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Saturday, December 31, 2016
New Photo Update from RMI...
Just a few more hours until 2017...and just a few more hours to make that end of the year donation. RMI needs your help to end the year well. We need your help so we can feed, house, and help the Haitian people who are still so devastated by Hurricane Matthew. Please consider RMI as you make your final year-end donations. You can donate online at http://ift.tt/2gFklbP or call RMI at 239-368-8390.
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from Reciprocal Ministries International http://ift.tt/2hFjoEa
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Thursday, December 15, 2016
While You Were Christmas Shopping
The Christmas season can be all consuming for us here in the US. There’s shopping for gifts, wrapping those gifts (maybe mailing them too), decorating your house inside and out, Christmas concerts, programs and parties to attend, special meals with friends, caroling, some more shopping, and traffic – a lot more traffic from all those people trying to do the same stuff you are doing, with perhaps some travel thrown in there. It’s a very busy time. But while you were shopping, in a far away, very remote area of Haiti, goats, food aid and a pastor’s motorcycle were delivered, an RMI staff team has put on a roof of a parsonage and the site survey and prep work has begun for building a new parsonage. Oh, and a house is being built for a widow and water filters are being installed.
Funds given by C3 partners far and wide have provided these badly needed things – things that will help those families and communities begin to recover. A roof on a parsonage means that a pastor will be able to better care for his own family and for his congregation. A goat means that a family can begin to be self- sufficient. Food means that hungry families will have hot, nutritious meals that will sustain them. A motorcycle for a pastor means that he doesn’t have to walk or ride a horse to the smaller churches and church plants that he’s responsible for. Some of those smaller communities may not 
have had anyone come to check up on them and they desperately need to know that someone cares. A water filter means that a family (and probably more since they’ll share the clean water with their neighbor and friends) will have clean drinking water which in turn means that they will be healthier and not threatened by cholera. A house for a widow means that she won’t be sleeping in a makeshift lean-to.
Besides the obvious provisions, these things also provide hope and give the recipients renewed vigor and strength to help them continue on in their daily struggles. It’s not just about rebuilding. It’s also about recovering. Coming alongside them in these days, weeks and months of such hardship after the hurricane is a healing balm to their souls. 
Knowing that someone cares and the people in the US are praying for them and trying to help is indeed a comfort and is oh so encouraging.
Thank you to everyone who has given goats, seeds, water filters and much more to help Haiti in this rebuilding and recovery! The need is still there. If you haven’t done so or feel that you want to do more, you can donate HERE.
Monday, December 05, 2016
End 2016 with a Bang
Get the best “bang for your buck” by directing your end of year donations to RMI!
Your generous gifts will impact Southern Haiti by helping to continue these worthwhile programs:
—Hurricane Relief Efforts
—Child Education
—Feeding Programs
—Disease Prevention (water filters)
To see the details of these and other programs, please visit our website: www.RMIBridge.org.
Sunday, December 04, 2016
Rebuild and Restore Teams Being Scheduled
Haiti’s recovery from Hurricane Matthew is going to be long and slow due to the totality of the devastation, the lack of resources, and the remote location in many cases. RMI’s first priority is to get roofs of schools repaired/replaced so kids can get back to school. This will help give families some semblance of normalcy. Then we’ll focus on church and parsonage roofs as well as other repairs like benches. With crops gone, hunger and malnutrition is everywhere now. RMI is continuing to distribute food aid and water filters to meet these needs.
Rebuild and Restore teams are now being scheduled for the coming winter and spring season. Your church can send a team or you can join a team that is already scheduled. Go to www.rmibridge.org/rebuild-and-restore-work-teams for more details. We need you! You can be a part of rebuilding southern Haiti.
Saturday, December 03, 2016
Make Christmas Merry
Gift ideas that will leave a legacy...RMI is focusing on rebuilding Haiti in many ways. This Christmas, instead of spending hours shopping, consider giving a gift of life to a family in Haiti to honor a family member or friend.
- GOATS: A sustainable option that gives hope for a better future. A goat provides a family with means to help them nutritionally and financially.
- SEEDS: Southern Haiti is the breadbasket of the country and the majority of families grow crops to feed their families and to sell. Crops were literally wiped out by the hurricane. Providing seeds gives life back to families.
