An Update from RMI's Facebook Page...

McGregor team praying at the site of a new church plant in Pesmel, Haiti, after day of evangelism. #rmihaiti @mcgregorbaptist @mergedottv

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An Update from RMI's Facebook Page...

Right Now: McGregor team sharing the Gospel yard to yard in La Source, Haiti. Praising God for 14 conversions yesterday, pray for more today! @mcgregorbaptist @mergedottv #rmihaiti

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An Update from RMI's Facebook Page...

McGregor Baptist having Gospel conversations, yard to yard, today in St. George, Haiti. People are responding in faith! @mcgregorbaptist @mergedottv #rmihaiti

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An Update from RMI's Facebook Page...

Ladies Tea this afternoon at Baradares, hosted by their sister church, Creekside. The theme was weddings and being the Bride of Christ. http://ift.tt/1VFZa9c in Reciprocal Ministries International

An Update from RMI's Facebook...

Today we had the pleasure of delivering a new generator to Policard church from the Nebraska churches. It was a pleasure to be a part of this delivery!

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An Update from RMI's Facebook Page...

Will you pray for the RMI Haiti Team today? See our latest team photos here... http://ift.tt/1WGxwXK in Reciprocal Ministries International

Happy Birthday Benjamin…

Today is the birthday of our very own Benjamin Altema.  Benjamin is RMI’s Field Administrator.  He is a constant servant.  He is a wise leader.  He loves Jesus. He loves his family.  He loves RMI. He is called by God to change the world for the sake of the Christ. He is on mission.  He is our friend. 

It is our honor today to wish you… Bonn Fèt and Happy Birthday!

It’s Full Throttle at RMI…

Some of you might think I am talking about driving on Haitian roads…  I am not.  We are fully engaged in “the work”.  Will you please pray for us in all these activities.  It isn’t about being busy, but it is about intentionally working hard, consistently, in the work that God has called us to.  The work of changing lives for Him.

• Today starts the 2 day Willow Creek Global Leadership Conference here in Cayes.  Together, we are sending 64 leaders from all over Southern Haiti.  We are “short handed” today at the office since a good number of our staff are there.  Pray for God to move in hearts.  Pray for leaders to be challenged and encouraged.  Pray for the development of vision.
• We have a church on the ground right now.  Last night was their debriefing. Tomorrow the bus is headed into Port au Prince again so this team can go back home.
• Today, we have vehicles going in to Port au Prince becuase we have another team arriving this evening for their next visit with their Sister Church.  4th team of the year already.
• Tomorrow, I (Rob) am leaving for a week of mission conference and meetings in RMI’s US Office.
• Today we have our own maintenance team, led by Joel, out making a repair to one of our Home for Haiti home builds.
• Today we have a truck going to pick up a motorcycle at one of our Sister Churches that is in desperate need of work.  Our other trucks are being prepped, washed, checked and fueled up for another team trip out on Saturday.

There is much other work happening too.  Kids are being taught, office administration is in full swing, reports are being developed and updates are being written, bags are being packed, decisions are being made, pastors and school directors are visiting the office, etc.

The team is working hard.  There are a lot of moving parts, in many different directions.  Please pray.

We Pray…

“For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.”  Ephesians 6:12

We pray at the start every day.  We pray before we go somewhere.  We pray when we arrive.  We pray for one another.  We pray for those we love.  We pray for those we have just met and will meet.  We pray because we believe that God is listening.  We pray because Jesus taught/told us to pray.

There is no great divide between the natural and supernatural.  God is very much active in our daily life, whether we live like it, believe it, think about it, or not.

Here are a few recent moments of prayer…

In a World SO DIVIDED, How Good and Pleasant It Is...

In a world SO DIVIDED, it’s a distinct privilege to facilitate and watch walls crumble. The Lord made us to be in fellowship.  He called us to be ONE body. 

It’s hard to explain. It’s difficult to understand. It’s impossible to truly capture.  Yet, it’s amazing to experience. 

