RMI Curb Appeal...

Sometimes teams come to Haiti and do exciting things.  Sometimes, they come and do the seemingly mundane.  I appreciate both!  Sometimes it's the mundane that most excites me.  A team of high school students came recently and wanted to come alongside of RMI itself and do a project.  They painted the wall to our depot giving it a little curb appeal.  It looks beautiful, doesn't it?

Before...

After...

64 Salvations in One Week!

I am always saying it.  I love what we get to do.  We recently had a team come from McGregor Baptist Church in Fort Myers, FL.  I can't say I have met another church that is more ready, prepared, and unashamed of sharing the Gospel.  They came fired up and ready.  God showed up.

This team did several open air services.  To be honest, these didn't seem to be all that successful, although I am looking at it from an earthly perspective.  They shared clearly and firmly with the masses at these events and only God knows truly what was eternally accomplished.

Sharing the Gospel "Yard2Yard"

The harvesting almost exclusively came as they broke up into small teams and did what I like to call Yard2Yard Evangelism.  In the US, it's typically called Door to Door, but in Haiti, pretty much no one stays indoors, so we visit yards.  The team of 21 split into 3-4 teams through the week in 4-5 communities in conjunction with the local MEBSH church, each with a translator and each with a deacon representative with the local church.  (EVERYTHING we do is done with the local church).  Each yard was chosen by the local pastors and deacons, people who they deemed "needing to hear".  In these face to face Yard2Yard encounters, one by one people professed faith.  64 all together.  Wow.  Again, only God knows what was going on in the hearts of those 64 people, but I can tell you confidently that they each took a step, and now the local church has their names, knows that a profession was made, and they will follow up.

Praying before going out to share.  Church Plant in the
background.

Did I mention that I love what we get to do?

Manna from Heaven...

2 Weeks ago, the RMI team in Haiti realized that we were desperately short of food for Relief and our Hope for Kidz Hot Lunch Program.  We have been working with our supplier over the last several months to get the containers that we need, but the food just hasn't arrived (logistics are all backed up), and to be honest, it looked like we wouldn't have a container arrive in Haiti for up to 2 months.  What could we do?

I sent a desperate email to the RMI FL office to ask them to pray, and they shared, "oh, now would be a good time to tell you that we have a special container from a special source arriving in Port au Prince TOMORROW!"  I couldn't believe my ears.  After I picked up my jaw from the floor, I shared with my team that God answered our payers.

Within 2 weeks, it was here in Cayes.  Below are some pictures of us unloading the container.  TODAY, we start delivering this food out to our Hope for Kidz schools for the Hot Lunch Program.  Pray for safety, open roads, stamina, and good logistics.  A lot of effort is required to make all this happen.  God is good...

Equipping the Church in Haiti

Equipping the church in Haiti looks different than if we were to equip a US church.

For instance, tools to help a Haitian church in evangelism consists of some unusual items.  First on the list is a generator.  It will be able to power lights, fans, sound systems, and musical instruments.  A church with a generator will be able to draw in many more people.  These days people bring their cell phones to church just to have access to power and outlets to charge the phone.

Having a good sound system, mixer, speakers with stands, microphones and their stands all play a key role in bringing people into the church.

Haitians love music yet have few instruments.  Having drums, guitars, keyboards, trumpets and other instruments is another key tool to getting people, especially young people to come in the door of the church.

 

 Equipping schools also looks a bit different.

A typical Haitian classroom consists of benches, a small teacher’s desk and a large chalkboard.  However many classrooms lack even those bare bones basic things.

 During a recent visit to their Sister Church, Our Savior’s Lutheran Church (Lake Oswego, OR) worked with their brothers and sisters to build 5 large chalkboards for the classrooms at several satellite churches.

Walloon Lake Community Church  (Walloon Lake, MI) built 10 benches for their school.  They will be used for years and will facilitate several hundred student’s education.

 Equipping children for a future also is very basic.

Equipping children with an education is one of the best ways to give them a hand up.  It gives them the tools to better themselves.

It is time to prepare for the 2014-15 Hope for Kidz school year.  A one time donation of $336 or monthly donations of $28 will provide a child with a basic education.  This transforming sponsorship provides a quality education, supplies, uniform and participation in the de-worming program, among other things.

