Dear Praying Friends,
The goal of every missionary is to work himself out of a job. We work to teach and train nationals to do the work of the church so that the church can function independent of the missionary. As I sat in the first church service after our return to Haiti, the thought that kept passing through my mind was, “I am no longer needed here.” In honor of our return from furlough the church had planned a “Happiness Festival.” They had purchased decorations, planned a big service with special activities, and invited lost people to come. In our absence, the young ladies had faithfully taught my wife’s Children’s Sunday School class, the church had continued their missions support, and four people were waiting to talk to me so they could join the church. The church had grown, instead of diminishing while we were gone. My flesh felt useless, but my spirit felt an overwhelming sense of joy in the church leaders and members. I could see that their faithfulness and service was to God and not to me.
Our return to Haiti has been a busy but smooth one. After we climbed out from under all of the dust, dead bugs, and boxes in our house, we began the 7-day countdown to the Teacher Training Week and the 14-day countdown to begin school (as well as add in the Child Sponsorship sign-ups and 2 preschool graduations). The Teacher Training Week was a success, with 40 teachers in attendance each day. This is always a tremendous opportunity to give not only our teachers, but also teachers in the community, Christian teaching principles that they can apply in their classrooms. Thank you to all who donated supplies and time to make this possible. School will begin September 28th with over 300 children in attendance in both schools. Please pray for these children as they hear the Gospel and solid Bible doctrine taught daily.
The second Sunday in October we will celebrate the 6th anniversary of Good News Baptist Church. We are thankful to be able to announce to the church that thanks to a generous gift from an anonymous donor we will be able to begin the foundation of a new church building. Please pray that God would direct in every aspect of this building project.
Thank you for praying for wisdom and safety about our return to Haiti. Although we had to delay our return, God used that time in the States for a time of true “furlough” as we visited with friends and family and took some much needed rest before returning. Things have been calm since our return, but are expected to get more turbulent as the October 25th presidential election date approaches. Please pray for stability in the country.
Thank you for partnering with us in every avenue of this ministry. It was such a blessing to see how the Lord answered every need mentioned in our last letter. His answers are a direct result of your prayers and your financial gifts. Thank you all so much for all that you do to help and encourage us.
Now, it is time to get back to work – working ourselves right out of a job!!!
Harry, Melissa, Benjamin, Madelyn, Micah, and Bethany Peart