Haiti Update

We are so thankful that things have calmed down in Haiti significantly.  Most roads are open and have been cleaned up, stores are open for business and schools are open.  Our faithful Hope for Kidz team have been going to as many schools as possible to get kids’ pictures and updates.  Everywhere they went they could see the excitement of the kids as they are in school.    Where else do you see kids so happy about school?  Food is being delivered for the Hot Lunch Program and to individual families and several construction projects have been resumed. 

In addition, a Spiritual Leadership Training is being given throughout December for the RMI staff.  It is being taught by Lee Nunemaker and Joslynn Stakes.

We are praying that this period of peace and quiet continues!  It is tenuous but we are cautiously optimistic.  In the meantime, the Lord’s ministry is happening.

In addition to this...Jim and April Starkey have been in Haiti for 3 months.  They were able to paint and get their household set up, making their house their own.  The boys started school at the missionary children’s school while Jim and April started their language lessons.  They are starting to integrate into the ministry even though the country’s political issues have caused RMI to close the office from time to time and they were a bit homebound until things calmed down. 

They experienced their first Thanksgiving in Haiti and enjoyed all the expatriates who gathered for real US turkeys and many dishes from home.  It’s great to have such a large community to share life with.

They’ve decorated and are looking forward to their first Christmas in their new home, too.  While they miss family quite a bit, they are adjusting well to their “new normal”, making new memories and establishing new traditions. 

Some of their family news is that Jim passed his RMI driving test (to drive RMI vehicles) and they’ve adopted a little puppy named Reesie.  April is using her music and worship talents with the mission body and is involved with helping in the Hope for Kidz Program.

An Update on Haiti's Current Situation

As the pickup truck with Benson and 3 others of the RMI staff pulled up to the roadblock a couple of hours from the RMI office it was evident that they were not going to get to the sister churches they had planned on visiting that day.  There was a large crowd at the front of the long line of vehicles and trucks that had been blocked from continuing on their way.  It was evident this roadblock had been started early that morning.  The rocks and tree trunks across the road were very effective.  After a while, Benson decided that it was time to turn around and head back home.  He knew he was not going any further today. 

That was 10 months ago.  That was the beginning of the political issues that have continued to plague Haiti since that time.  Ever since then the political situation has been getting, as they say in Haiti, “hotter and hotter”.  Roadblocks, political demonstrations, and more have become the norm for the country, even more so the last several months.  This has caused great turmoil, strife, and suffering all over Haiti.  No community has been unaffected.

The roadblocks and demonstrations have caused a shutdown in business as deliveries cannot be made especially out into the country areas.   Businesses are being shut down all over Haiti as employees cannot get to work, factories cannot get their contracts produced resulting in lost business, amid many other issues.  Fuel has become a major issue as delivery trucks cannot deliver fuel anywhere.  Gas stations are out of fuel or are simply not open due to the potential for violence.  The lack of fuel has become a huge issue all over Haiti at this time and is, ironically, causing even more demonstrations, which is making the shortages even worse.  Electricity is non-existent. 

Since February, these issues have caused most mission organizations in Haiti to have to cancel their teams.  This has meant that several hundred teams that would have been all over Haiti, including RMI’s teams, were not able to help, encourage, and engage with the Haitian people.  The hundreds of thousands of dollars of aid and funding that would have helped all those local economies were lost or delayed.  The Gospel that would have been preached by these teams hand in hand with our Haitian brothers and sisters was lost.  Many organizations are facing grave financial losses that could result in the layoff of hundreds of staff around the country.  All this has dramatically affected the Haitian churches and their communities in negative ways. 

The lack of travel, deliveries, and the shutdown of all basic services is producing a humanitarian crisis.  The UN last week stated that 38% of the entire population of Haiti is experiencing food scarcity.  This is official speak for “hunger or extreme hunger”.  So many all over Haiti have not been able to make money, get their goods to market, or just have run out of food with no idea as to when it will be available.  This is the same in South Haiti. Not only is the scarcity an issue, but the cost in many areas for the food available has risen by 500% or more.  So many of our Haitian churches are sharing that there is great hunger in their areas, especially in the far rural areas being the worst off.  

Not only are these issues impacting the Haitians in so many dreadful ways, but RMI has also suffered a huge impact as well.  The greatest impact has been the 22 canceled teams that have not been able to engage with their brothers and sisters in Christ, to encourage them, or participate in sharing the Gospel together into their community.  The loss of relationship is one of the great ministry losses of this year. 