Pictures have been taken and child profiles are ready for sponsors. 

Act now to begin sponsoring a child or to renew your sponsorship!  For your convenience you can donate online at www.rmibridge.org/donate.

 

 

 

Would you be ONE? We truly need you...

We need a bunch of "ONES".  Would you be ONE to be known as ONE who believes in and supports our RMI National Missionaries?  Seriously, we need you, yes you, to be ONE.

We are investing heavily in our Haitian Missionaries, but we can't do it alone.  We want to dig in even deeper, but just are not able due to a lack of resources.

Have you met them?  Appreciated them?  Trusted them?  Believed in them?  Do you love them?  Show it to them by joining a select team of people who stand with them and support them.

Be the ONE.  Please, donate here and choose Haitian Staff!

NEW Water Filters Now Available!

NEW Water Filters available as part of our "Water for Health" initiative.  These filters are made from a mixture of clay, a combustible material (sawdust or rice husks), and colloidal silver.  Produced in Haiti by Haitians with Haitian materials!

What: You can provide safe drinking water to a Haitian family. The technology of these filters is simple, effective and sustainable. The filters use a round-bottom ceramic pot made of clay, charcoal, and colloidal silver that filters out 99.99% of turbidity, bacteria and protozoa. It is designed with a rim and is placed on a five gallon plastic storage bucket with a spigot at the bottom for dispensing. The filter supplies much needed clean water and lasts at least 5 years.

Why: The water situation in Haiti is among the most dire in the western hemisphere. The lack of clean water prevents many young women and children from attending school and engaging in productive tasks, as they are forced to walk many miles every day to find water. Dirty water also contributes to the impact of waterborne diseases and poor health. In a country that is in need of safe water, these filters allow families to improve their standard of health and their quality of life.

Cost: $75 per filter. This includes the filter, training and delivery.

Team Idea: These can be delivered by your team. There is about five minutes of instruction that each family receives. Team members can actually do this training if they desire. This is a great chance to meet some of the families of the church or community, respond to a physical need they have, and spend a few minutes praying for them and sharing the gospel with them.

Resource: If you would like to share this with others, you can share or download our "Water for Health FAQ" sheet here.

A Different Kind of Gift

As you think about what kind of gifts you will buy for your family and friends, RMI would challenge you to consider adding a different kind of gift to your list this year.   A gift of a water filter, food or a goat would be a life changing gift for a needy Haitian family.  Give it in honor of a loved one, make it a family project or ask your family to purchase one of these as one of your gifts this year.

 

Clean Drinking Water - $75

A simple and yet profound way to impact a third world family’s health costs only $75.   Half of all Haitians have little to no access to clean drinking water and are susceptible to many water borne diseases.  Providing a Water For Health water filter provides a family with clean drinking water. These filters are designed to be simple to operate and maintain, and last for years without having to change parts.  A  water filter would literally transform their health and quality of life.

 

Food for Malnourished Kids and Families - $25

A gift of life is what a case of 216 meals provides a family that is struggling to feed itself due to extreme poverty.  With close to half of the population of Haiti living on $2 a day, feeding a family becomes a daily struggle.  For just $25, you can feed a family of 6 a nutritious hot meal a day for a month.   What a very practical way to provide nourishment AND encouragement for a hungry family.

 

Goats mean Sustainable Income - $90

It is a gift that keeps on giving.  Providing a family with a goat will enable them to begin to care for themselves.  As the goat grows and produces offspring, it can be the source of a small herd.  These are then sold and can help cover school expenses, food, clothing, etc. for the family.   It only costs $90 to provide this opportunity for dignity and sustainability.

 

 

End of the year giving time is at hand.  Don’t delay.  Send your check to:

RMI, 5475 Lee St. Suite 301, Lehigh Acres, FL  33971

or donate here.

Expansion of the HFK Deworming Program

Last Tuesday was an exciting day for me and for those of us who work with the Hope for Kidz Child Sponsorship Program because we rolled out phase two of the Deworming Program.  Earlier in the year, we rolled out phase one of the program.  I wrote a report in March on all the reasons we believe deworming (one pill, once per year) is an important part of the HFK program.  To read about that again, go here. 