Unity. Fellowship. Love.

I have heard Psalm 133 read SO. MANY. TIMES. here in Haiti. Why? Because it is true. I can hear it now coming from the breath of God himself.. 

“Behold, how good and pleasant it is when brothers and sisters dwell in unity!”

Developing Schools of Excellence…

You might be aware of Hope for Kidz, our child sponsorship program.  Just the highlights…  We have over 2000 children sponsored and receiving an education (Tuition, books, shoes, uniform, etc), over 5000 children eating a Hot Lunch every school day and next week we will be providing health education and deworming to over 17,000 children!  We couldn’t be more excited!

One could say that helping a child get to school is only half of the battle.  The other half is making sure they receive a Christ centered quality education.  We are focusing more and more on making sure this happens.  Here are just a few things we are doing toward this end…

Teacher Training – We want our teachers trained.  It’s a desperate need.  We have partnered with an organization who specializes in training Haitian teachers.  Our desire is for all of the teachers and school directors form our partner schools to get advanced training.  Right now, as I write, we have 75 teachers who are sitting in training.  By the end of tomorrow, they will have finished modules #1 through #8 out of 12.  These 75 teachers are now into their second year of the 2 year program.  It’s exciting to watch!  We can’t wait to roll out this same training to many more teachers starting fall 2016.  More to come…

Monthly School Visits – Once a month, a member of our Partnership Facilitation team visits each school.  While there, they observe, create reports, provide oversight and accountability.  These observations and reports are a significant step in helping us understand the issues at hand.

NEW Hope for Kidz Monitor – We have recently added a position to our HFK team to help us gain deeper insight and to respond more quickly to observed needs in the lives of each of our sponsored children and partner schools.  There is a story behind every child and every school.  We want to know these stories so we can address child and school/educational development needs more quickly and effectively.  This position exists to supervise, monitor, develop, and hold accountable all Hope for Kidz children, schools, teachers and school directors.  In response to observations made, recommendations will be made, and quickly addressed.  We are immediately addressing specialized teacher training needs with seminars.  We will be watching and making recommendations on changing systems, schedule, curriculum, discipline, etc.  We will be noting the absence of supplies, facilities and teaching aides and looking for ways to address these deficiencies.

Resourcing Schools – Because our Hope for Kidz program is done within the context of our Church Partnerships, we are able to collaborate with our US Partners to bring much needed resources to our Haitian schools. Did you know that we are actively building 2 schools right now?  Did you know that we just provided 6 blackboards and 6 teacher’s desks to another school? Did you know that we just built a bathroom facility for another school?  We love being able to partner with local churches and schools to provide the resources they need to provide a quality education.

We are incredibly excited about our initiatives to develop Schools of Excellence.  Please pray and join us.

Our Haitian Team - the Gold Standard?

Our visiting short term teams are led by our Haitian team members with excellence.  As Field Director, will you allow me the opportunity to give a shout out to our Haitian staff?  I hope so, so here it goes…

We ask all of our visiting team members from the US to complete a survey once they return home.  On one of those surveys, a recent US team member, speaking specifically about our Haitian Team Leader and Partnership Facilitators that went with them to visit their Sister Church, wrote, “I would say this is the standard others should strive for. I couldn’t imagine anything better”.  Love it!

We like to say we are a “teaching mission”.  We want to raise up, empower and release our Haitian Team to lead and do big things for Christ.  I can say with all assurance, it’s happening and I couldn’t be more pleased.  But my opinion doesn’t matter.  I think God is pleased.

This post is a simple shout out to the deep integrity, commitment, hard work and leadership of our Haitian staff who are here on the ground making it happen. 

Thank you for what you do, for Jesus and the furthering of His kingdom.

We Plan, but God Decides our Steps…

God says, “Man plans his way, but God determines the path.” The original trip from Creekside Community Church, Gainesville, FL, to visit their Sister Church in Baradere Haiti, was planned for the last week of August.  But, since the team was flying directly to Les Cayes from Florida in a small, private plane, the trip was cancelled because of Tropical Storm Danny.  It was rescheduled for the next Monday, but had to be postponed another day because of Tropical Storm Erika!

