; it’s not the end of times. … But right now, we’re preaching that God is involved, that God can take care of you and that it’s OK to grieve. God can comfort you because he’s powerful enough.”

Incidentally, CHC co-founder Pastor Mark Driscoll is featured on the cover of this issue, which is just the third issue of the new magazine. Neue is published by the same team that puts out Relevant magazine, but with a specific focus on “Church leaders and innovators.”

In this video, Daniel Ulysse, a Haitian chaplain from Brooklyn, talks about the relationship between the Haitian government and Christian churches, and the importance of Paul’s words to the Haitian Church today.

For more, watch Chaplain Daniel interview the small group of pastors he led at our Churches Helping Pastors retreat in May in Port-au-Prince about their churches, how the earthquake affected them and their communities, and their vision and prayers for the future.

As we were wrapping up our board meeting my very first day on the job, Pastor Mark Driscoll recounted with me a conversation he’d had with Pastor Rick Warren. “Don’t go to solve but to serve” was Pastor Rick’s counsel to this newly birthed organization. I didn’t know it at the time, but those words would eventually shape the core values of Churches Helping Churches.

“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”

Mark 10:45

We have much to learn about serving local churches, but a few values have already become the core to who we are:

Lead by listening

Our plans are born out of conversations and relationships with local pastors and their churches. During my first trip to Haiti, I ended up driving a random Haitian man home because he happened to be on my way to a meeting.

After I explained our active involvement in rebuilding churches, he was adamant that people should not be given food for their labor but cash. He went on to explain that the history of slavery made Haitians hypersensitive to non-monetary compensation. It made complete sense.

When we understand a local community’s strengths and assets, needs and frustrations, our response becomes more meaningful and relevant.

Jesus, knowing other people’s thoughts, entered into conversation. Even when it was painfully obvious that the men were blind, he asked them what was wrong.

And stopping, Jesus called them and said, “What do you want me to do for you?” They said to him, “Lord, let our eyes be opened.” And Jesus in pity touched their eyes, and immediately they recovered their sight and followed him.

Mark 20:32-34

Lead from behind

In the eyes of the affected communities, the local church must be the hero. They lead, we empower. This brings lasting and sustainable fruit as it strengthens the churches’ relationships with the community and gives ownership to the local leaders.

Jesus’ strategy was not that he would live on earth for eternity and perform every baptism of every believer. He paved the way through a perfect life, brutal death, and victorious resurrection. Then, his disciples carried on the work that he already began.

Lead with long-term vision

Once out of emergency mode, we don’t make short-term relief decisions at the expense of long-term development. Our strategies seek to foster progress at the infrastructural level of a community.  There were 10,000 relief organizations in Haiti prior to the earthquake. There is no shortage of relief now; there is a shortage of development. There’s a shortage of work around what assets in the community can be used to address the needs of that community.

During a long period of exile in Babylon, the Lord spoke through Jeremiah of his ultimate plan for a future and for good.

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for wholeness and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Jer. 29:11

This greatest difficulty with all of these values is that they produce results, albeit more slowly. It takes time to teach someone to fish rather than catch fish and give it to them. I asked Dr. Jean Dorlus, president of the Evangelical Seminary of Theology in Port-au-Prince (STEP), if Haitians must own the efforts, even if it means things go more slowly.

“Yes,” he said immediately. “Sometimes slower is better.”

I pressed, “Even if it means things never happen at all?”

This time he hesitated. He thought and then responded, “Yes.”

*

Our goal is not to fix these countries and places and their governments. Our goal is not to simply be a channel for charitable contributions.

Our goal is to go and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ and bear with them as they reel and mourn in the wake of disaster. Our goal is to encourage and build up these communities physically, but more importantly, spiritually as a body of believers. This work takes time, patience, and investment. But we’re fixed on an eternal God and a timeless truth, and we will not faint.

In this video, Daniel Ulysse, a Haitian chaplain from Brooklyn, interviews a group of pastors who attended our Churches Helping Pastors retreat in May in Port-au-Prince about their churches, how the earthquake affected them and their communities, and their vision and prayers for the future.

Stay tuned over coming weeks for more videos from Haiti from pastors from this conference and others we’ve held or sponsored in other cities around the country.

Inside a Tent City from Thomas Kim on Vimeo.

Last week, I worshipped in a tent city called Pétionville Club. What was once a golf course is now home to an estimated 50,000 to 80,000 people. Jacques Louis, a Haitian seminary professor and one of CHC’s dear partners, told me they cleared the trees on the course to make more room for people.

At one point in the service, I took a risk. The people were so used to being asked what their problems were and what they needed. Instead, I asked if anyone wanted had a testimony of what God had done since the earthquake.

Immediately, a thin lady jumped to her feet.

“Praise the Lord! God has given us so much. Yes, we’ve lost a lot. We don’t have much. But we believe in Him and we worship Him and we are so happy!”

She went on for a few minutes, filled to the brim with enthusiasm and conviction. Her joy brought smiles to both my interpreter and me. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing and seeing – far more than optimism, but intense God-besotted gratitude.

When taking a step back, it almost looked ridiculous. No home, no job in a crowded makeshift tent, boldly standing in front of other people to declare how thankful she was.

Her testimony was followed by another, which was followed by another. So many people seized the opportunity to share a “what my God has done” story that regretfully, I had to cut it short. Since then, I’ve often wondered how long they would have gone if I wasn’t such a Westerner on a schedule, running late for another meeting.

Those people ministered to me deeply that day. They are amazing Christ-followers who have unshakable joy. I am so privileged to know them and have much to learn from my brothers and sisters in Haiti.

The Pétionville Club I visited was smaller than it once was. A portion of this tent city was relocated due to overcapacity. (To me, it was already bursting, so I had a hard time picturing that in my mind.)

One pastor, Maxi Blanc, has many church members in that tent city. He now feels burdened to plant a church there. The Haitian government has recognized Pastor Maxi as a community leader and subsequently, gave him the land to start a church. Churches Helping Churches is going to build Pastor Maxi a structure for this unique church in mid-September. We can’t wait to see all that the Lord does through Pastor Maxi and this church within their new community. Thank you for your continued prayers and support of Pastor Maxi, the church in Haiti, and this mission we’re on.

–Tom

Here are a couple of low-res shots of the churches currently being built by Calvary Chapel and CHC in Haiti.

The church, Église Évangélique Baptiste Calvaire (Calvary Baptist Evangelical Church), is located in the small community of Laurent Meyer, situated between Jacmel and Cavalier, in southern Haiti.

The church, led by Pastor Pierre Richard, was founded in 1990 and has about 175 congregants.

Here is a letter Tom received from Dr. Muqaddam Zia, chairman of the Pakistan Evangelical Christian Alliance, a network of 356 churches:

Dear Brother,

Greetings!

I have just got back from Northern Pakistan, where our team is doing relief efforts for the recent flood victims. Pakistan flood damage and human suffering could not be worse. According to National Disaster Management Authority, up until today, there are:

• People affected: 12-14 million
• Dead: 1,680
• Homes damaged: 250,000

Please find attached some photos of a church, a pastor’s house and 6 Christian homes, destroyed in the recent flood in an area of Nowshehra city.

This is an interview of the pastor of that church.

We have also done some more interviews of victims of flood, which will be soon uploaded. Our team has initiated relief distribution and you will be getting the photos and updates quickly.

Be blessed,

Dr. Muqaddam Zia

www.prayforpakistan.org