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.