On Nov. 15 we held a meeting with most of Ambassadors Football Haiti key leaders from around Haiti to introduce them to AFH’s board members. Currently, AFH has four Pastors as board members: Pastor Doucet Desronvil, President of the Wesleyan Church in Haiti; Pastor Yves Chaperont, Assistant Pastor of Calvary Chapel, Port-au-Prince; Pastor Marc Coquillon, of Teen Challenge, Haiti; and Pastor Fanier Justima of the UEBH.
There were many challenging conversations that day, but the one that the hardest, yet easiest, to answer was “Where do we find the money to finance this ministry?”
I said: “This is a faith ministry and all of our finances come from the hand of God. We all need to pray and ask God for his provision.”
Later in the meeting Pastor Doucet told our leaders the story of how Christian Service Brigade started in Haiti. The founder of CSB, Pastor Joe Coughlin was invited by a group of Haitian leaders to come and visit Haiti from June 6-10, 1966. The response to the idea of starting CSB in Haiti was very positive.
Naturally one of the delegates asked the question: “Where do we find the money to finance this ministry?”
Here is how Joe Coughlin responded according to the minutes of this historic meeting:
“Since this is not my organization, though I am interested in it, and though I have my opinions, I would prefer that you first seek answers from among yourselves.” After many suggestions Joe answered thus: “We don’t search for money by our own efforts, but we ask God for this. We must be very practical when it comes to money. We trust God for our spiritual needs, cannot we also trust God for our material needs? If you look to man you will surely be disappointed but if you look to God you will never be disappointed?”
Today “Brigade Chretienne d’Haiti” is a totally Haitian ministry that is in hundreds of churches all around Haiti and is found in almost every evangelical denomination. All without any direct help from CSB in the US or any other country. God has blessed this movement in Haiti and it has grown through the prayers and gifts of Haitians as they saw how this movement could disciple and help their young men and women grow spiritually.
I believe God wants to do the same thing with Ambassadors Football Haiti as the church in Haiti discovers the value of sports ministry to raise up and train the youth of Haiti physically and spiritually.
That is one reason I believe He gave me the idea of starting the “Give a kid a kid in Haiti” program. This program not only helps our players and leaders financially, but also helps fund our local teams in Christian schools.
Won’t you join your Haitian brothers and sisters in prayer as they ask for God’s provision for this ministry to expand and be fruitful just as many Haitian pastors joined together to birth the Brigade movement in Haiti almost 50 years ago?
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