RMI Haiti's office is open as much as possible as long as it is safe to do so.  They are taking a number of measures to keep our staff and properties safe as well.  Ministry is hampered but the safety of everyone is our top priority.  The missionary families are feeling good about continuing to stay where they are.  Occasionally they're able to get to town to replenish their food and household needs and they often work from home.

Hope for Kidz schools haven't been exempt from the impacts of the political unrest.  Schools have been forced to close on days when protesters are active in the area.  The safety and advancement of our students are critical to all of us.  Therefore, we continue to monitor the schools for attendance and lesson scheduling as often as possible and when it is safe for our staff to travel into the affected areas.

Churches, principals and parents are rising up to voice their desire to see schools remain open and affected students are doing their best to stay current with their studies.  Schools are working to make up lost days.  It's encouraging that so much of the population is pressing for peace so that schools can remain open. 

The general Haitian population is getting very tired of being kept at home, away from work and school.  As we said, parents want their kids back in school!  Many are venturing out to try to live some semblance of normal life.  There are glimpses of light as stores open, and fuel is able to make its way out to Cayes and to the mission center.  These are good signs, ones that we pray continues.   

Pray for the financial provision for RMI.  The loss of teams also means the loss of one of the main sources of income for our Haiti Operational Budget.  We rely on those funds for our staff salaries as well as many other things in the day-to-day operations of the ministry. 

RMI just happens to be in the middle of our annual food drive with our boxes of 216 prepared meals at the lowest cost of the year.  Pray that our US churches can use this to provide for the needy in their Haitian partner communities. 

Beyond praying for the financial provision for RMI, please pray for the political situation.  Without getting into a lot of detail, the opposition wants the President to resign, and the President so far is not interested in that option.  There is beginning to be more international pressure to get this resolved but so far there are no good options.   Our prayer is that this will get resolved by the middle of December so we can assure our Spring teams all is well and they will be able to get to embrace their brothers and sisters in their partner churches.  Also, pray for the “food scarcity” issues being suffered by so many in south Haiti.  Thank you for your love and care for your Haitian brothers and sisters as well as RMI’s staff and ministries. 

How Can We Give Thanks?

Thanksgiving is something that we as Christians are commanded to give to the Lord in all things.  As we introduce RMI’s annual Thanksgiving food promotional, the prominent phrase in the photo is striking.  “Give Thanks with a Grateful Heart”.  That is easy to say when things are great, life is easy, and our pantries are full of food.

However, the current situation in Haiti makes this very hard for Haitian believers to say right now.  The political situation has caused great suffering these past 10 months.  Protests, demonstrations, long-term fuel shortages, road blockages, and the constant upheaval of these past months have caused great suffering among the Haitian people.  But instead of finding resolution, things have actually intensified in the past month.

Benjamin Altema, our Field Director, has shared how inflation is rampant, resulting in very high food prices.  Due to roadblocks and severe fuel shortages, many areas are running out of food because trucks cannot travel to transport goods to and from the capital and out into the country.

These issues are now resulting in food scarcity and great hunger issues, particularly in rural areas.  Hunger and malnutrition are again a major issue for thousands in our Sister Church communities and throughout South Haiti.  Our annual food drive is especially timely to meet these needs.

* A gift of $20 will provide a box of food to one Haitian family (that’s 216 hot nutritious meals – enough for a family of 6 for a month!).
* A gift of $30 will provide a box of food and the necessary vegetable oil to cook the meals to one Haitian family.

Order online at www.RMIbridge.org.  You can also mail a check payable to RMI to 5475 Lee St., Suite 301, Lehigh Acres, FL 33971 or call the office to place your order at 877-764-5439.

The Gift of Clean Drinking Water

The village of Beaumont, Haiti now has access to clean drinking water.  No more going to the river, well or spring.  Beaumont is located high in the mountains in the middle of the southern peninsula.  It's a bustling village and since it is on the main Cayes to Jeremie road across the mountains, it is frequently where buses and other travelers stop for a meal, to get supplies or gas up before continuing on their way.  As with the majority of villages, getting clean drinking water has always been a challenge.

Hope Church of Springfield, Illinois is the C3 partner church to Beaumont Baptist Church.  Together they have been working to minister to the community.  The leadership of Beaumont Baptist felt that providing clean drinking water would make a significant difference.  Hope Church committed to financing the project.  It took two years for RMI to work out the many details, but the water system was dedicated this summer when Hope Church visited their C3 partner.

It is a business managed by a committee made up of some people from the church and as well as town leaders.  It is open to everyone and people come with their 5-gallon jugs or buckets or whatever they have to fill and pay a small price per gallon.  There is also a machine that fills small, single-serving bags with water which are then sold by street vendors. 