For the 2012-2013 school year we dewormed 9,000+ kids in 33 schools.  This year, we were able to add all the satellite locations that have sponsored kids as well as a few new sister church schools.  That alone is a huge expansion. For the 2013-2014 school year, we dewormed 12,000+ students and teachers! The deworming program is not just for the sponsored kids, but for every child in all of our schools that have sponsored kids. 

 

For phase two, in addition to the increased number of students treated, we added an important aspect to the program: worm prevention education.  Last week, we asked all the school administrators to come in for a meeting.  We reviewed with them the process of distributing the meds to the students, went over how we want them to keep records and distributed 12,000+ pills and cups.  Then each school received an educational illustrated flip book.  Much thanks goes to those from The Orchard Evangelical Free Church in Chicago’s NW suburbs who developed most of the educational materials that we use for the deworming program!  It is a priceless resource.  We taught the administrators the information in the flip books including how you catch worms, symptoms and how to prevent catching worms.  There were many questions and dialogue.  At the end, we taught them all a catchy song about worm prevention that they can use with the kids.  The information and materials were well received. We now require that the educational materials are taught to every class in every school each year.

Overall, the HFK Deworming Program is just a small part of the child sponsorship program.  The one pill per year and prevention education once per year is a tiny financial part of the puzzle, but is having a huge impact in the health of these students.

To those of you who sponsor a child, we want to say a big THANK YOU!  Your sponsorship is impacting more than just the single child you sponsor—it’s impacting the whole school. 
~Becky

Visit to Maniche with Florida Bible Church

November 15-22, I (Becky) had the chance to go out with the team from Florida Bible Church from Miramar, FL to visit their sister church in Maniche.  Rob was brave and stayed home with the kids for the week. I really enjoy these opportunities!  RMI always says our ministry is the “ministry of presence” and usually my ministry of presence is in the home with my family and in support roles with RMI in the areas of bookkeeping and hospitality.  It sure is good for me to get out into the village with our teams.  It really gives me a renewed sense of purpose and perspective.  Well, enough about me!

This week we had a team of 11 and one of RMI’s new missionaries, Star Harvie, came with us for her first experience with a sister church team.

The team with Star and I:

Maniche is less than an hour’s drive away.  When we arrived, we were greeted by the church’s Brigade.  There was so much excitement from the church and the team members!  I’ve seen many Brigade groups—they are so fun to watch and do a great job!  But this team, with many seasoned team members, have never been greeted in this way before. It was the first year the Maniche Baptist Church has had a Brigade so it was a real treat for everyone.

Here is a video of the Brigade:

 

Post by Reciprocal Ministries International.

This was the first time that the Senior Pastor and his wife from FBC visited their sister church in Maniche.  This was extra special for Pastor Enoch and Madame Pastor!  Church was packed Sunday morning and they saved Communion for that Sunday so they could lead it together. 

Communion Service:

Star and I:

It was a full week of ministry to encourage the church in Maniche—there was little downtime!  The youth had a Bible Quiz: Jeopardy-style.  They made team names and had chants going and were trash talking—all in fun!  The loser’s had to salute to the winners.  The team used the kids to re-enact Joshua and the battle of Jericho during a program for the school kids.  At one point I thought the church walls might come tumbling down!  There were over 250 kids making as much noise as they could!  They had special gatherings for the ladies and men and both played some games, including musical chairs for the ladies.  It’s always a joy to see the Haitian ladies and men let loose a little during a game—they are very competitive! 

Men’s Bible Study:

Visit to Robert Church:

FBC really has a heart for the people and as a whole church, they are very involved in the Hope for Kidz child sponsorship program.  Spending time with and loving on the ladies, men, kids and youth was their goal, and they accomplished it well.  They went out of their way to do special things for each of the people they came in contact with.  And it wasn’t just the FBC team—the people of the Maniche church went over and above to love on their visitors.  These 2 churches have a heart connection that is obvious and infectious! 

~Becky

New Maximum Team Size Limit!

We want to change lives.  One way to do that, is to get more people involved.  We are committed to growing in quality and quantity.  We are officially increasing the maximum # of team members that you can bring.  You may now bring 15 on a team.

