Prayer Requests

One factor in western church culture is that we tend to measure potential leaders first in business terms and then in biblical terms. We evaluate our deacons, elders, and even pastors from a leadership standpoint from the get-go, which often creates an elder board composed of Christian businessmen instead of men who think biblically first and business second. There is always a tension between business strategies and biblical principles, and finances are a huge part of that. So how do we teach faith, as a church run by budget? If a ministry opportunity comes forward, the budget is often our [...]

One of the most practical ways we serve the church in Haiti is through short-term ministry trips. Teams from our US partner churches come to serve and encourage the church in Haiti in a variety of ways, and it’s always a refreshing time for those involved. Today, we asked John, one of the volunteers from our January team, to share some reflections from the trip. I first got involved with Connect 2 Ministries through Antioch Church, and it’s been a privilege to be part of the ministry happening in Haiti. The trip had multiple highlights—getting the pump going for the [...]

Faith and stewardship are two sides of the same coin. On one hand, we’re responsible for the resources God gives us, and on the other, everything we do is ultimately in God’s hands. Living the Christian life well means holding these two things, stewardship and faith, in tension at the same time. We do everything we can to make plans and provisions, but at a point, it’s a matter of trusting God. The trouble today is that western culture promotes stewardship but does less to encourage acts of faith when it comes to finances. As Christians, our responsibility in any [...]

In western Christianity, we tend to wait to do things until we have the resources to do them. This would’ve been a foreign concept to the biblical writers. For instance, Hebrews 11 describes how Abraham left his home on God’s instruction, with no idea where he was going. Similarly, every war the Israelites entered defied logical forecasts of success. They consistently went against nations that were stronger, more populated, and more barbaric than them, displaying a willingness to be obedient without the safety net of abundant resources. That is the biblical picture of faith. God’s goal is first that we [...]

One of the most practical ways we serve the church in Haiti is through short-term ministry trips. Teams from our US partner churches come to serve and encourage the church in Haiti in a variety of ways, and it’s always a refreshing time for those involved. Today, we asked Kevin, one of the volunteers from our January team, to share some reflections from the trip. Our time in Haiti was really encouraging. I wish I knew at the beginning how hard it would be to say goodbye to the kids! It was amazing to see the children start and end [...]

War takes a toll on any society. Beyond causing turmoil for the individual, the uncertainty created by civil unrest and political violence destabilizes everything from infrastructure to government proceedings. In Haiti, these effects go beyond instability and look more like a country that’s been, in many ways, torn apart. Today, we’re considering the effects of war on Haiti’s government and political system. The biggest challenge for Haiti right now is reidentifying their source of authority. For the past few years, the governing authority has not been the government. It has been the gangs. What’s needed now is a full reversal [...]

Street children in Haiti face all kinds of challenges as part of everyday life, but in a war crisis, those kids become war children. Children without stable families or living situations are frequently co-opted into gangs, and that poses a serious problem not just for the kids themselves but for the nation of Haiti as a whole. The abuse war children face is different from the abuse common among restavek children. Abused restavek children are typically affected on an individual level, but they are generally in situations where they are clothed, fed, and with a roof over their head. War [...]

One of the most practical ways we serve the church in Haiti is through short-term ministry trips. Teams from our US partner churches come to serve and encourage the church in Haiti in a variety of ways, and it’s always a refreshing time for those involved. Today, we’re sharing some reflections from our recent trip. This January, we sent our first 2026 volunteer team to Haiti. Today, we asked Bill, our team leader, to share a little about the trip. This trip was a blessing from start to finish. After so many months in flux, it was nice to see [...]

One question we sometimes hear is, “How does it make sense to talk about what's happening in Haiti in terms of war?” The assumption is that war is usually more organized, with a clear goal in mind, where unrest or chaos like what we’ve seen in the country is different. Yet the effects are similar. People suffer under gang control in much the same ways they do in war time, and that commonality requires us to discuss the situations similarly. The major challenge for us, as we encounter victims of war, is reinstilling a sense of humanity. For many people [...]

One of the challenges of war is a lost sense of humanity. Among those in power, war minimizes natural human impulses like generosity and compassion in favor of bolstering control or even domination. As wicked men kill mothers, fathers, and children, or take food from a population to introduce starvation, basic decency recedes from view. This is what’s happened over the last few years of gang warfare in Haiti. When we think about war, we often try to evaluate whether it’s a net good or evil based on its driving motivation. A war that accomplishes freedom from oppression, communism, or [...]