by robertcheong on June 13, 2010
Waking up tired and sticky, the cold shower never felt so good! I was up by 5:15am as we took turns taking showers, packing, and cleaning up evidence of our stay at the guesthouse for the past 5 days. I applied one more layer of insect repellent from head to toe as we waited for Wah-Wah and Jacques to pick us up and take us to the airport. A sweet older woman, who served us all week, graciously brought us one last Haitian meal-fresh fruit and croissants!
After we loaded our bags into two vehicles, we made our way through the city of Port Au Prince one last time as we headed to the airport. I was 
excited to be on my way home but I tried to soak in one last visual experience of the poverty stricken, earthquake riddled country. The trip to the airport also included learning more about Wah-Wah’s story as a student, how he met his wife, and how he came back to Haiti to serve as a professor and Dean of Students at the seminary. We finally arrived at the airport and our Haitian friends gave us one last bit of instruction … don’t let anyone touch your bags! Enough said.
We quickly passed through one security check, then zigzagged through the line to check-in. All of us enjoyed the air condition in the airport as we waited in line and made our way through a second security checkpoint to our gate. All of us on the team began to say our good-byes, realizing that once we hit the states, we would scatter to Washington, Florida, New Mexico, Kentucky and Illinois.
The flight from Haiti to Miami was a blessing as I sat between an Army soldier stationed at the U.S. Embassy in Haiti and a non-profit business owner who has devoted her life helping the Haitian people find jobs. The conversation was filled with talk about God, His gracious and saving work accomplished through His Son Jesus Christ, and the need to share the gospel. I also marveled at God’s creation as we flew over several Caribbean islands embedded in a sea of deep blue and emerald green waters. I always flash back to my days in the Navy when I experienced the beauty of the vast ocean, whether on an old destroyer, cruiser, or a super aircraft carrier. God has blessed me with diverse life experiences that He has used to grow and change me. Praise Him!
We arrived safely in Miami, made our way through a crowded customs area and had just enough time to board our connecting flight to Chicago. By the time we arrived in Chicago, fatigue was setting in from the weeks of preparation in the midst of the challenges of pastoral ministry, the lack of sleep and the demands of the conference, to the spiritual battles we faced before and during our time in Haiti. I finally had a chance to grab some long-awaited American food, ate half of my chicken wrap, then started feeling sick. I felt miserable on my flight from Chicago to Louisville, wondering if I needed to use the bag located in the seat back of the plane L. The Lord sustained me as I was reunited with my precious wife Karen, but on the ride home, I kept saying, “I’m soooo tired.”
I praise God for the unique opportunity to minister with a team of pastors from across the country to pastors who lived in 
totally different country. Despite the ethnic and culturally differences, we are all one family, who share the same faith, hope, and love in Christ! We all recognized that God enabled us to participate in something that was above and beyond what we could ever ask or think (cf. Eph. 3:20).
For all who prayed for us during this extraordinary week, THANK YOU! I end this journal with one of the only Creole phrases I know. I shared it with the Haitian pastors and I will share it with you as well … Jezi renmen ou … Jesus loves you.
by robertcheong on June 11, 2010
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!
by robertcheong on June 9, 2010
I woke up around 5:00am thinking about how I will teach the pastors about gospel counseling, which requires both understanding the heart of a person and proclaiming gospel truths in specific and personal ways. The Lord was gracious to help me sketch out the details and approach for the two practical skills training sessions. After a tasty breakfast of Creole-seasoned cornmeal and a croissant with peanut butter, I spent the next hour and a half working with Frantz Morisset as he translated the small practical skills training guides.
During my first teaching time, I decided to illustrate my teaching points with a marriage reference-discussing the dynamics of the heart and the dynamics between an angry husband failing to love his wife because of his wife’s disrespect and lack of submission to his leadership. After covering the teaching material, I opened the floor for questions and a pastor immediately asked why I decided to pick a marital issue. I told him I wanted to show them that the counseling approach and skills we were teaching them not only apply to helping those deal with grief or post traumatic stress, but they can use the same approach to minister the gospel in any aspect of life, to include marriage. Later that day, the same pastor who asked me the question brought a fellow pastor who was struggling in the exact way I described in the training session. I was blown away by how God works … praise Him!
