Jim Zosch, a short-term volunteer, wrote this article. It is also on our website: www.missionbluefields.com Thanks, Ketly

Matthew 28:19-20 Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Nicaragua has a new Baptist Church, Bethel Baptist Church of Kukra Hill!!!

God has been doing great things in Nicaragua. In 2006 the Lord placed an amazing plan on the hearts of missionaries Vital and Ketly Pierre and the church members of Bethel Baptist Church in Bluefields, Nicaragua. God placed the desire to open another Spanish speaking Baptist Church on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua in the town of Kukra Hill. Kukra Hill is located to the north of Bluefields and is accessible from Bluefields by a 40-minute boat ride up river. Kukra Hill already has an English speaking Baptist Church, Saint John Baptist Church, but prior to this year did not have a Baptist Church for its rapidly growing Spanish speaking population.

During the second half of 2006, church members at Bethel Baptist Church sought out the Lord in prayer and fasting and began planning their evangelism and church planting efforts for Kukra Hill. During the last week of December 2006 a group from the church, led by Pastor Vital and Bethel's two pastors in training, the seminary students Joel and Francisco, traveled to Kukra Hill to begin laying the groundwork for their missionary efforts. They spoke with local townspeople and were able to find a bed and breakfast (hospedaje) to rent for the church members to stay at while they were conducting their outreach. They also found a local family, the Teofolis family, who would allow use of their property for conducting outreach activities and holding outdoor church services.

As part of its church planting efforts, Bethel Baptist Church of Bluefields planned on sending four different groups to Kukra Hill, each group spending a week serving in the church planting. Evangelism and outreach activities would be conducted during these four trips. On the morning of January 19, 2007, seventeen missionaries set out from Bethel Baptist Church and traveled to Kukra Hill with the first group. When this first group arrived in Kukra Hill, there was a major change of plans. The bed and breakfast where the group was planning to stay was occupied and the group could not stay there. But God had something better planned for Bethel Baptist Church. After searching through town for another suitable location, Pastor Vital, Francisco, and Joel were approached by the owner of the former Kukra Hill movie theater. During the first trip Pastor Vital had spoken with the owner about renting the facility, but she had not been interested. Now God had worked in her heart, and she wanted to rent the building to the group.

The building consisted of a house connected to a very large room that was formerly used as the town's movie theater. The house was comprised of a living room, two bedrooms, and a kitchen, and would serve well as living quarters for the Bethel Baptist Church members as they worked in Kukra Hill. The movie theater consisted of one small entrance room and a large room, as large as the multi-use room in which Bethel Baptist Church currently holds its church services in Bluefields. The house also had a sizeable yard for holding outdoor activities. However, with the rental of this property, there was a lot of work that needed to be done. The house was very dirty and needed to be cleaned and painted inside and outside. Also, the latrine (outhouse) and the bathhouse were both in poor condition, as well as the house's well. In addition, the house lacked steps to the front porch and the back door, and the grass in the yard was all grown up and full of garbage. Furthermore, the old movie theater lacked any electrical wiring, and the house connected to it needed rewired. The group worked hard during the next six days and fixed up the property. While the work was being conducted on the house the men in the group slept at the house on mattresses and hammocks. The women in the group camped out in a large tent on the Teofolis property, where members in the group also prepared and ate their meals. On the first day, steps were built leading up to the porch and back door of the house. Also, the tall grass throughout the yard was cut with machetes and all the garbage cleaned up on this day.

On the second and fourth days of the trip, the group cleaned and painted the inside of the building. Throughout the week members of the group worked on the electrical wiring, installing lights and electrical outlets. Later on in the week the bathhouse was repaired and a cement floor poured inside it, an indoor toilet was installed inside the main house along with necessary plumbing, and a room was constructed inside the house to separate the toilet from the kitchen. During the final two days of the trip, the well was cleaned with blocks being laid and concrete poured to make the base and covering for a concrete well cap. It was a lot of work, but with God's help the group was able to accomplish all that needed to be done in one week.

While all of this work to fix up the new Bethel Baptist Church of Kukra Hill was going on, the group was also busy going from house to house evangelizing in the afternoons and holding outreach activities each night. Starting the second evening, the Bluefield missionaries showed outdoor movies each night in the yard of the new Bethel Baptist Church of Kukra Hill. The movies were projected onto a large screen on the side of the church building and attracted quite a crowd. Each night the movies were initiated with children's activities and puppet shows. This gave the missionaries from Bethel Baptist Church of Bluefields an opportunity to speak with those in attendance, sharing the gospel and developing relationships. A break was held during the movies each night for members of the group to tell their testimony about how God has worked in their lives. The movies also provided the community of Kukra Hill an opportunity to become acquainted with the new Bethel Baptist Church of Kukra Hill. The average attendance at these movies was over 100 people. On the fifth night the movie was held in Kukra Hill's municipal park located in the center of town. About 200 people attended that night's movie. The following night, the final night of the first group's week stay in Kukra Hill was Wednesday, January 24. On this night Bethel Baptist Church of Kukra Hill held its first church service. God's presence filled what at one time had been the old movie theater, as those in attendance worshiped and praised the Lord. Besides the original group that set out from Bluefields, about two-dozen new faces from Kukra Hill were in attendance. Among these were many of the new believers who had received Christ into their lives as a result of God's work in Kukra Hill during the previous week. The spirit of God worked during the evening service and several of the youth present prayed to receive Christ into their lives before the evening was over.

It was amazing to see what God had accomplished during less than a week's time. In six days He raised up a new church in Kukra Hill. He provided a church building when Bethel Baptist Church had planned on having outdoor services. He provided many willing hands to serve him. Working together in unity, this group of believers was able to accomplish a ton of work through Christ. On January 25 the first group of missionaries returned to Bluefields with Joel and Francisco remaining in Kukra Hill to continue evangelism and discipleship efforts. On January 27 the second group of missionaries set out from Bluefields to travel to Kukra Hill. This group, composed of six members of Bethel Baptist Church in Bluefields, joined Joel and Francisco as they continued to spread the good news of Christ and disciple new believers. On Sunday, January 28, Bethel Baptist Church of Kukra Hill held its first Sunday school and in the evening its second worship service.

During the first two weeks in February two other groups from Bethel Baptist Church in Bluefields will travel to the newly formed Kukra Hill church to work with the new body of believers there and to continue evangelism efforts.

• We ask for your prayers that God will continue to work in Kukra Hill.
• Pray that He will raise up leaders in this new church and that he will work in the lives of the new believers there.
• Also, pray that he will prepare the hearts of nonbelievers in Kukra Hill to receive Christ into their lives.
• Pray that God guides us in selecting a property to build the permanent Kukra Hill Church building.

Bethel Baptist Church plans to one day build a school in Kukra Hill and also to offer computer classes and other classes through the church as we do at the Bluefields church.

• Pray for God's guidance to be with us as we plan these ministries.

God has great things planned for the body of believers at Bethel Baptist Church in Kukra Hill. One day believers from this church will be leaving as missionaries, traveling to other communities in Nicaragua, Central America, and the world.