Greeting from our rainy Altagracia.

Many of you have been wondering about the whereabout of Nzunga & Kihomi. We are in Altagracia, a small village/town about 30-45 minutes’ drive from Santo Domingo, the capital city of the Dominican Republic. Our house is about 5 minutes’ drive from the FINCA, the mission land where we will be building the church and eventually develop a youth camp.

We are in the full swing of activities. Meetings that go beyond 9, 10 PM. Visits of sick & shuts in. Yesterday, in our nightly meeting we put in place a new structure that will help develop the new church. The young pastor Benny was named Senior pastor seconded by his wife, a Palmer Seminary Master of Theology student, and 2 Haitian leaders.

Nzunga & Kihomi will be teaching every Tuesday and Friday while sharing the duties on Sundays. Also Kihomi will help develop some development projects to help members strengthen their financial economy.

The big challenge in this society is how to help people with no legal status in Dominican Republic. Here is the case that has been keeping us awake since we arrived. A young Haitian lady member of our New Creation Baptist Church has been shut in.

Why? She has a mass preventing her to urinate normally. She uses a Catheter but needs a surgical operation, but no hospital will take her in because she is illegal in the country and because of lack of funds.

Yesterday in our meeting we decided to call The Good Samaritan Hospital in La Romana about 4 hours away if they can take her in and we will volunteer to drive her over.

Thank you for praying for our emotional strength.

Yours in DR

Nzunga & Kihomi

Dear Supporters,

When this was written they had been back in the DR for 8 days. The Energizer Bunny has nothing on them. What passion of the Lord and his people.

The building of the New Creation Baptist church has been delayed due to the torrential rain and the lack of an engineer. Evidently there is a building boom going on and finding an engineer is difficult. The DR has building codes just like here. Please pray for the rains to stop and for an engineer to become available.

As always, thank you for your support.

Yours,

Dennis Shewell and the MPT team

deshewell@gmail.com

Dear Loved Ones,

Greetings. This past Friday August 11, 2023, we left our house early to go to Villa Altagracia about 2.5 hours away.  We had our retreat, and it was the most blessed one. Friday upon our arrival we all went to visit the land that our sister denomination here had just purchased. We planted many fruit trees.

The nights and days were all devoted to praying and following some teachings from a Canadian Pastor, Dr. Bill Dyck.

Villa Altagracia is a small village type of place, a refuge for many Haitian immigrants with no legal papers. Here they tell me that they have many Haitians who need Shepherds. People at the retreat think that God is answering their concerns.

The retreat place has a small one-bedroom apartment they would like to finish for us to move in. We are excited about moving to the countryside. Another part of our job will be to help develop the newly acquired land for a youth camp.

Please keep praying for us.

In DR,

Yours,

Nzunga & Kihomi

Dear Supporters,

New country, New church, New Mission.

Dear Loved Ones,

Greeting. In 2019, we had a freshman student in the name of Daniel Florica. I had her in one of my classes. One evening she came to our house crying and wanted to quit school.

Why are crying and why do you want to quit studying?

My mother was kidnapped, savagely raped and killed in Port-au-Prince. It was a shock for all of us. We prayed and wrote to you all. Many of you responded positively to our cry for Florica. Today she has graduated with her bachelor’s degree in business Administration. (This was some months ago as the university is shut down)

Graduation in today Haiti in one thing but finding a job is another one.

Following you have Florica’s message of gratitude to each and every one of you for supporting her. Our loose translation follows her message.

Bonswa mommy, kijan nou ye? M ekri nou poum di nou mèsi, mèsi paske Bondye t mete nou sou wout mwen pou nou t ka edem, chemen an te difisil pou mwen, paske se t etap vim t efondre, m t pèdi moun ki t pi chè nan vim lan. Bondye pat kitem konsa, li fèm jwenn yon nouvo fanmi.   Konsèy nou banm yo map aplike yo, e yon jou map priye pou Bondye metem nn pozisyon poum k ede lòt yo ki nan bezwen jan kem t ye an. Si se pat nou, madame Roseline tou, m pa konn kisam tap ye.  Mwen di nou mèsi anpillllll, e map kontinye priye pou Bondye fè nou menm misyonè avèk tout sipòtè yo viv anpil ane paske travay nou an pa pou granmesi, nou sove vi anpil jèn fi . Nap toujou rete nan kèm, e nou se egzanp ke mwen ap swiv.     Mèsi, m renmen nou

Good evening, Mommy Kihomi. How are you? I am writing to express my gratitude to you. God put you on my path to help me on my  difficult journey.   I lost some dear people in my life, but God did not abandon me. He gave me a new family. Your advice was invaluable to me, and someday I hope to be in a position to help others in need, just as you helped me. Without you and Mrs. Roseline,(Nzunga’s university assistant) I don’t know where I would be today. I thank you from the bottom of my heart and will continue to pray for God to bless you missionaries and all your supporters with life for many years to come. Your work is meaningful, and you save the lives of many young girls. You will forever be in my heart, and you are the example I will follow. Thank you, I love you.

