Haiti Outreach Ministries - November 2017

Dear friends,

In this season of gratitude, we at Haiti Outreach Ministries would like to say thank you for your support of our ministry over the past year. Your generosity, encouragement and prayers along with God’s grace have made possible many wonderful achievements. Thanks to donors like you we have accomplished so much; a few of these larger achievements include:

•   Needed classrooms and kitchen installed at Cite Soleil
•   Basketball courts built at the three primary schools
•   Cite Soleil library expanded
•   Services expanded at the Cite Soleil clinic with the addition of an Ultrasound exam room
•   Classrooms, church offices and bathrooms at Repatriote constructed
•   Expansion of the Terre Noire sanctuary started
•   Phase II classroom building at Baryé Fè started, on schedule to receive 9th grade students fall of 2018

Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger - August 2017 Update

Greetings to you from Cobán in Jesus’ precious name!

Psalm 133 declares, “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in harmony!” Such harmony, explains the psalm, is like the dew of Mt. Hermon falling on Mt. Zion. As it turns out, snow-capped Mt. Hermon stands at Israel’s northern limits, whereas Mt. Zion is down south, near the desert. The message seems clear. Harmonious living isn’t just a local affair. Its blessings extend from north to south and vice versa.

A lot of “dew” has fallen upon Cobán in recent months. In April, a mission team from Toronto, Canada helped break ground for the theological training center at the Presbyterian Complex. Since then, one Presbyterian partner after another has descended, coming from Nashville, TN; Fairhope, AL; Charleston, SC; and Cincinnati, OH. They each brought a harmonious spirit, injecting enthusiasm and energy, reaching out to the needy, to children and the community as a whole. Now the training center’s first level is nearly finished. We’re boldly praying it can be dedicated by year’s end.

Other fantastic teams came from churches in middle TN; Williamsburg, VA; and Dothan, AL. They all enjoyed serving in partnership with churches in remote places like Sayaxché, Petén; Chajul, Quiché; and Limón Sur, Alta Verapaz.

Cuba Update - November 2016

Much has been in the news over the past months about the improving of relations between the U.S. and Cuba. For those of us who are not just “Cuba watchers” but “Cuba goers,” the changes occurring, as a result, are a mixed blessing. Charter companies were once the only way to get to the island and involved complex reservations and long check-in processes. Now, commercial flights have begun, and you can book online. On the other hand, more travelers are now flooding the island, both from the U.S. and elsewhere, making the limited number of hotel rooms both scarcer and pricier. Our partners in Cuba (the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba and the Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary) also see the “good and the bad” of it all.

Don and Martha Wehmeyer (Antioch Partners) - June 2016 Update

Dear brothers and sisters,

Greetings from Don and Martha Wehmeyer in Yucatan. I am teaching an intensive course for pastors working on their master’s degree called “Three Medieval Theologians.” I am going to use Benedict, Bernard and Kempis to see how each one treats the topic of humility. This is the greatest tool to fight against hubris, the greatest of the deadly sins. So this is a class that will be hard to grade: should the students be trying to get an A or an F?

Philip and Bacilia Beisswenger (TAP) - May 2016 Update

Dear mission partners,

Greetings in Christ from Guatemala! The tradition of missionary home assignments (“furloughs” years ago) started with the Apostles. In Acts, we find Paul returning to his sending church in Antioch after his first missionary journey. Ever since, missionaries have periodically headed home, interpreting their work, bolstering support networks, renewing ties to loved ones and seeking spiritual and vocational rejuvenation.

Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary - April 2016 Update

Four in 1980 and four hundred and forty-four in 2016. Quite a big difference, yes? And, amazingly, it represents the somewhat exponential growth of the number of students being served by the Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary – our Presbyterian partner in Matanzas, Cuba! The Rev. Dr. Carlos Emilio Ham, who was installed as president this past June, has experienced it all. Our Outreach Foundation team met with him on the verdant seminary campus which overlooks Matanzas Bay.