The rest of the day was highlighted by an energetic Q&A session where the pastors asked thoughtful questions about Christian counseling versus secular counseling, how to minister to children in their grief, how to equip members for gospel ministry given they are the only paid staff, note-taking during counseling, how to teach church members about love in tangible ways, and how to minister to those dealing with anger, confusion, and fear-especially fear of going back into homes or other buildings with concrete roofs. Whew! The pastors seemed to get a lot from these Q&A sessions.
Lunch was a choice between whole fried fish, heads and all, or goat, along with rice and beans and a delicious grapefruit casserole. I chucked because I remembered seeing Wah-Wah off load several “hog-tied” goats from the back of his pick-up truck earlier in the morning.
All throughout the day, as I kept wiping my sweat with a makeshift handkerchief, I found myself longing for home-eating familiar food, living in a plush and air-conditioned space along with a warm shower. God was revealing what I hunger and thirst for and my incessant desire for comfort. I was reminded how much my lust for comfort shaped my self-centered perspective.
I sprayed the window screens once again, laid down in bed while sticky and sweating, and thanked God for another day and for seeing us through our final day of teaching, at least for us as the counseling team.
by robertcheong on June 4, 2010
I woke up after a good night’s sleep to the smell of an open wood fire, roosters crowing, and goats bleating. Most Haitians cook outside since homes tend not to have indoor kitchens or bathrooms. By 6:45am I take a quick cold shower-no hot water available, spray on insect repellant from head to toe, eat a breakfast bar and we head out towards the chapel where the conference will be held. Conference registration is scheduled from 9-11am but pastors start to arrive at 8am. We quickly learn that we will have to “go with the flow” since there were a number of factors beyond our control-unreliable electrical supply, miscommunication, unplanned events and delays, and a container still stuck in customs. In other words, we needed to expect the unexpected.
God was working powerfully as we saw Him breaking down the stoic culture of Haitian men through two
specific ways. First, the Haitian pastors who agreed to lead the 25 small group arranged by regional clusters agreed to lead their groups with honesty and openness regarding their struggles since the earthquake. Second, when Paul Randolph was listing the symptoms of Post Traumatic Stress in the first session, the pastors were openly acknowledging their struggles through a show of hands. Pastor Luke shared about his suffering as he lost both a son and daughter on the same day through the collapse of two separate educational buildings. His son was the only student who was killed at STEP seminary and his daughter was killed as she attended classes in a downtown building. God used Pastor Luke’s testimony to personalize the grief and pain in my heart and mind-suffering in Haiti was no longer a concept, but real grief was now connected to a real person, up close and personal.
The pastors scattered into their small groups after each teaching session. They enjoyed getting to know fellow pastors in their own region and unpacking the teaching sessions. One pastor said he enjoyed the small group time because he was able to share openly with other pastors who could relate to all he has been through as he has been pouring out his life to others in his church. We took advantage of the time we had to hang out and chat during our lunch and dinner times to get to know the Haitian pastors.
The team debriefed at the end of the night. We praised God for the beautiful work He was doing not only in the Haitian pastors’ hearts but in us as well. The day started out with many unknowns but it ended with many reminders that God is good and faithful, and His people are precious regardless what part of the world you find yourself. We sprayed the screens once again and fell asleep to the night sounds of Haiti.
by robertcheong on June 3, 2010
A massive earthquake hit Haiti on 12 January 2010 around 5pm, leaving an estimated 3,000,000 in need of humanitarian aid. At the end of April 2010, I received an invitation to be a part of a team to lead a pastors retreat in Port au Prince, Haiti sponsored by Churches Helping Churches. We had 1 month to plan and pull together all of the details! The goal of the retreat was two-fold-first to renew, encourage, and strengthen Haitian pastors with the gospel, and second, to equip them to care for and counsel their people with the gospel once they returned to their towns. I had the privilege of co-laboring with Pastor Mike Wilkerson and Justin Holcomb from Mars Hill Church in Seattle, WA and Pastor Paul Randolph from Davisville Church in Southampton, PA. The following is the first of six journal entries that highlight and reflect my time in Haiti. I am grateful for the men and women all over the world who prayed for this first-of-a-kind event in Haiti.
