February 2015 Ministry Highlights...

Each month we have a feature that appears on the back of each paper receipt and now appears in text on the e-receipts. Some of the items also appear here in our blog. We didn’t want you to miss out on any news, so we’re going to be posting them here.

This month's Ministry Highlights featured:

13,000 Kids De-Wormed...

In December, the 3rd Annual Hope for Kidz (HFK) Deworming seminar was held. All the school administrators attended to review the program protocols and the meds were distributed for the clinics at their schools.

The last two years we’ve taught these school leaders how to administer and keep good records of deworming meds distributed at their schools as well as gave them educational materials and training on how to teach worm prevention to each of their classes. This year we distributed deworming medication and cups to 51 schools for 12,576 students and 508 teachers. That’s right, we handed out over 13,000 doses of deworming meds!

If you sponsor a child through Hope for Kidz, don’t miss the impact you are making in this small area of the program! A portion of each sponsorship goes toward deworming as a whole and has a big impact on not only a sponsored child, but that child’s school and community. Not only sponsored children receive the medication and education, but every child in that school. The more people in one school and/or community who receive deworming treatment each year, the less worm infections in that school and in the community. Add to that the prevention teaching they receive at school through the deworming program (which includes important education on hygiene and cleaning of food). The leaders shared that the impact this treatment has had on their students has been dramatic and obvious. 

Leadership Training...

Leadership training is a very important ministry of RMI. This kind of training is hard to come by for the typical pastor. Bayou Church (Lafayette, LA) sent several of their leaders to teach a 3 day leadership training seminar to the pastor of their Sister Church as well as pastors and leaders from a number of surrounding churches. Taking place at the Zanglais Retreat Center, they worshipped, studied the scriptures, sang, played and ate together. The “trust fall” was especially interesting since the pastors had never participated in anything like this before. It was a refreshing and encouraging time and will be well used in their leadership of their churches.

Goats Receive Vaccines...

In 2014 RMI was able to deliver 108 goats for our partner churches. But the story doesn’t end there. Several of our national staff are trained veterinarian technicians. Recently they made trips to visit the goats to do checkups and give vaccines. These visits are a valuable tool to give these goats a greater chance to grow and reproduce, giving the new owners a better chance to provide for their families.

Providing goats is an excellent tool gives these families a hand up, enabling them to become more independent. It also gives them dignity and an increased sense of worth. Quite a return on your money, wouldn’t you say?