Don and Martha Wehmeyer (Antioch Partners) - October 2015 Update

Who would have guessed that September is now like a brown leaf falling off a tree? We have not written a newsletter in a couple of months, so there is a lot to bring up to date. We have made several trips to Yucatán to help with the retreat center there. They host many groups each weekend, so we are thankful for that. Martha and I want to place our focus there when we return full-time to Mérida in January.

Missionaries, N&Ctrl America CaribbeanThe Outreach FoundationOctober 14, 2015Don and Martha Wehmeyer, Mexico

Camp and Conference Center - August 2014 Update

Dear Friends,

By our standards it’s a pretty scruffy place: a couple of thatched-roof gazebos with a lot of sky showing through; cramped, dingy cabins; a kitchen that produces over 100 meals at a time in what looks like a “pioneer era” set-up complete with scrub brush-fired “cooktops.”

Projects, N&Ctrl America CaribbeanThe Outreach FoundationAugust 28, 2014Camp and Conference Center

Repatriote Ministry Center - November 2013 Update

Haiti remains the poorest country in the West, with 80% unemployment, low per capita income, little public education or public health, and poor infrastructure. Amidst these challenges, The Outreach Foundation partners with Haiti Outreach Ministries which serves the people of Cite Soleil, Blanchard, Repatriote and Ibo Beach. Led by Pastor Leon and Jacky Dorleans, this ministry is changing lives through churches, schools, vocational schools and medical clinics. Our focus is helping HOM to reestablish and expand its ministry at Repatriote where the church building was destroyed by the 2010 earthquake. The church is nearly finished, and a new primary school is now educating children from the surrounding area.

N&Ctrl America Caribbean, ProjectsThe Outreach FoundationNovember 18, 2013Haiti, Repatriote Ministry Center

Todd and Maria Luke (Outreach) - November 2013 Update

Dear Xpujil Mission Friends,

Prayer. We know how important it is, but we sometimes let it slide. To hand over our thoughts, concerns, and plans to God through prayer is an act of humility and power. I invite you to take a moment to read this letter as a prayer. May it unify us before our Lord and lead to many blessings.

N&Ctrl America Caribbean, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationNovember 18, 2013Mexico, Todd and Maria Luke

Church Construction at Jagüey Grande - July 2013 Update

Jagüey Grande is a strategic location and congregation for the Matanzas Presbytery and the Presbyterian and Reformed Church of Cuba. Located near an important commercial center and transportation hub, the congregation at Jagüey Grande is helping the Cuban Church extend its work in this community and to the south part of the island. Although there had been a small Presbyterian presence in this town of about 25,000 since the 1940s, it wasn't until 2001 that an actual congregation was organized.

Matanzas Evangelical Theological Seminary - June 2013 Update

In pursuit of our priority of helping global partners equip their leaders, The Outreach Foundation partners with the Evangelical Theological Seminary (SET) of Matanzas in Cuba, an ecumenical seminary where several denominations including the Presbyterian Reformed Church in Cuba train their pastors. Here is an update on some recent activities of the seminary:

Todd and Maria Luke - May 2013 Update

Dear Friends,

Greetings from Xpujil. Thanks to all of our partners on both sides of the border, cisterns continue to be built in the name of Jesus Christ, families are solving their own clean water problems, and neighbors are coming together to help one another. At the same time, Presbyterian farm families are testing new technologies in their own fields.

Don and Martha Wehmeyer - April 2013 Update

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Martha and I are grateful for your support and honored to be your ambassadors here on the Texas-Mexican border and in the Yucatan. This Easter we were reminded of how short our lives are. Reverend David Legters, one of the key founders of the San Pablo Seminary where I am a professor, died recently and has left a great vacancy in our lives and in the school. Please keep Jean, his widow, in your prayers. We pray too for the Sureste Seminary in Villahermosa, Tabasco that is going through difficult times. Life in Mexico is always a challenge, but the church the Lord has raised up continues to witness to his love and to change the lives of lost sinners into shining lights of clarity and purpose. For this we give thanks to our Lord.

N&Ctrl America Caribbean, MissionariesThe Outreach FoundationApril 30, 2013Mexico, Don and Martha Wehmeyer

Partner Updates