Church Growth Lessons from Haiti

I recently returned from a 8 day trip to Haiti, where I had the privilege of teaching a group of Haitian pastors. It was a rather humbling experience since most of these men are pastoring churches that are 2, 3 and even 4 times that size of the church that I pastor.

As I spent time with these men, I believe that I have found the key to church growth in the Haitian context. So the following are some church growth lessons that I gleaned from them.

1.       Minister in obscurity.  No one will ever know your name. Books will never be written by you or about you.

2.       Live in extreme poverty.  You literally have to pray for the next meal. Death is a constant reality. (Note: One of the pastors had to leave the 6 week school and return home because he received word that one of his children had died.)

3.       Live by simple faith. All you have is God

4.       Expect hardship. Each day holds its trials. (One of the pastors received word that his cow fell in a hole and died. This was a major financial loss to this pastor.)

5.       Deal with constant opposition from evil.  You have to deal with the threats of the enemy daily as he threatens your life (literally) and your reputation.

6.       Proclaim the gospel only.        You simply give the message of Jesus’ death and nothing else and watch the spiritually hungry come to Christ.

As I listened and spent time with these men, it occurred to me that we have a lot to learn in the America about true Christianity.