It comes from a spring which is pumped into large holding tanks.  It's then purified via reverse osmosis and, as a result, is clean to drink.  A water company from Port-au-Prince installed the system.  Part of the profit from the sales goes to support the church and the Hope for Kidz Program.  It has already been a huge blessing not only to the church and its neighbors but to many communities in the area who can now purchase locally sourced water. 

Having clean drinking water will greatly reduce the water-borne illnesses that they have had to deal with.  This project is indeed a life-changing gift.  

The Life of a Missionary

You will hear us use the phrase “packing a container” in context of sending a missionary family to the field.  So what exactly happens when we pack a container?  The family going has to pack their household belongings very securely, with most items in plastic bins that have been zip-tied shut and the furniture bubble wrapped and well protected.  Everything has to be numbered and inventoried because a complete manifest must be submitted to customs as it leaves the US and enters Haiti.  They have to send everything that they’ll need to set up house and for each person in the family for several years.  Besides clothes, furniture, appliances, tools, paint,  garden implements, there will be such things as laundry soap, toilet paper, non-perishable food items, etc.
 

They transport (UHaul!) everything to the RMI office in Ft. Myers, Florida where a 40 ft. sea container has been ordered and “dropped”, waiting to be loaded.  Needed equipment such as a pallet jack, forklift, packing blankets, rope, straps, pallets, etc. have been gathered.  Volunteers, RMI staff and the missionary family all work together to unload the UHaul and transfer everything to the container. 

The family’s items are loaded and packed tightly, often up to the ceiling, which takes up about half of the container.  Loaded next are supplies for RMI’s missionaries and many ministries.  For example, in the Starkey’s container, we were able to send 46 pillows and 8 sets of sheets, a freezer to keep food and make ice for teams, kitchen supplies, bulk toilet paper and paper towels, 3 types of fans, 2 large capacity coffee pots, and other supplies for the Zanglais Ministry Center. 

The men also loaded 36 tires, lumber for various projects, 3 motorcycles and 2 four-wheelers (one for the Starkeys) to provide additional transportation so vehicles don’t have to be used, 8 heavy-duty cots and 4 camp chairs for use in receiving teams, roof sealant for the Nunemaker’s concrete home, a microwave, and a 3 ton and 4 ton floor jack for the garage.  Several C3 Partner churches sent items to their Haitian partner churches, too.  As you can tell, it’s an unusual mix of things and each container is different, depending on the needs of the Haiti field at the time.

Loading the container usually takes 2-3 days.  Working in the container under the hot Florida sun is like laboring in a sauna, so we provide a lot of ice water and cooling breaks in the office air conditioning.  Packing it well is like putting together a giant, life-sized 1000 piece puzzle.  In addition, one has to keep in mind that the really heavy things have to be put on the bottom and lighter and fragile things on the top.  Each motorcycle has to be strapped down and you have to think of how to protect things if the load shifts (Remember, it will be trucked to Miami, lifted onto a container ship, travel overseas to the port of Port-au-Prince, off-loaded onto a cab then travel on pothole-filled roads and even some unpaved road sections to RMI’s facilities at Cayes!). 

It is a labor of love for the ministry and hopefully, in about 8 weeks, it’ll arrive in Cayes and the Starkeys and everyone else will have their items.

RMI President Honored

Romans 12:15 exhorts us to "rejoice with those who rejoice" and we want to rejoice with RMI President, Dan Shoemaker, who was honored as one of Southwest Florida's Power Influencer in June. 

The Cape Coral Community Foundation works to be the voice of nonprofit leaders in order to collaborate together to make a positive difference in the region through generosity and compassion.  At their annual Celebration of Nonprofit Power Influencers event that recognizes the CEO's of area nonprofits, Dan was among the 25 honorees. 

It was exciting to be recognized for his integrity and honesty and be able to network with other nonprofit CEO's who also work tirelessly to foster positive change in the Ft. Myers area.

Congratulations Dan!  Job well done!

The full newspaper article regarding the event can be found HERE.

Starkeys Are On The Move

Jim and April Starkey and their 3 kids, Isaac, Micaiah and Ezekiel are just 2 months away from leaving for the field.  They are continuing to work hard at raising the rest of their support.  While they still have 25% of their one-time funds to raise and $750 a month of their monthly needs, they are desperately needed on the field.  Thus, the RMI administration is stepping out in faith and are sending them to Haiti at the end of August, just 2 months away.  We are trusting God to supply the rest of their needs as they make their preparations.