(shhhh...  keep it a secret, but we may even entertain the idea of 1 or 2 more if you really can't keep it to 15.)

Rob

I’m crying, but I bet you don’t know why…

I am here working in my office.  It’s really quiet.  Too quiet…

It’s a day off for our national staff.  It’s a national holiday here in Haiti.  As Americans living here in Haiti, we tend to take the major American Holidays off.

But, today, on their day off, there are 2 ladies working in the kitchen.  They are preparing food for the team that arrives tomorrow from TX.  No break for these ladies.  No rest for the weary as we say.  I have said it so many times already.  There is no way I can describe the appreciation I have for the national staff.  They work hard.  They are dedicated.  They come when they must.  They leave when the job is done.  They don’t complain.  They are servants.  They are a team.

Why am I crying?  Not because I am sad.  Not because I am happy.  It’s because these ladies are cutting onions.  The tears are rolling down my cheeks!



Rob

News Directly Related to Your Partnership in Haiti…

Greetings from RMI in Haiti!

We are about to roll out some things here in Haiti directly related to your C3 Partnership.  Before doing so, we wanted to make sure you understand what we will be doing.  We also want to make sure you, and others like you, have the opportunity to stay "in the loop".

Partnership Updates...
Every month, if not more, a member of the RMI team will be visiting your Haitian church for the purpose of accountability, monitoring, and information gathering.  These visits will prompt "Partnership Update" emails to you with information, letters form your Sister Church, pictures, stories, etc.  Subscribe Here.

Partnership Profiles...
We want you to be informed and have all the info you need at your fingertips to engage, to plan, to pray, to celebrate, to be informed.  Therefore, we are creating dynamic "Partnership Profiles" for each of our C3 Partnerships.  Dynamic - constantly being updated, not static. These profiles will also be available at http://links.rmibridge.org/c3updates.  If there is not a profile available for your partnership now, there will be as soon as it works it way through the process of editing and posting by our Haitian and Missionary staff.

Partnership Pathways...
We believe in planning.  We have been listening to you.  We have been listening to our Haitian churches.  We want to have the greatest impact.  Therefore, we are creating a unique "Partnership Pathway", or plan, for each of our C3 Partnerships.  As your pathway becomes available, you will hear form us, that is IF you are subscribed. (This is the same Partnership Updates subscription listed above.)

An archive of the 3 items above will always be available to you at http://links.rmibridge.org/c3updates.  Maybe you want to Bookmark it.

Happening Right Now in Haiti…

Our Partnership Facilitators (or “Go” team members as Benjamin excitedly calls them), are on the move today in 5 different directions.  The RMI team in Cayes are working on 2 different construction projects.  The rest of the team are continuing the rest of the behind the scenes work. LOTS happening.  Pray for us! 

Here is a picture of one of our team members heading out this morning.

• Perguens is going to Morency
• Manno is going to Corail
• Patrick is going to Abricot
• Frantz is going to Petit Trou
• Pierre Rony is going to Baradere

Building a Team...

We are building a team!  This is exciting to watch.  What a privilege it is for me to see it all coming together.

We believe in training up, empowering and mobilizing people to do more for the kingdom.  Below is a picture from today's training session.  Pray for us.  This isn't always easy.  All of us, from "top" to "bottom", have SO MUCH TO LEARN.  But, we are committed to the process!

By the way, I'm not doing the training, I just stepped in to take a picture.  Awesome!

"Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another." Proverbs 27:17

Rob

We will not fear. We will charge ahead. It’s Go Time.

I couldn’t be more excited.  This picture is our team of 5 Partnership Facilitators (Perguens, Pierre Rony, Frantz, Manno and Parick), plus 2, their direct supervisor (Benjamin – Field Administrator), and his right hand man (Benson – Project Supervisor).   Although we are all learning, the 5 facilitators have been in boot camp style training (they still are, but they can’t stay).  We are calling this team our “1:12 Partnership Facilitators” (some other day I will explain the 1:12 bit). It’s going to take many more servants behind the scenes, but these are at the core.  

We believe in our Haitian staff and we are committed to empowering them and releasing them to change the world. Now, it is time for the next step.  It’s “Go Time”!

