VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS 1/20/16)—The new year for Ketly and Vital Pierre included a new ministry that began in the Caribbean during the last portion of 2015. Having served since 1999 as International Ministries (IM) missionaries on the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua, the Pierres are now applying their skills to strengthen local congregations and encourage existing churches to start new ones on the East Coast of the Dominican Republic (DR).
The couple’s ministry will focus on leading and coordinating seminars and workshops to equip church leaders from the Dominican Republic to begin and strengthen a broad range of outreach ministries in their communities. The Pierres will also serve as a link with volunteer groups, matching them with local ministries according to where they would be the most effective, as well as encouraging and facilitating Haitian mission work both within the DR and beyond.
Of their previous 16-year ministry in Nicaragua, which occurred in three different areas, Vital recently wrote: “Ketly and I worked ourselves out of job. We evangelized, made disciples and sent people out as witnesses for Christ. They are doing a tremendous job.” He then specified how this ministry is being left in the capable hands of local church leaders whom he and Ketly trained: “Escarlet Fletes Córdoba is pastoring the congregation and directing the school in El Rama. Indira Fletes Sing is pastoring the church and directing the school in Kukra Hill. And Francisco Montiel is pastoring the church in Bluefields under the umbrella of a Council of Elders.”
Anticipating how God can use them in the DR, Ketly comments: “Reconnecting with people with whom we worked from 1993 to 1997 in La Romana, DR, has been refreshing because God has prepared our lives for such a time of harvest. At the right time, we were invited to return to the DR in order to encourage, walk side-by-side and disciple those that God has called for His service. As Paul wrote in Ephesians 4:12-13, ‘to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.’ Yes, it is our deepest desire for God to continue to use us as He did in Nicaragua, to do greater things in the DR and, through the Dominicans and Haitians who are here, in the world.”
As the Pierres begin their new ministry, the Rev. Adalia Gutierrez Lee, area director of Iberoamerica and the Caribbean, says: “I have had the privilege to experience what true friendship and collaboration is about. Through daily discipleship, our Haitian-descent brothers and sisters like Ketly and Vital serve and empower their own people who work in the Dominican Republic’s sugar cane bateys and team up with those visionaries from previous generations who first shared God’s love and passion for mission among them.”
To learn more about the Pierres or to support their work, visit their IM profile for more information. Words of encouragement for Ketly and Vital may be sent to ketly.pierre@internationalministries.org and vital.pierre@internationalministries.org.
Download a bulletin insert with their ministry information, prayer requests and more.
American Baptist International Ministries celebrated 200 years of ministry in 2014. American Baptist International Ministries (IM) was organized in 1814 as the first Baptist international mission agency in America. It began its pioneer mission work in Burma, (now called Myanmar) and today serves God through more than 1,800 short- and long-term global servants in Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East and the Americas. Its central mission is to help people come to faith in Jesus, grow in their relationships with God and change their worlds through the power of the Spirit. It works with respected partners in over 70 countries in ministries that meet human need.
American Baptist Churches USA is one of the most diverse Christian denominations today, with over 5,200 local congregations comprised of 1.3 million members, across the United States and Puerto Rico, all engaged in God’s mission around the world.