One thing that is helping get their one-time financial needs down a bit is that RMI has bought the furniture, some household goods and a motorcycle from Rob Thompson, the outgoing Field Director.  Jim and April will be taking over the Thompson’s home on the mission center, so being able to buy these things will help the Starkeys get there sooner.

Currently, they are finishing many things...Jim’s job will be drawing to a close soon, the kids’ homeschool year is almost over, they are selling their home and some belongings,  sorting, packing and many other tasks.  It’s a flurry of activities as they make final doctor visits, come to the RMI office for pre-field training, transport their household belongings to the RMI office to pack into a sea container, say their last goodbyes - you get the idea!  There are quite a few details to take care of.

Jim and April’s first job description will be language acquisition.  Their language lessons will probably last for 3 months.  After that Jim will probably be working under Benson in the operations arena.  As she is able, April will be helping in the administration office, possibly with Hope for Kidz and church partnerships.  The details will be determined as they settle in and see where they fit the best.  The 2 older boys will start school soon after they arrive at the missionary kids school right there on the mission center.   They are excited about starting this new adventure.

How can you help them?

They need additional financial support!  Can you join their support team with a monthly commitment or a one-time donation?   You can donate online at www.rmibridge.org/financial-donations.

They need prayer support.  Their current requests are for the sale of their house, that the last of their funds will come in, that they will finish things up well (packing, etc) and for their transition to the next era of life as full-time missionaries.

You can find them on Facebook.  Look up “Jim Starkey”, “April Starkey” and “Praying the Starkeys to Haiti”  You can read more about them at their website,  www.rmibridge.org as well.

Passing the Hat

During VBS last week at Loomis Evangelical Free Church, Loomis, NE, the kids literally passed the hat as they collected funds to build school benches for their C3 Partner Church's school.  They raised enough funds to build 4 benches.  That is enough to seat 25 students.  Way to go guys!!

We are in the middle of Hope for Kidz' annual campaign to renew sponsorships and find new ones for unsponsored kids.  Last school year there were 2660 kids sponsored and we are praying that 2880 will be able to be sponsored this year.

If you haven't renewed your sponsorship, now is the time!  And if you don't yet sponsor a child, don't delay in getting started.  These kids need your help to give them real hope for a better future.  You can go online HERE to start your sponsorship.

New Haiti Field Director Appointed

RMI is excited to announce the appointment of Benjamin Altema as RMI's Haiti Field Director.  Benjamin will be replacing Rob Thompson who is transitioning back to the US this summer.  For many years now, RMI has been developing multi-cultural leaders.  This is another important step in that process.  Benjamin has proven his leadership capability as he has worked his way up these last 12 years from starting out working with teams, to being in charge of RMI’s Haitian staff, to the Director of Haiti Field Operations and now to lead the entire field, both US missionary and Haitian staff.

Benjamin grew up in Aux Cayes near the mission center.  He and his family have been friends of RMI for many, many years.  His mother worked for RMI co-founders, Herb and Shirley Shoemaker, for 10 years while they served in Haiti, and eventually, years later, worked for RMI and Dan and Debbie Shoemaker for 25 years.  In his university years, he occasionally worked for RMI in various capacities.  He graduated from the American University of Cayes in 2006 with a degree in the Science of Agriculture and Environment.  In January of 2007 Benjamin joined the staff of RMI full-time.  He married his wife, Lucette, in 2010 and they have 4 boys, ages 8 (twins), 7 and 4.

Benson Joseph will take on the directorship of the new Department of Operations for RMI which includes most of the ministries, projects, and programs of RMI, as well as facilities and vehicles, something he has already been doing informally.  He will also continue his supervision of the Hope for Kidz Department.  His leadership in these areas has been and will continue to be crucial to the ongoing success of RMI.

Lee Nunemaker has taken on a new role as Member Care Coordinator for all of our Haiti field staff, both US and Haitian.  This new role fits his pastoral heart and caring spirit.  He will be ministering into their lives through discipleship, mentoring, and spiritual care.  Lee will also continue in his role as Director of the C3 Partnerships.  His engagement with our C3 partners have been a big part of their ongoing success in their partnerships and the impact they are having together in their Haitian communities. 

Pray for these leaders as they continue to move RMI forward on the ground in Haiti.  The ministry of RMI is having a great impact all across south Haiti and just continues to grow.  Pray for wisdom, understanding, vision, and unity as they transition into this new leadership structure.

Meet Tessa Andrews, RMI's Newest Missionary

Tessa is a Florida native who grew up in the church with her mom and grandmother who are both Christians.  She has 2 stepsisters.  She had the opportunity to go on a mission trip with her church to Cite Lumiere in 2017.  Haiti and the ministries there really grabbed her heart and she found it very difficult to leave.  She heard of the need for teachers at the missionary kid school, located at Cite Lumiere and felt that God was calling her to teach at the school.  