- WATER FILTERS: The lack of clean water is currently causing widespread outbreaks of Cholera, an infectious and often fatal bacterial disease. Our water filters are portable and easy to use, giving families safe water and protection from disease.
Ordering is simple—you can order online by visiting our website: www.RMIBridge.org and click on the Christmas Gift box. You can also place your order by mail or telephone. Toll free 877-764-5439 or 239-368-8390.
If you’d like to purchase a package (all 3 items) if you “round up” your order to $250 we will add a bonus pack of seeds to the gift.
*Seeds are purchased in bulk/pound, the quantity of seeds distributed will be determined by the type of crop.
Friday, December 02, 2016
Shop with a Smile
Your online shopping can benefit RMI - at no cost to you!
Visit smile.amazon.com and select Reciprocal Ministries as your charity of choice before you begin shopping. Amazon will remember your selection, and then every eligible purchase you make at smile.amazon.com will result in a donation to RMI. Replace your Amazon bookmark with smile.amazon.com so each time you shop, Amazon can donate on your behalf!
How easy is that?! Thank you for remembering RMI this season!
Tuesday, November 29, 2016
New Photo Update from RMI...
Today is #GivingTuesday. It is a globally celebrated day of giving back. It's a call-to-action for people to give to the causes that are near and dear to their heart. How will you give today? Your gift to RMI will make an eternal impact and enable us to minister through our many programs to Haitians, especially those so severely impacted by Hurricane Matthew. Thousands are still without roofs or shelters and just as many are hungry. We are helping meet those needs as well as helping them get back on their feet by providing seeds, farming tools and goats. Your gift WILL make a difference in many people's lives. Please consider RMI in your charitable giving today and at the end of the year. http://ift.tt/2gFklbP
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Tuesday, November 22, 2016
Photo Post
Thanks to many of you, we were able to serve a meal to some hungry school children yesterday. If you want to know how you can help, check it out at http://feed2.org/ 
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Friday, November 04, 2016
A Photo Update from RMI...
Beacon EFC team has arrived in Cayes, Haiti for their week of work. We're expecting hard work and changed lives! Pray! Beacon/Morency Partnership #rmihaiti
Thursday, November 03, 2016
A Photo Update from RMI...
Tales of survival: The pastor of the Boyer church shared his family’s experience: “It was midnight when the hurricane winds started. I woke up and got out of bed. I heard the second floor of my house, the one that I use for school, fall down. After a couple minutes, I heard the roof of the church fall down and metal sheets blowing around everywhere outside. I didn’t know what to do but I kept crying out, “Jesus, I am in your hands”. It was very dark and I couldn’t see because there was no electricity. We were so scared, we even forgot where we put the flashlight. Because it was dark, and the winds were very high outside, we couldn’t go anywhere to take refuge. The scariest thing happened at 3 a.m. The ocean waters came into the house and start filling the parsonage. I became so afraid, I decided that we needed to leave the house to find shelter but the winds were really high. Finally, it was so dangerous in the house that we didn’t have a choice. My wife and I were obliged to go up the hill to a widow from the church and take refuge in her home. When I went home after the hurricane, I found everything flooded under the ocean water. However, even though we lost everything, the most important thing for me was that God saved us. We praise His name for that.”
Tuesday, October 25, 2016
100 Year Flood
On Friday, Oct. 22, Haiti experienced what is being called a 100 year flood. October is typically the rainy season and indeed, it had been raining most afternoons since the Oct. 3-4 hurricane. But this was anything but typical. It began raining Thursday night, Oct. 21. It was a wide spread system that produced tropical downpours, with frequent thunder and lighting for more than 14 hours straight. The main area affected was 20 miles on either side of Cayes, where RMI’s headquarters is located. [The mission center and our facilities are located on a hill top and were not flooded, but several of our staffs’ homes were affected.] As Friday dawned, it was clear that creeks and streams had become raging torrents and had overflowed their banks, flooding fields, homes, businesses, churches, school and towns. The waters flowed freely over bridges and roads.
