Even though the U.S. State Department has strongly advised people against travel to Haiti, that didn’t stop Kyle Noffsinger from recently going there to speak at a pastors conference.
Noffsinger, pastor of Southside Baptist Church, spoke two days during his five days in the country. This marks his fourth trip to Haiti, and third time speaking at the pastors conference at Cap-Haitien. This year had the best attendance of previous conferences with 96 pastors registered.
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“Some of them come from far away — they take rough roads and have rough rides and have to cross through dangerous checkpoints,” Noffsinger said. “Where they stay — it blew me away. They showed me one of the rooms. It was a bare concrete room, about the size of a walk-in closet, and five men stayed in that room. When you see that it is humbling and it’s also intimidating. They come to sing, fellowship and be revitalized. It was a good time.”
While the focus is often on the travel danger to Haiti, the weather conditions also were problematic with temperatures mid-day in the upper 90s. “It was so hot there — it was very rough. They have a tarped roof, so it protects you from the rain every day and protects you from the sun, but it creates a furnace effect. But we got through it — they sang and shouted and it was a good time.”
Noffsinger said he is already looking forward to returning next year. “Based on the questions they asked, it revealed some things I need to talk about.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Chip Hutcheson and originally published by Kentucky Today.
