Location of STEP seminary classroom building destroyed by earthquake where one student died
I woke up around 3:45am by a loudspeaker that amplified the drone of a Haitian man whose message was delivered in a militant-like cadence. It was hard to go back to sleep because I thought I heard the jeer of a crowd, which caused my mind to imagine a rebellious uprising taking place right outside the seminary walls. The loudspeaker finally died down after about 30 minutes and I fell back to sleep. I woke up around 5:45am by the ritual rising of the tropical sun, the raspy crows of roosters and the charcoal smell of the open-fire kitchens.
Immediately after waking up, the Lord reminded me of my craving for comfort, but more importantly, He reminded me of who He is. Forgive me Lord for seeking comfort apart from You, the God of all comfort (cf. 2 Cor. 1:3-5). I was humbled and encouraged at the same time! After re-learning this lesson for the “upteenth” time, the Lord provided a wonderful breakfast of scrambled eggs, which I thoroughly enjoyed! Later that morning, some of the other pastors said they heard the commotion of the loudspeaker during the middle of the night and some Haitian pastors told them that the noise we heard was a Christian prayer vigil. Haitians are known as a praying people and churches take turn leading 24-hour prayer vigils.
In the main teaching time in the morning, Jean Dorlus, the president of STEP, taught a critical session on God sovereignty and natural disasters, which helped to remind the pastors of a biblical view of sin, suffering, and the goodness of God.
After lunch, Wah-Wah took us on a quick tour of downtown and a major tent city located in the main square. Energetic kids 
were running around, faithful women were cooking outside the tents, weary men and women were hanging out along the walkways while children were being washed in tubs of water. I was surprised that this particular tent city was so organized and clean given the circumstances. We were told that NATO forces help manage and control these tent cities. Despite the first-hand experience of walking through the tent city, I struggled as a visitor to connect with the Haitians’ reality of being forced to re-locate to such living arrangements. I am sure that if I spent the week in a tent city, my perspective would be different.
During the closing session of the conference, Dr. Dorlus preached a 
compelling message calling the pastors to love their neighbors in word and deed, to equip their people to do the work of ministry, and to send out leaders to plant churches. Afterwards, the Haitian pastors were given a certificate of completion-a big deal in the Haitian culture. As part of a Haitian ritual, I stood in a receiving line with the others teachers to shake the pastors’ hands and bless them after they received their prized certificate. The conference was now officially over and the pastors lingered to share one last blessing and to exchange email addresses. We were all blessed by their gratitude!
We enjoyed a late but nice dinner around 8:30pm of fried plantains, goat meat chunks, a hush puppy-like dish and pineapple upside down cake. The pastors headed home in the dark Haitian night after being away from their families all week. The American team gathered for one last debrief. We were all tired but extremely thankful for the privilege to minister to our Haitian brothers. We praised God for His faithfulness and for enabling the gospel to do its transforming work in our hearts and in the lives of the Haitian pastors. We were amazed how God lavished his grace and wisdom upon us as he allowed us to get a glimpse of His vision, to witness the conference become a reality and to take part in a God-sized event that will have a lasting impact on the pastors and people of Haiti! We ended our debrief with an extended prayer time. (Please read Thomas Kim’s summary of the Churches Helping Pastors conference).
To top off our last night, the electricity went out around 11pm right before we finished packing. I struggled to fall asleep due to the heat but finally fell asleep around 1:00am as I kept clinging to the God of all comfort!