RMI President, Dan Shoemaker, was in Haiti to see things first hand, and meet with and encourage our missionaries and staff there. He was to leave that day. They left for the Port-au-Prince airport at 5 a.m. but had to turn back within just a few minutes due to the high water overflowing the roads. They waited until 9:30 a.m. to try again. They made their way slowly through the flooded roads and mudslides and were finally able to get to the airport – too late to catch his flight to Miami – he was able to get a flight to Ft. Lauderdale and barely made that flight. You can see a part of Dan’s trip HERE. He said that he’d never seen that kind of flooding in all his 35+ years in Haiti.
Many people had started to re-build their roofs and tried to clean up but much of what was left after the hurricane was taken or destroyed in the flood waters. The loss of animals, foundations of homes, stored food, personal belongings, vehicles and even actual land that was washed away is staggering.
This flood, in and of itself, was catastrophic. Add it on top of the devastation of Hurricane Matthew and it only magnifies the need for aid: food, roofs, water filters, rebuilding homes, churches and schools to name just a few.
Pray for Haiti. Pray for RMI as our staff continue to respond to the many needs around them and to the needs of our churches.
Help RMI help our brothers and sisters who have suffered so much loss. You can give HERE.
Friday, October 21, 2016
Thursday, October 20, 2016
A Photo Update from RMI...
This afternoon's good news comes from Les Irois, a village on the far western tip of the southern peninsula - an area especially hard hit by the hurricane. "We just got off the phone with Pastor Jean Sainprival in Les Irois. He tells us that by God's grace, even with all the destruction in the area, the solar system, right through the hurricane, continues to work perfectly well. It is currently THE charging station for the community, cell phones, laptops, tablets, portable lamps, flashlights and so on. God is good! Your investment is having a great impact!" This system was installed in May 2015 (the picture is from that installation). #hurricanematthew #rmihaiti #rmibridge #Cayes #rmi #haiti
Tuesday, October 18, 2016
Thursday, October 13, 2016
A Photo Update from RMI...
Happening now....we were able to have a video conference between the Haiti staff and missionaries, Rob in NJ and Dan and Kim here in the Florida office this morning. It was amazing to get that much internet since access has been so limited (and will continue to be for a while). They had a good time of catching up to date on how everyone was holding up, what they were currently involved in as well as planning for the future. They are distributing food aid and relief supplies as best as they can. Fuel can be bought in Cayes, but is scarce or non-existent in the remote locations they need to get to so their trips are limited to where they can go one one tank of gas. Organizing rebuilding teams was also discussed since so many churches, parsonages and schools have either lost their roofs or been completely destroyed. We know that as reports come in, the next question that our C3 Partners will be asking is, "how soon can we come in to help with our partner church's reconstruction?" We're excited that the big organizations are finally arriving, including the US military as well as 500 trucks filled with supplies and aid coming from the Dominican Republic to the areas west of Cayes. Cholera is becoming a serious issue since so many of the wells, springs, and rivers have become contaminated. Many have said that this catastrophe is worse than the earthquake. The long term effect is not only confined to southern Haiti, but for the entire country. The south was the breadbasket of Haiti. It provided so much of Haiti's food...staple vegetables, rice, fruit and much more. This has ALL, as in 100%, been wiped out. Some crops had just been harvested - those are gone. Some were to be harvested in December - those are gone. Large trees like mango and breadfruit are gone or severely damaged and those, in particular, will take many years to come back and begin to produce again. 80% of livestock is gone. Some say that 90% of homes in the entire peninsula have been destroyed and those that weren't were damaged. Businesses were destroyed and the jobs that go with it. The places that people gathered to worship and go to school were destroyed. It's utter and complete devastation -- for millions of people in the western portion of Haiti. It's hard to wrap our minds around it. The Haitian people are resilient. They've been through many disasters and suffer an incredible amount on a daily basis. For the Christians, their hope is in the Lord. God has placed RMI and it's staff in a unique position to help in multiple ways and we are going to do our best to meet as many needs as possible. Please give what you can! http://ift.tt/2dVXzME #hurricanematthew #rmihaiti #rmibridge #Cayes #rmi #haiti
Wednesday, October 12, 2016
A Photo Update from RMI...