Tessa shared, "...before I told anyone that I was praying about moving here, I had a moment where I was awestruck. My mama was cooking and came around to where I was sitting. She simply looked at me and said, 'if you ever wanted to move to Haiti I’d be okay with it.'  It was one of the times during my journey here that really just solidified that Haiti is where God wanted me."

She has lived in Haiti since August 2018. She is going into her second year of teaching early elementary students at Cite Lumiere Christian School.  Each year is different, based on the need...how many students there are in which grades.  When she is not teaching, she enjoys sharing her passion for ballet by teaching a class to missionary children. 

She'll officially be an RMI missionary at the end of May and shared, "I would love to participate in other RMI ministries when I am available to do so and as RMI needs me. I am very interested in the Hope for Kidz ministry in particular. I am very excited to be joining RMI, I love the missions focus on relationships with the Haitian church."

June, July and part of August will find her in her home area in north Florida working on raising her support.  If you would like to be a part of her very important ministry to missionary families, please go HERE to donate.  She would also appreciate your prayers as she prepares for the new school year.

Heart Connections Made and Funds Raised

Sometimes making an impact can start with the youngest ones around us. That’s exactly what happened with the elementary students at Southwest Florida Christian Academy (SFCA) a ministry of McGregor Baptist Church (MBC) in Ft. Myers, FL.  [McGregor Baptist is one of the newest C3 partner churches.]  Each year SFCA organizes a 5-day emphasis on Christian Missions around the world. 

In February 2019, SFCA selected the Christian school at Cote-de-Fer Baptist Church (CDF) (McGregor's C3 partner church) in Haiti for this year's missions partner. During the week-long daily missions chapel, the SFCA elementary students learned about the school and nearly 300 students at CDF and how they are part of the Sister Church partnership.

Daily missions chapel with a life-size replica of
 a Haitian school room.

The SFCA students recognized the physical and spiritual needs of the same age students in Haiti.  Students learned that the students at CDF have a Hot Lunch Program available through sponsorships.  While this is a great blessing, students are required to bring their own bowl and spoon for lunch.  Having a dedicated bowl and a spoon is more of a luxury item, as most use what they can, such as a lid to a container or part of a pencil box as a bowl.  In recognizing this and other physical needs, the SFCA students and their families collected funds to purchase stainless steel bowls and spoons for each student at CDF. 

SFCA student helps prepare a packet of food just like the
kids at the Cote de Fer school get for lunch every day.

The SFCA students had a special chance to connect with the students in a fun and interactive way.  Through the help of RMI and Feed My Starving Children, SFCA provided a package of the nutritious MannaPack™ meals that are part of the Hot Lunch  Program that RMI offers.  Students and their families were encouraged to prepare these yummy rice packets at home and include it as part of a family meal.  Families and students were able to continue the conversation about the students in Haiti during meals and family devotion times.  Parents posted on social media the excitement of the students to eat the same meal as the students in Haiti.  One mother commented that her son wanted to have some of the rice included in his lunch so he could have rice for lunch just like the other boys and girls when they have lunch.  This was a special and tangible way to make a heart connection.

In addition to the bowls and spoons, enough funds were raised to purchase chalkboards for each classroom, school supply kits, water filters, and some additional food boxes. In fact, the SFCA students raised over $6,000 to help the students at CDF with educational and physical needs. It was clear that God had provided the means to help meet these needs. At the same time, SFCA students were able to share and demonstrate the love of God for the students and staff at the CDF school. The students in Haiti know that God has not forgotten them.

The Gospel message is for everyone. This includes addressing both physical and spiritual needs to those around us. SFCA students were challenged to “dive in” and share the Gospel message of Jesus Christ and to be part of missions wherever they are. SFCA strives to equip its students' as godly leaders and engage cultures around the world. These students showed that no matter the age, sharing the hope of Jesus Christ can impact an impact for eternity.

The bowls and spoons arrive in Cote de Fer 

Providing Hope

Do you have one of these in your hands?  If not, you are missing a blessing!  This is a profile of a child in RMI’s Hope for Kidz Child Sponsorship Program.  “Providing Hope Today for Haiti’s Tomorrow” is not just a cute slogan for Hope for Kidz.  It is the very foundation for the program. Through sponsorship, needy children are able to get a quality education that will utterly transform their lives.  To grow into successful adulthood, they need to be able to read, write, do math, and understand the world around them.  To do this from a Christian context makes the potential for success even greater.

