Bon swa Team One:27 Supporters:                                                                                                                                             April 2022

The big excitement for us this week is the week long evangelistic crusade we are holding in Port-au-Prince right in the street between our girl’s and boy’s houses in Diquini, Carrefour. We have rented staging, lights, a HUGE sound system, all manned by professionals, and are involving participants from many local churches to reach out to the Lost with the Good News of the Gospel. Tonight will be the sixth night of the eight night event. So far, over 20 young people have made a decision to surrender their life to Christ and many more have received healing from their physical infirmities. Each night there is joyful music and worship prior to the Biblical teaching. Hundreds jamb the street in celebration of all God has done for them and neighbors and passersby can’t help but get touched by the excitement and clear messages of the free gift of salvation offered to all.

Gang activity has been greatly reduced by the combined actions of local police of several municipalities who have joined forces to confront the gangs. Many gang leaders have been killed and their followers jailed in this targeted action north and west of Port-au-Prince. The gangs who have terrorized the Martissant District, which separates our area from downtown P-au-P and the airport have yet to be addressed, but they have grown quiet in anticipation of the confrontation planned for the near future.

Food prices continue to soar, and the largely inactive Haitian government has yet to rescind the ban that the former (assassinated) president had put in place that severely limited shipments of supplies into the country for fear vehicles and containers might contain firearms or ammunition. We have a truck with over four tons of desperately needed food items that still sits in Pennsylvania awaiting the lifting of this restriction. The government has continually said the lifting of this ban is imminent, but it has yet to take effect. Please agree with us in prayer that the ban will be eliminated very soon. We could easily fill a second truck or school bus with the supplies we have been accumulating since the ban was put in place last Spring.

We were blessed with a very favorable rental agreement on a large property for our girls’ house, directly across the street from our boys’ house here in P-au-P. The building is roomy and offers exercise and play areas that are easily accessible to all our children and local staff. We will be welcoming ten new children next week: four from Jacmel and six from Jeremie, which was devastated by last August’s series of earthquakes. We need to purchase ten more beds for $100 each and an additional ten mattresses for $45 each. If you can help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Other needs include a freezer for the girl’s house so we can buy chicken in bulk at more favorable prices. We need to replace the freezer that has served us so well for several years but has “died,” with this new, more efficient unit at a cost of $450. Also, we have built an additional three rooms at our Les Cayes compound for storage and housing that need a roof to cover all three rooms. Projected cost $3.500.

God has been opening new doors for us as the older children finish high school and additional training in a trade of their choice; equipped to leave Divine Ministries and take their place in the world beyond Divine Ministries. Their ongoing commitment includes supporting the children who come behind them and tithing to the local church, as well as repaying the no interest loan that paid for specific training in their chosen field. There is no lack of children who need a helping hand to guide them through their early years and provide a safe environment that will meet their needs for food, clothing, shelter and education, as well as discipling in their walk with Christ.

Our school in Les Cayes continues to offer extremely low-cost schooling to many local children that otherwise could never afford a formal education; not free, but based on whatever is reasonable for the individual families. Along with the schooling we are able to offer solar-powered purified water to the surrounding community at a nominal charge thanks to a generous, Pittsburgh, PA-based ministry that provided and maintains the water system.

We are so thankful for your faithful prayer and financial support that God has been honoring in ways that bless the children and staff at Divine Ministries as well as the communities that surround our various locations. We look forward to working together to continue to meet the many needs here in Haiti. If your church, your family, or organization is interested in helping with any of these projects or sending a work team here to work alongside our Haitian brothers and sisters, please contact me and we will help you organize and complete your project.

May God continue to bless you mightily as you partner with Him to reach the Lost for Christ.

Sincerely,

Mark Gillette, Team One:27