Here is a good map that shows the path of eye of Hurricane Matthew and the hurricane force winds field. Churches outside that area still could have sustained damage because of the huge amount of rain and high winds. Hopefully they fared better than those in the hurricane force winds area. Either way - continue to fervently pray for your C3 partner churches since they are undoubtedly facing serious challenges these days. #hurricanematthew #rmihaiti #rmibridge #Cayes #rmi #haiti
Tuesday, October 11, 2016
A Photo Update from RMI...
A fellow missionary, Kelly Crowdis, (not an RMI missionary) is traveling from Cayes to hopefully Tiburon or as far as she can get. Here is her post about Port Salut. You'll both be saddened yet feel the hope that she saw as she witnessed the people working at recovery on their own. "Past Port Salut is hard, hard, hard. Labei had 90-100 houses 4 are left standing. Went as far as les anglais, another team pushing through to open the road to tiburon. Samaritan's Purse is setting up a temporary cholera treatment center in chardonier and sent an advance team to Rondell. Doctors Without Borders had a few vehicles out. Cholera is everywhere! You cannot cross the river at port-a-piment with out help, the bridges are not safe. There is a lot ofsand on the road you need 4 wheel drive in places. The river at Les Anglais was still up over my pickup doors. Buses can get to Port-a-Piment. Things are worse than bad but there is still a sense of hope. Everyone still has a smile and can joke. The message this morning to everyone-don't block the roads help is coming and if you do they won't come back. And most important - we fell but we aren't down yet. Stand up and plant so we won't be hungry in January! People are making do with what they have. Selling the crops they had stored, making houses out of their roofs or whatever they can salvage. I saw three men planting rice and another hoeing to plant. Haiti needs help! But she is strong and will stand again!"
A Photo Update from RMI...
Perguens is on the road to check on the Ducis church. The assessments have begun! #hurricanematthew #rmihaiti #rmibridge #Cayes #rmi #haiti
Monday, October 10, 2016
Southern Haiti Hurricane Update
A lot was accomplished over the weekend and our team worked tirelessly. The water systems on the mission center have been restored. One missionary stated this morning, "...it is starting to feel more like home even without power. Just having water has really improved our living situation so much!" The team did take a much needed day of rest on Sunday and enjoyed some down time together.
Many more trees, debris and electric lines have been cleared making the roads passable in the Cayes area and the road from Port-au-Prince to Cayes is open. The rivers are going down, so vehicles are able to get through them where the bridges are down.
We hear that the road west from Cayes to the town of Les Anglais has been opened up. This is fantastic news and means we should be able to get reliable reports and pictures on the churches along that road.
What we hear from areas like Port Salut, and Les Anglais are indeed grim. Lives, crops, homes and livestock has been lost. Hunger is a dire need and people are desperate for any help. We sent out a truck this morning with 172,000 meals to distribute meals in the west, but it had to turn back due to insecurity along the road. Our staff are looking at options and ways to safely deliver food to our churches and areas that are in the most need. Since we are one of the only organizations who already have food on the ground and in place, a number of NGO's have contacted us to partner together to distribute food in the south.
A note to Hope for Kidz sponsors...right now we are not able to check up on individual children. In one sense, we have to proceed with the adage of "no news is good news". We know you are concerned for your sponsored child and so are we, however, the circumstances are so extreme, we haven't been able to get to all of the churches and schools to check up on them. Keep checking this website for updates. And keep praying for their safety and provision for their families.
We know it is very difficult for many of you who have been to Haiti and have left a piece of your heart there to wait for news of your loved ones at your Sister Church. Please know we are doing our utmost to get accurate reports and pictures for you. Since the cell phone system has been severely damaged, we've not been able to get in touch with the churches and pastors.
Our Partnership Facilitators are hitting the road to visit each of their assigned churches to check on the church buildings, the schools, parsonages and communities. Once they make those reports, we'll post them - so keep an eye on RMI’s website and Facebook as well.
At this point we are not collecting relief supplies here in the states. That may come at a later date and may involve construction supplies more than clothing and toys. Our priority right now is to help with the overwhelming food need. Hunger is what they are facing now, even as they begin cleanup and work to rebuild their lives. This is where we can help. And it is where YOU can help.
