May the peace of the Lord be with you. Anytime that we think of you, we bless the name of Jesus Christ, the one who has put into your heart to partner with us in ministry. Let us share some of the miracles that God has done in our midst. When He is in control of our lives, things happen in our midst. To Him belong all the glory!

Construction of the Road

Work is progressing on the new road being constructed through Barrio San Pedro in which Bethel Baptist Church is located. This road will connect in the future Bluefields to Managua; but for now, they are constructing until the bridge, little passing the entrance to Bethel. Construction crews began pouring concrete the second week of October and now have nearly completed the concrete on one side (half) of the road the whole way to where the entry road to the church located. We hope that the workers will be entirely completed with the construction of this portion of the road through San Pedro by mid December.

Anyone who has ever visited Bethel Baptist Church knows how poor the existing road is, especially when it rains. When it rains, the road is a muddy mess and is often impassible. It is likely that the poor condition of the road and the distance one must walk (approx. 5 minutes) from the nearest concrete road has deterred many individuals from attending outreach programs at the church. Upon the completion of this road, individuals will be able to take a taxi or bus to the entrance of the church, eliminating the muddy mess one had to travel through previously. We thank the Lord that the construction of this road is finally taking place.

New Volunteer

Bethel Baptist Church currently has a volunteer from the United States staying at the church, teaching English classes and helping with the church’s construction projects. Jim Zoschg is from Pennsylvania and will be helping at the church for approximately six months. He arrived in September and will be staying in Bluefields through mid March. Jim is volunteering through International Ministries of the American Baptist Churches. Jim would like to provide a little information about himself.

“I am 26 years old and I am from Cameroon County, Pennsylvania. My home church is the Emporium Alliance Church in Emporium, Pennsylvania. I graduated from Grove City College in 2003. Last March (2006) I traveled to Bluefields with my sister Bethany and a group from her College, Waynesburg College in Waynesburg, Pennsylvania.

On the trip, we helped with the construction work at the church. On the first night we were here, Pastor Vital gave his testimony and asked for volunteers to come and serve God through teaching English classes at the church. Through his testimony and through other events that happened during the course of our stay, I felt God leading me to return and volunteer at the church.

It is my goal, that I can serve God through teaching English classes and helping out at the church in whatever ways possible. It has been a pleasure volunteering in Bluefields and getting to know the people of Bethel Baptist Church during the first four weeks of my stay in Nicaragua. I am looking forward to the next five months.”

Update on Church Construction Projects

“Unless the Lord builds the house, its builders labor in vain” (Psalm 127:1a).

Work is nearly completed on the dormitory at Bethel Baptist Church that will be used to house children whose parents are out of the country working on cruise ships. All of the tile has been installed throughout the entire building. All of the plumbing has been completed, and all of the electrical wiring has been installed.

Currently, the final touches are being added to the dormitory. Crews are working to paint the upstairs. Also, the wooden trim is being installed in each of the upstairs rooms and hallways. Soon, the doorframes and doors will be installed in each room to finish the building.

Throughout the construction of this building, we have been blessed to have had many different groups from the United States come to help labor on this building. Also, it has been interesting to see God use the construction of this building as an outreach tool. Many of the local laborers from Bluefields who have worked on the construction of this building have not been Christians. God has used the witness of the Christians working on the construction project to change the hearts of these non-Christian workers and lead them to accept Christ into their lives. During this year, three families have been added to the church family through the construction.

Upon its completion, we pray that God will continue to use this building for the salvation of lost souls.

New Transformer

Whenever we look up at the transformer in the post, we can only praise the Lord for His goodness because it is a dream coming into reality. When Bethel Baptist Church purchased the property in November 2001, ENITEL, the electrical company serving Bluefields, told us that they would not be able to give us electricity because the power line was too low for the many houses in the neighborhood of San Pedro. They gave us an estimate for a transformer, but the church did not have the money to buy it. In the meantime, Joel and Victor, two young men from the church, accepted to stay in the property without power. After much prayer, ENITEL connected us to the power line after four months, but the current was low and there was insufficient energy to meet all the needs of the Church.

Different electricians and an electrical engineer came from the United States and insisted that we would definitely need a transformer after the construction of the two new buildings. The Lord touched the hearts of two people and they provided the resources to buy a transformer. There was enough energy to have lights in each building. However, in some of the buildings there was insufficient energy to charge the cordless telephones and run computers.

After we purchased the transformer, the church waited more than six months for ENITEL to install it. ENITEL completed the installation of the new electrical line and transformer on October 17, 2006. God certainly has blessed us with this electrical upgrade to an industrial usage line. Two days after the completion of the electrical upgrade when all of San Pedro’s neighborhood lost electricity, Bethel retained energy. This allowed us to be able to offer our English and Computer outreach classes that evening when normally we would have needed to cancel the classes due to the power outage. Praise the Lord!

The Problem of the Leaking Shower

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

God works miracles daily in our lives, but often we are too busy to notice, or we take His provisions for granted. One such miracle happened during the middle of October 2006 at Bethel. In January of 2006, upon the completion of the first dormitory building, the one used to house the many volunteers that come to Bluefields to help at the church, almost immediately a problem arose in the ladies’ bathroom on the second floor. Whenever volunteer groups arrived to help at the church, water was leaking from this second floor bathroom into the apartment of Escarlet and Onell, the young married couple that works at the church and helps run the children’s program. This leak has created many problems as the water has leaked through their ceiling and into their apartment.

It looked like we were to have a redo the plumbing in this bathroom, a costly labor-intensive project that would involved chiseling through the concrete walls and floors to uncover the pipes. Fortunately, God intervened in a unique way. Jacobo, the man who had installed the majority of the ceramic tile floors in the new dormitory, happened to stop by to check for another job. In the same time, Cesar has just started to take out the second tile from the floor when Jacobo appeared. When he heard about the problem in the building, he investigated and found that the grouting had not been installed between the tiles in the showers. Lighting had been poor when the workers installed the tile in the showers because there was not yet electricity in the building. Apparently they had overlooked the installation of the grouting between the tiles. As a result, the shower water was seeping between the tiles and through the concrete floor into the apartment of Escarlet and Onell.

Instead of having to redo all of the plumbing, all that needed done was the installation of grout between each of the tiles. The work was completed in a few hours, and the problem was fixed. Praise the Lord!

November Soccer Tournament

Bethel is planning its second annual soccer tournament to be held starting the middle of November. However, unlike most soccer tournaments, the goal of this tournament is not to decide who has the best soccer team in Bluefields. Rather, the goal of this tournament is evangelism. This tournament will provide a unique opportunity to reach many individuals who don’t know Christ and normally wouldn’t come to an event being held at the church.

There will be three different classes of competition in the tournament. There will be a division for girls, one for boys ages 11-14, and one for boys ages 15-20. During the tournament, youth from the church will be one the grounds each day with the sole purpose of evangelism. We are anticipating dozens of participants and spectators to come each day to the tournament. We pray that God will work in the hearts of those who come and make them receptive to the Gospel.

Even though you are not in Bluefields to experience these miracles, you are very part of what God is doing. Thank you for being an extension of God’s love to the people in Bluefields and to us.

Love you in Christ,

Vital and Ketly Pierre

viket@ibw.com.ni

Footer