This was a VERY unique visit.  The team had 2 purposes… First, they wanted to focus on Hope for Kidz child sponsorship initiatives by interviewing teachers, graduates and present sponsored children in the school.  The second purpose was to get things started and/or see progress on the new school building that is being funded. 

Except the pilot of the plane, all team members were veterans of C3P visits to Baradere.  It was extremely enriching to everyone as team members talked with the pastor, his wife, the deacons, the cook ladies, and those involved with the school. Laughter between the host church and team members characterized the ease of communication and friendship between them. Individual conversations were video taped to help the team remember information from the interviews and to imprint the experience upon them and those at Creekside.  Two of the team members hiked two hours one way up a mountain with the pastor and two RMI staff to experience what one sponsored child experiences each day as the child walks to and from school. Because they were walking, they were able to talk with several other children and families along the way.  All the interviews at the parsonage, school, and homes led each team member to a deeper understanding and appreciation of the culture and of the school. All of the team members were impressed by the insight and qualifications of the teachers, as well as the complexity of questions asked by the recent graduates.

A statement (paraphrased) by the pilot, a first time visitor with RMI, summed up his impression of those families interviewed by the team. He said that he was amazed by the cleanliness and orderliness of the homes and the pride of the people even in the midst of such poverty. He wants to be included in future trips.

A C3 Partnership Visit to Camp Perrine…

A group from Schuylkill Valley Bible Chapel arrived in Haiti after a two year hiatus led by the veteran husband and wife team, Pastor Steve and Mary Buerer. In addition to the mutual encouragement of the sister churches, the specific mission of this team was to install water filters and distribute food to Camp Perrine Church and some of its satellite churches. The team actively participated in installing 14 filters, but also left 6 more with the church to use as they felt best. Ten boxes of food were also brought along to be distributed to some of the families. The ongoing need for food and clean water was the motivation for this emphasis. Other activities during the week included a Ladies Tea and a Youth Program, both of which were well attended and enjoyed by all! Pastor Steve and Christian Leinbach added the benefit of their years of experience and study to a leadership conference held at the church. Perguens, one of our Partnership Facilitators and the Team Leader, said he also learned a lot from being involved. The three satellite churches visited were Ferme de Blanc, Ashille, and Mont Casse.

All the team members were very impressed by the facilities provided by the church at Camp Perrine! The men slept in a new addition above the rear of the church building constructed as an office for Pastor Astrell, and included a nice bathroom. Pastor Steve, his wife, and Lauren stayed in the Pastor’s home, the bathroom of which had also been renovated. Brian and Lauren as first-timers, were very impressed by the hospitality and self sacrifices of all the church members in serving us. They both said they would be happy to return if God called them and provided the means. Everyone was moved by the abundance of love and fellowship from all the churches’ members. The team felt they had accomplished more on this trip than any previous ones.

To God be the glory!

Did We Get (or Give) Your Goat?

Over the last few years, we have had quite a few people donate to provide a goat to a family here in Haiti.  We LOVE doing this and we do it very carefully.  Here are a few things that we think you might not know, but we think that you might be interested to know…

1. We give the goat to a family, but put it in the hands of a child.  We ask that child to take responsibility to care for the goat.
2. We only give female goats since it is gift that will keep on giving (offspring).
3. Each recipient is instructed that there are some requirements if they choose to accept the donation.  They must know that the first baby is to be given away to another family in need, and if that baby is a female, then that family must also give the first offspring away, and so on.  As an example, in Sainte Helaine Church we gave 10 goats.  In less than 2 years, 10 more kids received a goat from the original recipients.  Once the first baby is given away, all future offspring are for the benefit of the family.
4. We provide veterinary care (4 checkups for the first year of the goat’s life, including necessary vaccinations and vitamins) for the goats we give away to keep them healthy and productive.  Our team of agronomists visit our partnering churches and we invite all recipients to bring their goats so that we can give counsel and medications.
5. One of our pastor recently shared with us that receiving a goat is like the promise of receiving a monthly pay check.  A goat is like a checking account that will just keep on giving.  For example, the sale of a future goat can provide for school tuition and supplies, medical care, food, or any other family needs.  Each goat we give provides a little business to the family.