We’ve been preparing.  We’ve been dreaming.  We’ve been calculating.  We’ve been praying.  We can’t wait any longer.  What do I mean by “Go Time”?  The 5 Partnership Facilitators will be visiting every one of our Haitian C3 Partnership churches and communities throughout all of Southern Haiti over the next 3 weeks for face to face, on site, exploratory meetings with Pastor’s, Deacon’s and School leaders.  After these visits, there will be much evaluation, assessment and planning for each unique partnership.  It’s going to be a ton of work.  But, it’s worth it. 

Why are we doing this? 

We will establish Dynamic Partnership Profiles – It’s dynamic, because these profiles will always be changing (not static) as progress and development happens.  This profile will include Pastor’s info, Deacon’s names, how many are in the ladies group, how many in the youth group, how many in…  well, you get the idea, all the data.  Each C3 Partnership Profile will also have a Timeline where each event, US Team Visit, RMI Accountability Visit, projects finished, pictures taken, etc., will be recorded.  Each of our US Churches will be able to visit their profile at any time to get the latest info, story, link, report, etc.

We will assess each Partnership’s Position within our Starfish Strategy – We must establish a baseline so we can celebrate the past, plan for the future and measure our effectiveness.  How can we plan for tomorrow if we don’t understand yesterday (What has already been accomplished) and today (the current state of being)?  We will be evaluating each partnership within the framework of our 5 Points of Impact: Evangelism, Discipleship, Social Compassion, Education, and Community Development.

We will Create a Pathway – When our teams come, we talk A LOT about being present.  I can’t tell you how important it is to simply be present with one another. It changes lives.  We will NOT forget this.   But, would Jesus want us to only be present with one who is desperately thirsty?  No, he would want us to give the thirsty a drink (of course you won’t know if they are thirsty if you aren’t present).  So, we want to collaboratively create a pathway, a map, or a plan, for each of our C3 Partnerships for what we want to DO together, shoulder to shoulder (RMI, Haitian Church, US Church).  Once a plan is established, the Haitian Church and the US Church can prayerfully plan and proceed accordingly.  We will start mapping out a pathway between RMI and the Haitian Church, and then we will finalize the pathway by working directly with each of our US C3 Partnering churches.

Paul challenged Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:6-7… “For this reason I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.”

This is BIG.  We will not fear.  We will charge ahead.  It’s Go Time.

Rob

Meeting Needs...

Just the other day, RMI made a quick delivery of food to one of the satellite churches in one of our partnering districts.  We saw the need, and because people in the US made a donation for food, we were able to tangibly meet the need.  Together, we are the hands and feet of Jesus.

Training: In Session

RMI is helping to encourage and train up local leaders and pastors.

Every December, the Willow Creek Global Leadership Conference is held in Cayes, Haiti.  Many local Haitian leaders, business owners, pastors, missionaries and many others participate.  Many RMI Sister Churches sponsored their Haitian Pastors so that they could attend. As a follow up to that, for the past three years, in partnership with MEBSH (The Evangelical Baptist Mission of Southern Haiti) and the IBL (Lumiere Bible Institute) RMI has sponsored a follow up seminars to expound upon what was presented at the original seminar in December.

This year we invited the Sister Church pastors who participated, some of the RMI staff, MEBSH leadership, several pastors in training and a few other staff members from another local ministries to take part in the training sessions. Yesterday and today, these pastors and leaders have been meeting together to watch select portions from the December sessions, and then to discuss and apply them to their own lives and ministry scenarios.   Pastor Sean Christensen, from the MEBSH Bible School has been facilitating the sessions. 



It’s a great way to encourage, teach and train up local leaders.  We’re excited for the opportunity to give many of our local pastors and some of our staff the chance participate in such valuable training!



Pray for these leaders; pray that what they take away from these training can be useful in growing and fortifying their lives and ministries. 

And for our 500th post, we want to announce…

RMI now have new missionaries on the field!  Greg and Star Harvie flew to Haiti August 16.  Before they flew, they had nice send offs from their hometown friends in Nebraska…

and from the RMI office…

Present were Dan and Debbie Shoemaker, Herb and Shirley Shoemaker, Kim and Barb Rose, Heather Smith (Admin. assistant), John and Linda Garner (Board members) and Jules and Mart Gedna (RMI’s original Haitian Administrator, now living in Boston fighting cancer).