Our classrooms in Haiti are filled with students dreaming of their future—hopes of being a doctor, teacher, nurse, mechanic, chef, business leader, lawyer, and entrepreneurs.  They will be Haiti’s next leaders.  A quality education opens the doors to these kinds of opportunities - the kinds of opportunities that can transform a nation from the inside out.

By investing in a child’s education through Hope for Kidz, you’re helping provide a Christ-centered foundation and supporting their hopes and dreams to change their country.

Your sponsorship provides:

• Christian education
• Annual de-worming and prevention education
• School supplies, uniform and shoes
• Access to an emergency medical fund
• Hot Lunch Program (in some areas)
• Chance to write to their sponsor
• Chance to meet sponsor if the sponsor goes to Haiti on an RMI team

For only $32 a month (or $384 a year), you can sponsor a child.  To facilitate this, you can go to          www.RMIbridge.org or call RMI directly.  Monthly recurring donations can be set up or donations can be received over the phone. 

If you are already a sponsor, this is the time to renew your sponsorship.  Continue that relationship you have with your child!

Thank you!!

On behalf of your brothers and sisters in Haiti, we want to thank you for your prayers for them these past weeks as they have gone through some turbulent times.  We are also thankful that so many of you were able to help provide cases of food to those who are in need during these days.  Your concern and love for your C3 Partner churches, your sponsored children and the Haitian people, in general, has been amazing and heartwarming.   

We are happy to say that at present, the roads are open, and things are returning to normal.  Teams are coming and going.  The RMI staff are busy with their usual activities of making school visits, taking kids pictures, receiving and caring for the teams, delivering the food, and much more.  We are excited to see things moving and ministry happening.

Please continue to pray for Haiti and your Sister Church for continued peace and quiet for the country.  This is critical, not just for RMI, but for all the various organizations working in Haiti to be able to bring help and hope to the country.  

Thanks again for your prayers, love, and care. 

Haiti Update: Food is Deperately Needed, Missionaries Return and Teams Resume

Food aid is desperately needed now in Haiti!   People are hungry and you can help!  Haiti has been in the news quite a bit the last several weeks.  There have been demonstrations and unrest all over the country.  The people are tired of the rampant corruption that led to a severe shortage of fuel as well as a meteoric rise in the cost of basic food and staples.  They want a change in the government and relief in the cost of living.  The result was that everything in the country ground to a halt ... no vehicles on the roads, and stores, businesses and schools closed.  The country was in lockdown for several weeks.  People were afraid and unable to leave their homes to take their goods to market and to shop for food for their families.

The result of this lockdown is that there is a desperate need for food aid.  Simply put, they are hungry.  This is a humanitarian crisis that you can actively help alleviate.     The need is NOW.

A $20 donation would send a case of food (each one contains 216 fortified and nutritious meals) to a needy family.  That’s enough for a hot meal a day for a family of 6 for a month!  Please don’t delay.  Take advantage of this tangible help in a very real crisis.  This $20 a box sale price runs through March 31, 2019.

You can give boxes to a needy family, or specify your Sister Church or your sponsored Hope for Kidz child’s family.

Thankfully, things are calming down and getting back to normal.  Our RMI missionaries, who left 2 weeks ago out of precaution, have returned and the RMI Haiti office is back up and running.  The roads are clear and there should not be any problems getting the food where it needs to go.
Go online to www.rmibridge.org and click on the “Donate Now” button and follow the prompts.

Additional Update:  Missionaries Have Returned and Teams are Resuming

Our normal team schedule will resume on March 15.

Several teams had to be canceled in February and early March due to the political unrest, but with the return of calm, we feel confident in resuming our team schedule beginning with the March 15 teams.  Be assured that safety is our main consideration for our teams.  

If you are on a team scheduled for March 15 or after, plan on coming and keep in touch with your team leader to get the latest update.  As always, you are welcome to call the RMI office at 239-368-8390 to speak with our staff for an update.

Pray for Haiti

Haiti is still in turmoil. The causes are many and there are no quick or easy solutions. RMI has had to cancel several teams and our Haiti office has been closed for 10 days. Our missionaries and staff have been safe and have had good supplies of food and water. However, as things have escalated, Saturday morning the US embassy strongly encouraged all US citizens to leave the country as soon as possible. The safety of our missionaries is paramount as well as enabling them to carry out their ministries effectively. At this point, our ministry is paralyzed and the missionaries have been on lockdown in their homes for more than a week.