Day 1 —Reality in Haiti: Sunday, 23 May 2010
I stepped into SEATAC airport in Seattle, WA already tired and fatigued after teaching a Doctoral level class in Marriage and Family Counseling at Northwest Baptist Seminary in Tacoma, WA for 3 days straight for a total of 24 hours. God blessed my time as the students gained a better grasp of the gospel for their own lives, family, and ministry. I prayed that the Haitian pastors would experience this same transformation but I knew that we would have extra challenges with teaching through translators.
As I made the transition from one ministry event to the next, I was faced head on with the real weight of what awaited our team in less than 24 hours. I found myself dreading what I would experience in Haiti-the hot tropical climate in an unknown culture filled with devastation, all without the comfort and conveniences of home. I had to remind myself of God’s provision and protection (cf. Ps. 23, 27). I slept surprisingly well on the red-eye flight from Seattle to Miami, where we saw a number of relief workers-a Christian group from North Carolina, a team from Lubbock, TX, a medical team from Atlanta, GA, and members of the Norwegian Red Cross. My excitement grew as I saw all of these people heading to Haiti to love and serve those in great need. Our connecting flight arrived in Haiti around 10:45am. Game time!
Once we arrived, we stepped into the heat and humidity and we were greeted by the loud and festive beat of a Haitian band. We walked outside across the tarmac to the customs area to pick up our baggage and headed outside to find Thomas Kim, the Executive Director of Churches Helping Churches. We waded through a swarm of people looking to carry our bags for a tip and we made our way to the car. First stop was to “Mega Mart” to buy 150 air mattresses for the Haitian pastors to sleep. The container filled with all of the conference equipment-a huge tent, 200 cots, and resources for the pastors were sitting in a shipping container held-up in customs since the end of the previous week. This was a real example of the spiritual and physical battle surrounding the conference! This shopping spree took us to one of the few places in Haiti that was air conditioned and was filled with NATO soldiers from Korea and Sri Lanka, as well as locals.
Next Wah-Wah, an Old Testament professor at STEP seminary, the co-sponsor for the pastor’s retreat, took us on a quick tour of downtown Port Au Prince, where we got a closer look at tent cities and buildings demolished by the earthquake. During our tour, Wah-Wah shared an incredible testimony of how the Lord delivered him from a life of witchcraft at the age of 20 and provided for him during the persecution that followed. He also shared that he slept in a bed for the first time when he was 20 years old in the home of missionaries. We learned that most Haitians grow up sleeping on the floor.
We finally arrived at the seminary campus, embedded in the heart of town, where we enjoyed a light lunch
and met Jacques and his family. Jacques serves as the New Testament professor at STEP. After a quick afternoon nap to recover from the red-eye flight, we had a delicious curry stew with goat meat over rice! We then had a planning and prayer meeting to work out the last minute details and make-shift changes due to the lack of tents and cots for the pastors, which impacted how late the conference could go each night. The prayer time was so helpful as I was reminded that we were getting ready to step into the lives of real people with real needs and that we needed our real God to pour out his grace, wisdom, and love over all of His people! We went to bed that night thankful for a good day after spraying the window screens with bug spray-which became a nightly ritual!
Waking up tired and sticky, the cold shower never felt so good! I was up by 5:15am as we took turns taking showers, packing, and cleaning up evidence of our stay at the guesthouse for the past 5 days. I applied one more layer of insect repellent from head to toe as we waited for Wah-Wah and Jacques to pick us up and take us to the airport. A sweet older woman, who served us all week, graciously brought us one last Haitian meal-fresh fruit and croissants!
excited to be on my way home but I tried to soak in one last visual experience of the poverty stricken, earthquake riddled country. The trip to the airport also included learning more about Wah-Wah’s story as a student, how he met his wife, and how he came back to Haiti to serve as a professor and Dean of Students at the seminary. We finally arrived at the airport and our Haitian friends gave us one last bit of instruction … don’t let anyone touch your bags! Enough said.
totally different country. Despite the ethnic and culturally differences, we are all one family, who share the same faith, hope, and love in Christ! We all recognized that God enabled us to participate in something that was above and beyond what we could ever ask or think (cf. Eph. 3:20).
