Dear Friends,
As we move into the Fall of an unprecedented and difficult year, I hope that this letter finds you and your loved ones safe and healthy. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown us our shared human experience and how much we need to pull together as a global community to care for one another.
I want to personally thank you for your continued support this year. I see that, like me, Haiti is on your mind and in your heart. Your steadfast loyalty to the mission of Bethlehem Ministry has allowed us to provide humanitarian aid, continue to pay and support St. Barthélémy teachers and staff, and keep our clinic open. Your gifts have also supported important agricultural innovation and investment in our work to empower Haitians struggling to move beyond subsistence living.
Thank you, too, for coming to our month-long “birthday party” as we celebrated Pere Bruno’s 75th birthday in July, honoring him with a special campaign to recognize his life’s work of educating and caring for the people of Haiti. Your expression of love for Pere Bruno in videos, letters, emails, and donations touched his heart and encouraged him in the important work he does ministering to his fellow Haitians.
Your involvement this year has been crucial. Your prayers, generosity, and encouragement have made this work possible, and your continued support will keep the vision of our ministry alive and growing. This year has shown me what’s possible when we see one another as family and care for each other as our own.
Our Annual Campaign, Hope and Life, is starting this month and we have a lot of new and fun ways we’ll be connecting with you over the next few months. This campaign is both the capstone for this year and the foundation for what comes next. As you think about your year-end giving, consider joining our Sustainers Circle with a monthly, unrestricted gift to support the work of Pere Bruno in northern Haiti. These consistent, unrestricted funds provide the flexibility to support the efforts most in need of resources at any given time. These needs are constantly changing, and it is important that Bethlehem Ministry remain nimble so that we can address any need that may arise.
As 2020 has shown, life in Haiti and around the world can change in the blink of an eye. Let’s create a solid foundation for what’s to come.
Mesi Anpil! (Thank you very much!)
Deb Myers
President of the Board