The decision was made Saturday to evacuate all RMI missionaries as soon as possible. This was accomplished yesterday when Missionary Flights International flew in a DC 3 to the Cayes airport and picked up our missionaries plus several other agencies' missionaries and flew them to the Port-au-Prince airport. [The road to the capital has been blocked by dozens of barricades.] All of them were able to get on commercial airlines to the US and are now safely home. This decision wasn't made lightly - but it was needed not only for the missionaries but to relieve our Haitian leadership from the responsibility of caring for them in a time of crisis.

We will remain in constant contact with our Haitian leadership to continue to assess the situation and, hopefully, the missionaries can head back and teams can resume soon.

Our hearts break for our Haitian brothers and sisters and this dear country. Their hardships are compounded by this crisis. Pray for peace and stability to return to Haiti quickly!

[Continue to follow our Facebook page to get the most up-to-date information.]

Val Marie Paper

In 2016, Valerie Woerner committed to tithe 10% of the sales from their company, Val Marie Paper, an internet company that designs and produces various kinds of personal prayer journals, to RMI to feed school children through the Hope for Kidz Hot Lunch Program. God has honored that commitment and in the last three years Val Marie Paper has been able to give over $82,000 to feed 760 school kids each school day as well as help with some school projects. Each journal that is purchased provides meals for 6 kids.

These meals will probably be the only meal they receive all day. Kids who are well nourished learn better. They are not preoccupied with being hungry. They are able to stay awake in class, concentrate on their lessons and thus are able to receive better grades. They are healthier and have more energy.  Being healthier also boosts their immune system resulting in less illnesses and better attendance in school. The meals are chicken flavored rice-based (a staple of a typical Haitian diet) and are packed with the vitamins, protein, and minerals needed for optimal nutrition. In short, having these meals are life changing!

Valerie is not shy about sharing her giving vision, stating, “It’s not worth having a business if giving isn’t built into it. It shouldn’t be something that is just focused on yourself. We should be able to use our resources and steward them the way God is calling us to. It’s our daily obedience to Him.”

Valerie and Tyler Woerner

She has built giving as a part of the DNA of her business. Valerie developed unique, quality prayer journals (www.valmariepaper.com) after she became pregnant with her first child. She realized that she’d only be able to get through it if she prayed quite a bit, but she couldn’t get her thoughts organized. At the time she owned a wedding invitation company and the printer, who printed the invitations, told her that he could print something for her to make it easier, but she’d have to order at least 50. By the time she got a design put together and all the pages the way she wanted and had her first prayer journal printed, it was 2 weeks before her daughter was born. She realized that it made sense that if she struggled with prayer then there were probably other people who struggled in the same way. She shared it with her previous clientele, brides, friends, and family and sold about 100. That first shipment was shipped out 2 weeks after her daughter was born. The orders for the prayer journals kept coming as more people found out about them. It was such a novel, unique idea at the time and people really responded to it. Val Marie Paper was born and has grown exponentially in the last 4 or so years.

She had been giving to a different charity each month but as the business grew, she felt like she could make a bigger impact by giving to a charity that she knew personally and trusted. That is when she turned to RMI, an organization that Valerie had intimate, long-term knowledge of and trusted. RMI is a ministry that had been a part of Valerie’s life since she was a little girl. Her church, Trinity Bible Church (Lafayette, LA), has been partnering with RMI for decades. Her family has sponsored lots of kids over the years and she and her husband, Tyler, have continued this in their own family.  Valerie’s mom, dad, and sister have all visited their Sister Church in Picot, Haiti on mission trips. You can read more about her giving commitment at www.valmariepaper.com/about/giving-fund. Valerie and Tyler hope to visit Haiti soon to see the Hot Lunch Program in action and meet their sponsored children.
What Valerie has done is so inspiring and challenging!

The idea of giving a percentage of sales or profits to support a particular charity is a growing phenomena and businesses are finding it’s a blessing on multiple fronts as it stretches your faith and expands your borders. Have you built charitable giving into the DNA of your company or business? How about consolidating your giving into one place so that you can make a bigger impact? RMI is a ministry that has boots on the ground that you know and trust.

Help us make a bigger impact in Southern Haiti.  What can your business do?

