Dear brothers and sisters in Christ,

As we read Psalm 55:5-6 that says, “My heart is severely pained within me, and the terrors of death have fallen upon me.  Fearfulness and trembling have come upon me, and horror has overwhelmed me”, it reminds us of the voices that we heard of many Haitians who came to the medical clinics during these last three months in Port-au-Prince.
 
We did not anticipate hearing these voices.  We had four months of speaking engagements in different churches, reconnecting with friends and nurturing our relationships with brothers and sisters from East to West in the United States ending in December 20, 2009.  We were looking forward to reuniting with Jose Marie, our daughter, in the Dominican Republic before Christmas.  We had many plans in our minds during the months ahead as we were getting ready to go to Haiti in order to finalize the adoption process of Jose Marie.  As the earthquake hit in Haiti on January 12th, everything changed.  We needed to go help!  As the Bible reminds us in James 5:14:  “Whereas you do not know what will happen tomorrow.  For what is your life?  It is even a vapor that appears for little time and then vanishes away.”  It was a daily reminder every week when we were accompanying Dominican and American medical teams to Haiti from the Good Samaritan Hospital in la Romana, Dominican Republic.  Our voices from within were crying also, and it was overwhelming!

After the third week of seeing and hearing so much pain and discouragement, while Ketly was in the back of a truck, her eyes could not look out anymore on so much destruction.  She had to lift up her eyes to heaven, to the Father, who in turn gave her the strength to continue to listen to hundreds of people during the four-day clinic.  At the same time, Nehemie, a young girl of 13 years old, gave thanks to God for the earthquake because that day she was free from evil spirits that had held her in bondage for many years.  Many other testimonies brought new insight of hope in the midst of this catastrophic experience of that earthquake.  The fear of many Haitians from evil spirits has changed to a fear of the earth shaking at any time, recognizing that there is a Supreme Being that is in control of this earth, “Bondié,” the Good God.  The evil spirits were called for help during the earthquake, but they could not help nor respond; they were quiet, sunk forever into the abysm of the earth.  Only the name of Jesus made the difference in the life of Haitians on January 12th.  Like David says in Psalm 56:13, “For You have delivered my soul from death.  Have You not kept my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of the living?”  Yes, it is the word of most Haitians today.  We praise the Lord for what He is doing in Haiti.  He is our hope!

The body of Christ is worshipping under tents, trees or sheets, full of believers who are experiencing a new life in Christ, recognizing the power of an Almighty God.  Poor and rich are on the same level.  That experience has brought each Haitian to “Humble yourselves in the sight of the Lord, and He will lift you up” (James 4:10).   We believe that God will lift up Haiti into a place where people will come from all over the world to see God in action among the lowly of the world.

Our involvement with Bethel Churches on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua continues very strong while we are away.  Bethel Church/School in Kukra Hill is an example of the amazing grace of God for that community.  The Ministry of Education (MED) has decided in our first year (2009) that we should not charge any fee to students.  Therefore, we were able to open only three (3) classrooms instead of six (6) classrooms.   By faith in our God, the teachers were all paid through your generous gifts from individuals and churches last year.  This year, MED took the responsibility to pay for three (3) teachers, and we have added one more class, 4th grade.  Praise the Lord, we have at this point 150 students, learning about the Word of God, teaching them with the love of God so they can become all God wants them to be.  At this point, we continue to believe God for His provision through you, our partners, to pay the fourth teacher and two (2) administrative positions, with a monthly expense of $500.00.   By faith, Bethel School has seven (7) more months to go before summer vacation at the end of November.  We are counting on you for your support.

Bethel Church in Bluefields continues to thrive with the AWANA Club for children and young people who are growing in the Lord, and in turn the Lord is using them to bring their parents to church.  It is marvelous to hear the amount of involvement from the members of the church, who are being kept in ministry and growing in the Lord while they are giving themselves to the Lord through sharing the love of God in the community.

Bethel Church in Rama, the newest church, is growing also.  Alberto and Argentina Fletes have given up their business and home in Bluefields and have fallen in love with the ministry away from home.  A great miracle happened in their lives with their younger child who was in her last year of High School.  By faith, they responded to the call to go to Rama, not knowing how they were going to finance their child to go to the university, since they had given up their business.  Amazingly, the Lord opened a door for their daughter to study abroad with room and board totally paid.  Yes, praise the Lord!  In the meantime, they continue to be faithful to their call and new people are coming to the knowledge of Christ.  Alberto and Argentina are taking time to walk and disciple the new believers, just as we have done with them.  As we are far away from our spiritual children, we are experiencing great joy to see them multiplying themselves by sowing the seeds of the Word of God in other lives.
 
The Haitian churches in La Romana and San Pedro de Macorís in Dominican Republic, where we worked as missionaries from 1993-1997, kept us involved in ministry whenever we were not travelling to Haiti.  We thank the Lord for using us in ways that we did not anticipate.   Time to rest before more deputation was not available.  We just came back to the United States on April 30th for more deputation until June 30th, reconnecting with the people like you, with whom God has put us together to extend His Kingdom wherever we are, for His glory.  We are looking forward to the good thing that God has for us.

Please, pray for:

•    A new Haiti, full of hope for the future in the Lord
•    New strength and wisdom as we travel and share the ministry in Nicaragua with different churches
•    New individual donors and churches committing toward our support through IM Targeted Giving
•    Churches‘ commitments to send work teams for the construction project in Rama
•    A visa granted to Jose Marie to come to the USA this summer and for the completion of her adoption
•    Health and strength for Joel Garcia, Pastor and Director of Bethel in Kukra Hill
•    Spiritual growth for church members and new disciples in Bluefields, Kukra Hill and Rama.

Love you in Christ,

Vital and Ketly Pierre

MPT Website: www.missionbluefields.org