You can donate $90 now to give a goat!

Here are some recent pictures taken during a recent veterinary care session…

GLFS Complete…

Leadership Development in Action:  The Global Leadership Follow-up Seminar (GLFS) here in Cayes, Haiti, is complete.  We do this in coordination with our local MEBSH Bible School.  We really appreciate the work of World Team missionary Sean Christenson and Bible School Director Pastor Jean Admettre.

We are grateful for the opportunity we have to invest in these men and women leaders.  We pray God multiplies our investment to bring sustained change in the lives of those they lead.  They are world changers!

Behind the Scenes…

Greetings from Haiti!  Wow, what a summer!  Our staff has been working hard.  Not only have we received several teams, but we have been working hard here in our office to support all of our programs.

Among other things, we have spent significant time processing and receiving several containers, maintaining vehicles and other equipment, facilitating active projects (construction and spiritual), receiving new missionaries, visiting all of our Haitian partner churches and schools, preparing for a new HFK school year, providing updates to our US Partners, and planning for the future.  We love what we get to do.

If you could be a fly on the wall of the RMI Haiti Office, you would likely be amazed to watch the amount of behind the scenes activity that happens here on a daily basis.  It’s extraordinary.  We are grateful for the faithfulness and hard work of the whole team…

New Life, New Culture, New Home, New Job–The Nunemakers Have Arrived in Haiti

July 20 was a notable day in RMI history. This was the day that the Nunemaker family flew to Haiti!

They prayed, planned, packed, moved, traveled and raised support for several years. Their container arrived before them, was unpacked by the RMI staff and put directly in the house that was waiting for them. [For those of you who have been to Haiti in the last few years, their house was formerly RMI’s Guest House and temporary RMI Haiti office.]

They got right to work unpacking and settling in. Field orientation was an eye opener for them as they learned how to live life all over again in a new culture….learning how and where to shop, about Haitian currency, how the water system works, learning the ins and outs of having city electricity, mission center electricity and a generator and invertor for the house, meeting their fellow RMI missionaries and other missionaries living in the area and finding out which families have kids the same ages as the boys, hiring help to work in the yard and in the house….so many new things!

Lee, Tina, Daniel and Josiah have started language lessons, which will take about 3 months. RMI firmly believes that having a firm grasp on Creole is key to having an effective ministry, thus they are taking care of this first before getting directly involved in ministry. Tina is making preparations for homeschooling the boys in a few weeks and Lee will slowly be eased into his position as the C3 Partnership Coordinator overseeing 30+ C3 Partnerships. This recently created position will increase the effectiveness of the C3 Partnership Program through improved communication and oversight between C3 Partners. It will greatly ease the work load of Haiti Field Leader, Rob Thompson, allowing him to focus his time and energies on running the RMI Haiti field.

They’ve not wasted time in exploring Haiti and enjoying some of what the area has to offer. Their weekend excursions have involved motorcycle rides up into the mountains, a dip or two in mountain rivers and waterfalls, and some days at several beaches. They’ve become familiar with Haiti’s wildlife (there’s only 1 kind – tarantulas). The terrarium they brought already has a resident tarantula in it. 

And they’ve added a new family member: Tobi the dog. A mixture of several large dog breeds, he’s a huge but gentle giant. He came from another family who returned to the US but he’s already loyal to them and a good guard dog.

