Training: In Session

RMI is helping to encourage and train up local leaders and pastors.

Every December, the Willow Creek Global Leadership Conference is held in Cayes, Haiti.  Many local Haitian leaders, business owners, pastors, missionaries and many others participate.  Many RMI Sister Churches sponsored their Haitian Pastors so that they could attend. As a follow up to that, for the past three years, in partnership with MEBSH (The Evangelical Baptist Mission of Southern Haiti) and the IBL (Lumiere Bible Institute) RMI has sponsored a follow up seminars to expound upon what was presented at the original seminar in December.

This year we invited the Sister Church pastors who participated, some of the RMI staff, MEBSH leadership, several pastors in training and a few other staff members from another local ministries to take part in the training sessions. Yesterday and today, these pastors and leaders have been meeting together to watch select portions from the December sessions, and then to discuss and apply them to their own lives and ministry scenarios.   Pastor Sean Christensen, from the MEBSH Bible School has been facilitating the sessions. 



It’s a great way to encourage, teach and train up local leaders.  We’re excited for the opportunity to give many of our local pastors and some of our staff the chance participate in such valuable training!



Pray for these leaders; pray that what they take away from these training can be useful in growing and fortifying their lives and ministries. 

And for our 500th post, we want to announce…

RMI now have new missionaries on the field!  Greg and Star Harvie flew to Haiti August 16.  Before they flew, they had nice send offs from their hometown friends in Nebraska…

and from the RMI office…

Present were Dan and Debbie Shoemaker, Herb and Shirley Shoemaker, Kim and Barb Rose, Heather Smith (Admin. assistant), John and Linda Garner (Board members) and Jules and Mart Gedna (RMI’s original Haitian Administrator, now living in Boston fighting cancer).

They arrived just in time for supper at Rob and Becky’s house…and still smiling after a long day of travel.

Their container beat them there by a week (which is a big answer to prayer!), so when they arrived it had been unloaded and things were ready for them to unpack.

This week they’ve been unpacking, setting up their household, getting to know their way around, and getting to know their neighbors and fellow missionaries (they’re living on a mission center where their fellow RMI missionaries live, but also many other missionaries).

Settling in means getting their computers running, hooking it up to a satellite system for internet, and making sure everything is working so they can do their ministry.

Greg’s August 27th Facebook post read, “Well we are in our new home. We slept here last night for the first time. The house is coming along, the stove is now working so the ladies can start cooking tomorrow, I can't find hoses for the worshmachine so I guess I will have to make some. Went shopping today, that was interesting. I was surprised how expensive some things are, and you get the brand they have. Hopefully tomorrow we can finish the house so we can start orientation. It looks like language training will start in a week and a half.”

Pray for them as they ---

Adjust to the heat and humidity

Adjust to a new home, new community, and a whole new way of living life

Get to know their new co-workers

Learn Creole – this is their job description the first few weeks – it is one of the keys to their success as missionaries and we do want them to succeed.

You can see other pictures and regular updates on their Facebook pages.

A Time of Renewal in Beaumont

It had been six years since the Hope E Free Church from Springfield, Illinois had been to visit their Sister Church in Beaumont, Haiti.  Both churches were extremely excited to be reunited after so much time apart.  It was exciting for them to see familiar faces and to make new friends.  It was exciting to see how the church body had grown and how committed Pastor Visene was to building up the community in both body and spirit. 

Members of the team were all from the youth group, either members or leaders.  So it was a great to be able to cast the vision of the C3 Partnership Model to a new, fresh set of hearts and minds. 

The team stayed busy!  They visited two satellite churches (one of which was an hour away on foot!) and had a time of worship with them and shared a brief message.  Two afternoons, the team visited widows and shut-ins, and some of the lost in the community.  At each home, they delivered food, shared the gospel to those who weren’t saved, and prayed for each person.  In addition to these visits, the team participated in the Sunday morning service, an open air service, a deacon’s meeting, a youth meeting, and a children’s meeting. 
Sunday morning Pastor Visene challenged the congregation.  He said, RMI Administrator, Benjamin had shared with him about another recent open air service where over three hundred people attended.  He challenged the congregation to come and to invite their friends and neighbors so that next time, Benjamin would share about how amazed he was at how many people had showed up in Beaumont!  While no one did a head count, Sunday night truly was a great turn out and the space where the service was held was full.  The worship was passionate, two team members shared their testimonies and another team member shared a powerful gospel message.  It was a great service indeed!  A great service which was just part of a great week all together. 

Below: Praying with one of the widows that received food during one of the afternoon visits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above: Team members hand out food at one of the satellite visits.
Below: RMI Staff members Perguens and Manno, Pastor Visene and the team after the deacon’s meeting.  Deacons are all wearing shirts the team gave them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a renewed passion for the ministry, a renewed love for their Sister Church family, and a renewed vision for the future, it was a special week rebuilding and reaffirming their love for one another; a time of renewal in Beaumont.

More pics can be seen here.

Getting things done in Dame Marie

Calvary Baptist came in ready to work! 
In just five days, with a the team of 11, they accomplished:
A Sunday Morning Service, an Open Air Meeting where five people accepted Christ, a Deacon’s Meeting, a Children’s Meeting,  Ladies Tea,  Tuesday Evening Service,  a Deworming Clinic Training for satellite church pastors, Deworming Clinics at 5 satellite churches with 4500 people receiving medicine, 18 goats given to church members, and 32 water filters installed (with 13 more left behind which will be installed)! They were busy!

Part of the team heading out to install water filters

Hope for Kidz Meeting

A church member receiving a goat as a gift.

It was a great week of fellowship, loving on one another as family, and getting things done for the kingdom!
More pics from the week can be seen here.

Time for a change

It is time for a change in perspective.  The media grabs up the bad news, yet ignores the good.  For a dose of the good in Haiti, take a moment to enjoy this video.

https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=442608885831857

---

Vacations have a way of changing your perspective.  We all know it’s good to take a break.  Missionaries need that too.  As we say…if you don’t come apart, you will soon come A PART!  Rob and Becky Thompson are currently on vacation – making time for fun, relaxation, and family.  They’re on a grand adventure exploring the other half of the island (the Dominican Republic) as well as a few Haitian historical sites.  Pray that God will refresh their souls, rejuvenate their hearts and enable them to reconnect with one another.  If you keep an eye on Facebook, you are sure to see updates on how things are going for them.