What’s the difference?

What is the difference between a temporary shelter and a transitional home?

Temporary shelters are just that, temporary…very, very temporary. Tarps and tents are what we here in North America use for a weekend or week long camping trip. These things are not meant for full time, long term, 10 person families LIVING in them. AND they were not meant for tropical rainy seasons. Thousands of tents and tarps were handed out in Haiti over the past months. They are not holding up! Holes get ripped in them, seams come apart, zippers quit zipping and waterproofing is nonexistent. AOL reporter Emily Troutman found this out when she recently visited Haiti to check up on the situation. Her article can be found here. Situations like this do nothing to help families get out of the endless cycle of barely existing day to day.

RMI’s Homes for Haiti homes are not temporary shelters. They are meant to last. The homes are transitional homes. They are meant to get families started on the road to rebuilding their lives. This is a huge difference! A life changing difference!

We have homes in Haiti waiting for sponsors, waiting for you! For $4,400 you can make a life changing difference in a displaced family’s life. Where else can you effect such a dramatic change in not only 1 person’s life, but 6, 8 or maybe 10 people’s life?!

Act now! The need is urgent! Visit RMI’s website to donate online or get details about where to send a check.

One Minute House

You didn’t know that it could be done – but here’s proof that a house can be built in one minute.

Thank you, Fred Feiertag, from Grace Lutheran Church, Seattle, WA, for putting this together. Their team was in Haiti last week and put together this model home in the RMI depot yard.

Fred was so excited when he heard about Homes for Haiti, that he took the artist’s drawing of the home and made a 1/12th scale model of it, complete with a goat on the porch. (It’s priceless, isn’t it?!)

Here is the real life picture, complete with a goat, taken last week!

The windows and doors are on another container that is in customs. The guys did a great job!

It’s so exciting to see these Homes take shape. We need more homes sponsored! Help us get these homes in the hands of displaced Haitian families!! Details on how to do that are at www.rminet.org.

RMI Container Arrives, A Sister Church Goes Outback & RMI Board Meetings Take Place

RMI container arrives at the mission center

Many hands like light work!

“A cheerful heart is good medicine” Proverbs 17:22

Some of the RMI national staff and an empty container!

Florida Bible Church heads outback

RMI Intern, Dawn Shoemaker, is on the front row, first one on the right.

A prayer before hitting the road, asking for God’s hands to be on them as they minister to their Sister Church, Maniche. They left Saturday, June 12 and will return to the mission center Wednesday, June 16. Pray for them…that they will affect lives and their lives will be affected for eternity.

RMI Board Meetings Took June 10 & 11

11 men and women met together here in Ft. Myers, FL Thursday and Friday. God has blessed us with a great group of men and women who not only love and care for RMI but they are willing to ask the hard questions and hold us accountable. We appreciate their wisdom and insight. Even though the meetings were long, they were good!

Calling Levi Video

Calling Levi band members Rob Leicher and Mark Lashay were invited to join a work team from Second Cape May Baptist Church (Marmora, NJ) who went to Haiti with RMI May 28 – June 4. This was the first work team for RMI’s Homes for Haiti Program. They were able to unload the first housing container and begin to build the model home in preparation for making the jigs for the other 29 homes.

Rob and Mark were touched by what they saw and experienced in Haiti and have put together this 5 minute video.

You’ll see the team and a little bit of the house work at the 2:30 mark. The song on the video, "More than Moved", is performed by Calling Levi.

Thanks for the video guys!!

RMI Board meetings today and tomorrow!

RMI Board meetings are today and tomorrow. We have a great group of men and women who love and care for RMI and God uses them to make decisions and guide us into the future. Pray for all of us as reports are given, finances are discussed and decisions are made. Pray for clarity, wisdom and vision.

Update from an intern and a prayer request

RMI intern, Dawn Shoemaker, has posted 2 new blog entries. You can find her blog here.