Creative Fundraising

Have you run out of ways to raise funds for your mission projects?  Looking for creative, unique, fun (and legal!) ways to raise those funds?  Take this example from a long-time member of a C3 partner church.  He shared on his Facebook page:

“Many of you know that I have been involved in a ministry in Haiti for the past 30+ years. My church has established a Sister Church relationship with a small church in southern Haiti. Two years ago Hurricane Matthew (a Category 5 storm) struck Haiti and caused catastrophic damage. It was followed two months later by another major storm which caused more flooding and damage. Several churches and schools in villages near our Sister Church were completely destroyed. To raise funds to help with the construction of these destroyed churches in Haiti, I decided to try to sell my postage stamp collection which was gathering dust in my office. I had collected stamps as a teenager and still had two of my albums containing thousands of stamps. In addition, I inherited 18 albums of stamps from my mother-in-law who was an avid collector. I learned that the best way to do this would be to join the local Stamp Club and put batches of stamps up for sale in the auctions that they hold twice a month. In order to do that I had to identify each stamp by its special number and provide its “Scott catalog value”.

Every stamp in the world has a number and these are published in a series of 10+ volumes representing every country of the world. These Scott catalogs are in my local Public Library to use and are updated each year along with the current value of each stamp which can change from time to time. It’s a lot of time-consuming work, but I have enjoyed renewing my interest in stamps. So far I have sold over $3,300 worth of stamps! In the process, I’ve come across some interesting stamps. For example, many countries including the U.S. issue stamps which commemorate other stamps. These are called “stamps on stamps”. One example is the 8-cent stamp issued in 1972 which pictures and commemorates the 5-cent 1847 Ben Franklin stamp, the very first U.S. stamp! I have another stamp from Hungary which is a stamp of a stamp of a stamp!

If any of you have a stamp album and would like to donate it to the cause, please let me know by sending a message. I’ll process the stamps and sell them and use the funds to help rebuild destroyed schools and churches in Haiti.”

What a labor of love!  We appreciate his heart for Haiti and his willingness to use his resources in a unique way to benefit the churches in Haiti.  His efforts have spurred some of his friends to donate their stamp collections to him for cataloging and selling. 

We’d love to share other creative ways to fundraise!  Let us know what you are doing – it may help others come up with their own ideas.

Ministry Impact Report 2018

The elderly gentleman dressed in his best clothes that morning.  He started walking early because he knew it’d take a while to get there.  Once he arrived, he made sure to get a good seat near the front.  They said that there was a group from the United States visiting the church that week and he really wanted to hear what they had to say.  He listened carefully to what the guest speaker shared.  He’d heard the pastor of the church say much the same thing, but that morning he felt God speaking to him, telling him that it was time to make the decision.  After the service he pressed his way forward to speak to the pastor.  Today was the day.  God was calling him to accept Christ as his Savior.  The visiting team from Bartlett, IL was thrilled to pray with him and to know that God had used their team to bring this man to salvation.  This kind of ministry is what we are so excited about.  RMI’s ministry makes a real impact in people’s lives. 

Here is our Ministry Impact Report for 2018.

C3 Partnerships
RMI Haitian Staff facilitated 32 team trips
482 water filters were distributed improving the health of  those families and their neighbors
424 goats were distributed to provide sources of income for those families
350 solar lights
7 churches built
2 homes built
86 church and school benches built
584 Bibles and songbooks given out
3 motorcycles for pastors delivered
533 people came to Haiti through teams, internships and others visits
3 new C3 partnerships were begun (giving us a total of 34 active partnerships)

Hope for Kidz & School Education
2,651 children are now sponsored through Hope for Kidz
7,587 children received a daily hot lunch
3 Hot Lunch Program storage rooms built
10 each of school filing cabinets and blackboards given and installed
9 children received emergency medical assistance
23 teacher’s desks and chairs given out
7 school rooms built
16,886 children’s health were improved through the Hope for Kidz De-worming Program

Haiti Operations Team
Processed 12 food containers (which is 14,760 boxes of food - each one of which were handled at least 3 times, or 3,188,160 meals)
1 new Haitian employee
Reconstruction done on 9 churches
Maintained 12 vehicles and 15 motorcycles to keep the ministry up and running
Acquired 2 “new-to-us” vehicles to augment our aging fleet

RMI USA
1 new missionary, Dawn Shoemaker, arrived on the field
1 appointee family, Jim and April Starkey, are continuing to raise their support, hoping to go in 2019
The Speel family reached their “go-to-Haiti” minimum funds raised, for which we praise the Lord.  They are stopping off at the International Office in Ft. Myers to work for a year to allow time for Jeff’s back to heal. 

We are so thankful for the special men and women of God that work faithfully every day.  Some work behind the scenes, some of them are more visible, but they all work hard and with joy.  The RMI Haiti office is always a busy, buzzing hive of activity with people coming and going - there are always multiple kinds of ministry happening!  And you help make it possible with your financial and prayer support.  Thank you!  The Lord’s work is being done because of you.