Yours,

Nzunga & Kihomi

Dear Supporters,

You may remember Florica’s plight.  She lost her mother, her financial support and her home in one violent night.  Many of you jumped in to help and now you can see the outcome of your love.  I’ve said this many times, supporting the work of Nzunga and Kihomi is not in vain but pays dividends many times over.  Thank you.

Peace,

Dennis Shewell and the MPT Team

Spanish School has Started (and it’s hard)

Dear Dear Loved Ones, Greeting. We are both now officially students at language school in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic. Monday Feb 27, we both went to bed early at 9pm to be ready to face our first day. At 3 AM, we were ready. [like children for the first day of school.] At 5 AM we ate our breakfast; a piece of delicious papaya and we were among the first at school. At 8:30, our first professor entered the class. I prayed deeply for the end of her period. When the second professor came in, the situation worsened. The two young female professors were speaking Spanish as if we all graduated from the same Spanish school. Never in our life we have heard Spanish roaring in our ears like a tornado.  Our classes are from 8:30 until 11:30 each morning. While in class, if one speaks another language other than Spanish, they pay 10 pesos. If you are late, you pay 25 pesos. Since we were delayed in our arrival, we are one week behind the others.  The professors are giving us each 1.5 hours extra for us to catch up.  The first day we did not get home until 2pm. We are adjusting, our brains are full of words we long to understand easily, and we are exhausted by the end of the day. We need a miracle. Thank you for your prayers. Yours in Santiago, Dominican Republic. Nzunga & Kihomi

Working Our way thru the Bureaucracy. Dear Loved Ones, Greetings and Merry Christmas. This past Tuesday Kihomi and I spent almost the whole day in FBI office in Chandler, Arizona for fingerprinting. The whole session went fine but the person in charge told us that to have the FBI report Apostilled it will take 10 to 11 weeks.  We are here expressing our deep gratitude and thanks to the Smiths in DR for mentoring us in the process.So, we need somebody with more patience to share some with us. We are really tired of waiting.Meanwhile we are in touch with the DR consulate in CA for the requirements we need before we got visit them. Yours, Nzunga   Dear Supporters, The saga of Nzunga’s and Kihomi’s future ministry goes on and on.  Uprisings in Haiti and bureaucratic changes and delays in the DR.  It can be very frustrating.  Let’s hope waiting on the Lord doesn’t take the time it took the Israelites to be freed from Egypt.  Thanks for your support and prayers.  Have a Merry Christmas and a wonderful New Year.Blessings, Dennis Shewell and the MPT team.   Have you recently changed the credit/debit card you use for online or recurring gifts?  Has your address or email address changed? Would you like to increase your monthly giving amount?  You can do all of this through our website user portal!    It’s easy to Log in or Create an Account! If you need any help setting up an account, contact us at (610) 768 2323 or send us an email: imdonorservices@internationalministries.org On earth as it is in heaven Matthew 6:10 International Ministries, also known as the American Baptist Foreign Mission Society, works cross-culturally to invite people to become disciples of Jesus Christ and to proclaim, through both word and deed, God’s reign of justice, peace and abundant life for all creation.Unsubscribe or manage your subscription preferences through your donor portal account.International Ministries 1003 W 9th Ave, Ste A King of Prussia, PA 19406 COPYRIGHT ©2022 ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

Dear Loved Ones

Greeting from Samford University Campus in Birmingham, Alabama where we are both attending the Baptist World Alliance. The June work of the eye clinic continues to be very encouraging. The team of the eye clinic want out 3 times to treat patients in the comfort of their own homes. Please find here some statistics:  

662 patients were consulted

402 lab tests  done in our own laboratory

23 operations realized on patients.

Please be  praying for the ministry of the  eye clinic as its nurses risk their life trying to serve of the poor in the remote zones.

Serving the Master in Haiti,

Nzunga & Kihomi

New Equipment for the Eye Clinic

Dear Loved Ones,

Greeting. This Friday March 5, 2021, at the eye clinic in Cap-Haitian, Haiti, it was a fete but also a thanksgivings celebration.

Why?

Since we are in the States because of Covid-19 and our annual deputation, the staff has been bugging me to get them some equipment.  There is not a single week that goes by without them asking if I have ordered some equipment for them.

Lately, thanks to your loving financial support I was able to order one Pachymetry for glaucoma that arrived yesterday, Thursday March 4. Right there, the doctor and his staff tested it and called me to share the good and exciting news. 

Today patients joined in unison to give thanks to God and to each and every one of you for helping achieve a milestone in caring for the non-names of our society.

Serving the Master in Haiti,

Nzunga & Kihomi

Dear Friends,

The eye clinic personal wanting better equipment shows how much they want to provide the best care in Haiti.  They also want to provide it beyond Cap-Haitian.  There is still time to help get them a new vehicle.  One unknown is the duty.  Due to the Covid-19 crisis the amount of goods flowing into Haiti has been greatly reduced.  Therefore, the custom agents are not getting their normal income.  This means that amount they are going charge is a big unknown.  We do know that the items sent over by Nzunga, such as this equipment, are getting charged much more than usual.  We may need more than we thought so if you can help it is greatly appreciated. 

In His Name,

  Denny Shewell – MPT Communications Advocate & Convener