They arrived just in time for supper at Rob and Becky’s house…and still smiling after a long day of travel.

Their container beat them there by a week (which is a big answer to prayer!), so when they arrived it had been unloaded and things were ready for them to unpack.

This week they’ve been unpacking, setting up their household, getting to know their way around, and getting to know their neighbors and fellow missionaries (they’re living on a mission center where their fellow RMI missionaries live, but also many other missionaries).

Settling in means getting their computers running, hooking it up to a satellite system for internet, and making sure everything is working so they can do their ministry.

Greg’s August 27th Facebook post read, “Well we are in our new home. We slept here last night for the first time. The house is coming along, the stove is now working so the ladies can start cooking tomorrow, I can't find hoses for the worshmachine so I guess I will have to make some. Went shopping today, that was interesting. I was surprised how expensive some things are, and you get the brand they have. Hopefully tomorrow we can finish the house so we can start orientation. It looks like language training will start in a week and a half.”

Pray for them as they ---

Adjust to the heat and humidity

Adjust to a new home, new community, and a whole new way of living life

Get to know their new co-workers

Learn Creole – this is their job description the first few weeks – it is one of the keys to their success as missionaries and we do want them to succeed.

You can see other pictures and regular updates on their Facebook pages.

A Time of Renewal in Beaumont

It had been six years since the Hope E Free Church from Springfield, Illinois had been to visit their Sister Church in Beaumont, Haiti.  Both churches were extremely excited to be reunited after so much time apart.  It was exciting for them to see familiar faces and to make new friends.  It was exciting to see how the church body had grown and how committed Pastor Visene was to building up the community in both body and spirit. 

Members of the team were all from the youth group, either members or leaders.  So it was a great to be able to cast the vision of the C3 Partnership Model to a new, fresh set of hearts and minds. 

The team stayed busy!  They visited two satellite churches (one of which was an hour away on foot!) and had a time of worship with them and shared a brief message.  Two afternoons, the team visited widows and shut-ins, and some of the lost in the community.  At each home, they delivered food, shared the gospel to those who weren’t saved, and prayed for each person.  In addition to these visits, the team participated in the Sunday morning service, an open air service, a deacon’s meeting, a youth meeting, and a children’s meeting. 
Sunday morning Pastor Visene challenged the congregation.  He said, RMI Administrator, Benjamin had shared with him about another recent open air service where over three hundred people attended.  He challenged the congregation to come and to invite their friends and neighbors so that next time, Benjamin would share about how amazed he was at how many people had showed up in Beaumont!  While no one did a head count, Sunday night truly was a great turn out and the space where the service was held was full.  The worship was passionate, two team members shared their testimonies and another team member shared a powerful gospel message.  It was a great service indeed!  A great service which was just part of a great week all together. 

Below: Praying with one of the widows that received food during one of the afternoon visits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Above: Team members hand out food at one of the satellite visits.
Below: RMI Staff members Perguens and Manno, Pastor Visene and the team after the deacon’s meeting.  Deacons are all wearing shirts the team gave them.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

With a renewed passion for the ministry, a renewed love for their Sister Church family, and a renewed vision for the future, it was a special week rebuilding and reaffirming their love for one another; a time of renewal in Beaumont.

More pics can be seen here.

Getting things done in Dame Marie

Calvary Baptist came in ready to work! 
In just five days, with a the team of 11, they accomplished:
A Sunday Morning Service, an Open Air Meeting where five people accepted Christ, a Deacon’s Meeting, a Children’s Meeting,  Ladies Tea,  Tuesday Evening Service,  a Deworming Clinic Training for satellite church pastors, Deworming Clinics at 5 satellite churches with 4500 people receiving medicine, 18 goats given to church members, and 32 water filters installed (with 13 more left behind which will be installed)! They were busy!

Part of the team heading out to install water filters

Hope for Kidz Meeting

A church member receiving a goat as a gift.

It was a great week of fellowship, loving on one another as family, and getting things done for the kingdom!
More pics from the week can be seen here.