Some excerpts: “Wow what an amazing week. I went out with a team to a town called Cherette. It's a little north of Les Cayes. It wasn't a long drive but it sure gave my heart a leap when we drove through the very crowded streets of the small market. The trucks barely made it through. When we arrived at the church we were greeted with a huge group of kids singing with the pastor, his wife, and church members. They welcomed us with such gratitude, love, and happiness. I can't even express the overwhelming feeling I had to be already loved by people who had no idea who I was.”

"Sunday was so much fun. There was clapping, joyous singing, and love all around. The Haitians sing so beautifully. Just one night and morning and I could already see God in the peoples’ eyes and hearts. We had a service that night also. It was so much fun. We sang and danced! Out of the whole trip the singing and dancing, praising the Lord was my favorite.”

She spent her first week out in the country with a Sister Church team from Estero, FL. This week she is in Cayes helping Marilyn McLaughlin with the Hope For Kidz Program.

Pray for the wife of Samuel Moise, one of RMI’s national staff. Last week she was in a motorcycle accident and broke her leg above the knee. Since there was no orthopedic doctor in Cayes, she was transported in an ambulance all the way to Port-au-Prince. She is in a hospital there awaiting an operation. Thankfully the company she works for is taking care of most of the expenses. Pray for wisdom for the doctors and patience & strength for Sam & his wife, Isman.

The House is Taking Shape

Noon update from Haiti: The house is taking shape.

3 sides up and installing the rafters.

How many people does it take to lift a roof panel?

This gives a new meaning to “raising the roof”!

Moving the panel into place.

Hold it right there!

Give those guys a hand! It’s up! Next thing is to secure it.

Dan checking on the progress. What we see so far is impressive!

To view the rest of the pictures, click here.

Stay tuned. More pictures are to follow with a finished house!!

Another prayer request: The RMI container may arrive at the mission center tonight or tomorrow. It would be wonderful for it to arrive before Dan, Kim and the team leaves on Friday. Pray for it’s swift arrival.

Also, the Estero, FL Sister Church team is back at Zanglais. Because the Guest House is full with another group’s team, both of our groups are staying at Zanglais (I know, it’s hardship duty…staying right on the Caribbean, but nobody said missions was a bed of roses!). That’s 27 people out there!! RMI missionary, Amy Long, is doing a “fantabulous” job feeding everyone.

Did we ask for prayer for our stretched thin missionaries?!

1st Day of Assembly

Kim Rose, RMI’s VP, and the team first set up the jigs. They then began assembling the first house. This house is being set up temporarily in the RMI storage yard to make sure that everyone understands how it should be done, especially RMI’s Haitian contractor, Wilfred, who will be supervising the construction.

Wilfred, in the blue hat, and Kim Rose.

With all the various parts precut, it was kind of like putting together a giant puzzle or erector set: part A fits into part B which then fits part C. Once D and E are together, attach them to C – you get the idea! It’s not as easy as it looks.

It’s coming along!

Raising the first finished wall.

A job well done!

Moving the first wall out of the way and bringing in the frame of the 2nd 20’ wall panel.

You can see the rest of the first day of assembly pictures here.

Today they will finish the assembly and be able to see what a finished home looks like. Stay tuned for more pictures and an update.

Seeing is believing

Pictures tell a thousand words, so here are some!

Here it comes! It arrived at 5 p.m. from Port-au-Prince after having cleared customs in record time…God’s timing!

Maneuvering into the RMI work & storage yard is a bit tricky.

Getting ready to cut the security seal. The workteam from 2nd Cape May Baptist Church, Marmora, NJ were anxious to get to work unloading the container. Drew Thompson is there in the back making sure they do it right.

A little load shift in route, but after stabilizing it, everything was fine.

RMI president, Dan Shoemaker.

This 20 ft. container holds the parts, pieces & components for 30 homes!

Many hands make light work – and did they need a lot of hands!

These things were not light!

They worked into the night. All of these components will make storm worthy homes, up to International Hurricane and Earthquake Codes.

Finally finished. What a job!!

To see all of the pictures, click here. The first pictures in the file show the team putting a tin covering over the 3 storage containers in the RMI yard. They were working hard on that all day while they waited for the container to arrive.