We need your help now. Every little bit helps. Please share RMI's website with your friends! Get your colleagues at work involved in helping. Spread the word.
Give today HERE.
Friday, October 07, 2016
Thursday, October 06, 2016
A Photo Update from RMI...
The Rebuilding has begun. Well, we have a LONG way to go, but the gate at the RMI Depot is going back up. This was very important for security. Check out all the hands helping!
Wednesday, October 05, 2016
We Need Your Help!
As reports from the field continue to trickle in, it is beyond obvious that there is a major relief and rebuilding effort that must begin. As an organization that has been working for 30+ years all throughout the Southern Peninsula (South, Grand Anse, and Nippes regions), we, along with our deep national partners, are positioned well to have a great kingdom impact. We want to help. All of our efforts will be done in coordination with local and National leaders and under the authority of local churches. Our effort will be their effort. We will do this together.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1. Pray for God’s grace and care for His people.
2. Donate generously by visiting our website at http://www.rmibridge.org
3. Share this with as many people as you can.
4. Partner with us! If you are a part of a church or association that would like to partner with RMI in our relief efforts, please call us toll free at 877-764-5439 or email us at info@rmibridge.org.
MORE INFO...
The RMI Team, National and American missionaries, our many church and school partners, our trucks, our equipment, our facilities and our hearts will be fully engaged. As we begin to dig ourselves out, we will quickly begin to do all that God has for us. We can't do this alone. We need you.
-It isn't an exaggeration to say that near 100% crop loss is throughout Southern Haiti. The food needs of the people will be great. We have much food already pre-positioned in some of the most highly affected remote areas. This food will serve well, but millions of meals more will be needed.
-The Mission Center, home to some of our missionaries and the RMI facilities is in need of repairs. All electric lines are down. Many trees need to be removed. Water systems need repair. Roofs are missing. Walls have crumbled. RMI Office office equipment has been lost. Gates are destroyed. The list goes on.
-Many homes, churches, and schools in our local and partnership church communities have lost roofs, and or the structures themselves.
-Many animals have been lost. Access to clean water has been dramatically reduced.
-Our facilities, our trucks, our equipment and our people will all be fully engaged in the effort.
Frankly, we need all the help we can get to do all we can to serve the Haitian people. Will you please join us by prayerfully and generously donating so that together we can honor the Lord?
Thank you for your consideration!! Let's do this together...
Hurricane Aftermath Update
We were able to have a long phone call with Lee Nunemaker this morning. All the missionaries are safe (RMI's and about 30 others from other organizations). The mission center has no water since the system's pipes were broken when trees fell over, roots and all, as well as there is no power. There's no electrical power. All the lines are down on the mission center and beyond and many of the poles are broken off. Six out of 18 missionary homes lost their roofs. The internet satellite antennae was ripped right out of the roof where it was stationed, taking a chunk of concrete with it so they don't have internet. Driveways and roads on the mission center are covered in debris and downed trees.
Yesterday they spent the day just trying to dig out of their homes and carve out paths to get from one house to another to check on their neighbors and offices there on the mission center. All the missionaries are pulling together to take care of each other, and working on establishing some sort of water system, power, and shelter for those who lost their roofs.
We have heard that Benjamin, Benson and most of the other staff have checked in. Some have damage to their homes, and one had a family member struck by flying tin and was being taken to the hospital.
We received pictures of Rob Thompson's yard and property which is posted here in a slideshow format. We are thankful that his tin roof stayed on but were saddened to hear that the other side of their duplex lost the tin.
So many trees are down that movement is almost impossible right now. Benson lives 10 minutes from the mission center but only today was able to find a way to get there. When asked how the roads were, his response, "There are no roads anymore, just trees on top of trees." What we've heard from Haitian nationals over and over is, "The country is finished. There's nothing left, it's no more."
It is hard to wrap our heads around the complete and utter devastation that we are seeing and hearing about just around the Cayes area. We haven't been able to get through to any of our church partners but know that many villages are cut off. Roads and bridges are washed out. Crops and livestock are lost. Homes have been flattened and/or flooded.
Keep praying for our staff as they work on recovery priorities, care for their own families and as they try to get in touch with our partner churches
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