Tina summed things up this way: “Five years ago, Lee and I took a short term missions trip to Haiti that has changed our lives forever. Today, we live in the house that, at that time, was the guesthouse in which we stayed. We are surrounded by new friends from around the world, are learning a new language, and trying to take in all that we can of the Haitian culture. Some days all of this is easier to comprehend than others but all six of us are adjusting well to the new reality in which we live. Five years ago, we couldn’t imagine this life, now we can not imagine it any other way.” 

They have gone to Haiti on faith, relying on God to supply the rest of their support. They still lack 30%. Would you partner with them in this exciting ministry that God has given them? You can do that online HERE or send a check, earmarked for the Nunemakers’ support to RMI, 5475 Lee St., Suite 301, Lehigh Acres, FL 33971.

You can find both Lee and Tina on Facebook, and their blog can be found HERE.

Will you Pray?

Haiti is in the midst of a multi year drought.  The people are suffering.  Crops are dying.  Rivers are dry.  Wells are dry.  Rain is rare. It’s bad.

For RMI, it is also proving difficult.  This week, our cisterns at our Zanglais Retreat and Training Center ran dry.  Again.  We use this facility for all of our teams, leadership seminars, and outside groups. It’s VERY dry.  Our well has been dry for a number of years. 

A year of so ago we did some work to more efficiently collect rain water.  It helped.  Even though it seldom rains, we need to do all we can to collect it when it does.  Building additional water storage capacity may be the only solution, but it will cost us approximately $25,000 to do so.  This is about $24,999 more than we have.

We’ve talked to the experts.  They tell us drilling a another well in the area would be a gamble at best.  The coastal area there is known to be exceptionally dry.  The $5000 that it would cost to drill a well, would more than likely end up a total loss because the potential for finding water is very low.  Although it’s a chore, when our cisterns run low, we send our trucks and pumps to a nearby source.  Today I was told that that source has now run dry.  Wow.

We are really in a difficult situation.

As I shared with the team this morning.  I am tired of hearing about the problem.  I need to hear solutions.  The team member looked at me and said the only solution we can think of is prayer.  Period. 

Would you please pray for rain?  Pray for creative solutions.  Certainly not just for RMI.  Pray for Haiti.  Pray.

Here we are running some technical tests on our well.  It’s dusty dry. It’s dead.

Moving Day in Haiti

Thursday was moving day for the Joel and Laura Sutton.  Cite Lumiere (near Cayes) is where RMI's Haiti office and facilities are located and is also where our missionaries live.  But housing there is maxed out (many other missionaries live there as well).  So RMI  has rented a building in the local village of Simon, which is about 2-3 minutes from RMI's center of operations.  The building provides 2 apartments, 1 upstairs and 1 downstairs.  The Suttons are in the upstairs apartment. 

We're thankful for the teams, missionaries and RMI staff members who pitched in to tile, paint and help finish the inside so it would be ready for them.  The pictures tell the tale of moving - there were many hands helping. 

Did you notice what the back of their RMI shirts say? "Serving with Passion"  That's what our staff do!

Joel and Laura are enjoying being in the middle of a teeming Haitian village.  They get to hear the regular rhythm of life… as Joel put it, “there is a cacophony of sounds including, but not limited to, dogs, roosters, goats, donkeys, pigeons, motorcycles, people calling out their wares for sale, pounding, chopping, digging, children laughing, crying, and/or singing, but they are all the sounds of life in Haiti and right now I wouldn't trade places with anyone.”  Laura added, “The HUGE Simon Baptist church is up on the hill above us. The village almost sits in an amphitheater. We hear all of the music from there - funerals, children's programs, lively hymns! The last two mornings have been a joy to watch people walking back and forth to market, to church, and to school or work. We are blessed!”

They are hooked up to city power and have an invertor system hooked up that will store power when city power is on then give them power when city power goes off.  They are finishing up the unpacking, setting things up, and decorating this week.  It won’t take long to get settled in.  …and on July 20 they’ll be welcoming the Lee Nunemaker family.  The Nunemakers will live in the house that the Suttons just left (it was also previously the RMI Guesthouse and Office – it has served many purposes).  It’s good to have these kinds of growing pains!