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!

Deworming through Hope for Kidz!

The Hope for Kidz (HFKz) Deworming Initiative is one of my favorite times of the year!  It's may be just a small part of our HFKz child sponsorship program, but it has a huge impact. A small portion of the sponsorship funds covers this program. The exciting part is that it doesn't just effect the individual sponsored child, but we are able to treat every child in every HFKz school. We hope and pray that this enables all the students at each school to have improved health and therefore be better equipped to learn! This year, we've been able to include 15,365 people in this program!

Intestinal worms is always an ongoing health issue here in Haiti, yet prevention training and treatment is not complicated! Kids who have intestinal worms generally have poor nutrition (as the worms rob them of any vitamins they ingest), malaise and weakness, chronic cough, lack of focus and concentration and overall poor health. You can imagine how this affects a child's ability to learn and thrive in a school setting!

This past week, we hosted all the HFKz school directors at our office for a general HFKz meeting as well as the annual training and medication distribution for the deworming program. We give them educational materials that teach worm prevention (through good hygiene) and ask that each class receive this training each year. In addition, each student and teacher receives a yearly pill that eradicates any infection they may have. We teach each school director how to run a distribution clinic and they are all required to keep a record of each student who receives medication each year. Each school director is sent home with the medication and supplies necessary to ensure each child at each school is treated.

Worm prevention education and one pill a year doesn't sound like much, but it has a huge impact in a child's life and overall health, leading to a child who has an increased ability to learn. If you sponsor a child through the Hope for Kidz program, thank you for your part in this program that not only affects your sponsored child's health, but the health of all kids in his/her school.

To us, that's a win-win!

Becky
Hope For Kidz Liaison

HFK Thank You From Maniche...

Here is a sweet video from a girl, Alexandria Sylvavia, from Maniche, Haiti, who is sponsored in RMI's Hope for Kidz program. She wanted to say thank you, not only to her own sponsor, but to all of the Hope for Kidz sponsors.

Good morning. My name is Alexandre Sylvavia. I am a student of Maniche Baptist school. I am so happy today to say thank you to all the sponsors that are supporting kids all around Haiti through Espwa Pou Timoun Program (RMI's Hope for Kidz program). This program started supporting me in school when I was in kindergarten, and now I am in 6th grade. I want to say that this program has done a lot for me and many other students.

The program has provided me with shoes, a school uniform, a hot meal everyday, and it has paid my school tuition and that helps my parents a lot. I want to take this time to say to my sponsor thank you so much and know for sure that I am praying for them. This message is also for all the other sponsors for the great work they are doing.

Once again... thank you, thank you and thank you.

God bless.

Want to Sponsor a Child?

Ask Yourself This Question...

Will you eat today?  That's a real question that many people ask every day in the majority world.  America is the minority, it's not even close.

Here in Haiti, TODAY, 5075 children will eat because they are in our Hope for Kidz Hot Lunch program.  "For more than half it will be their ONLY meal."  We are privileged to be able to be the hands who are able to get this food to them.

It takes a lot of work... many partners working together, believing in one another, and a great deal of logistics, trust and team work to make it all happen.  Not just happen, but happen with excellence.  We are grateful for Feed My Starving Children who donates the food itself to us and the many volunteers who we don't even know who pack this food.  We are grateful for Food for the Poor - Haiti who provides reduced shipping costs and provides expert expedited shipping logistics.  We are grateful for our donors who make this all possible, including covering our shipping, distribution, management and oversight costs.  We are grateful for the RMI national staff who are doing the work of getting this food into the hands of so many.  We are grateful for our school cooks who take great care in cooking and distributing this food everyday.

We invest a lot of time in seeking to do things right.  We unload and load, store and deliver the food, provide accountability, track stock, produce reports, procure and manage funding, oversee food storage depots in 20+ locations, plus much more.  All in the name of, and to lift up the name of Christ.

Last year, we provided a total of 865,296 meals just in our Hope for Kidz Hot Lunch program alone.  Through our total Food for Health program, the number jumps to 1,206,576 meals!  Frankly, these numbers are hard to even comprehend.  Just think... there were 1,206,576 times people put nutritious food into their mouths in the last year.  That's just awesome!

Help us Help more...  there are 2 ways to financially help provide more meals.  For every $25 donation to RMI's "Food for Health" program, a family of 6 will eat one nutritious meal a day for a month.  For $10/month, you can feed 2 children a day for an entire school year through our "Feeding Two" initiative. Please DONATE here.

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...

Hope for Kidz Hot Meal Program: Ready for Another Year

What do the numbers 1260, 45360, 181440, 42322, 21.16 all have in common?

The 2,763 children who will be fed every day during the week as part of the Hope for Kidz Hot Meal Program.

1,260= the number of boxes of food
45,360= the number of packs of nutritionally balanced, rice based food in those boxes
181,440= the combined number of meals all of those packs can provide
42,322= the number of pounds of food
21.16= the number of tons of food being provided

The container was delivered to Cayes early this morning and a group of men set to work unloading the large truck. In total thirteen men spread themselves out and formed a chain, each passing a box of food to the next until it reached its final destination inside the office where the food is stored. There the food will be stored until it is delivered to the participating schools. The number of schools receiving food has increased from 12 to 13. Deliveries start on September 2 in preparation for the school year, which starts on October 1.

(Above) Container at the former RMI Office, which is now used as storage for this food.

(Below) The guys working as a team to get the container unloaded quickly and safely.

In the container, the guys move the food from the front to the back….then they pass it to the guys on the ground….

who pass it to the guys in the first room……

who pass it to the guys in the back room where the food finally reaches its destination.

Meet RMI’s new Hope for Kidz Coordinator

Barbara Rose, wife of RMI’s VP of Operations Kim Rose, has joined the RMI Family. Since Kim joined RMI 2 1/2 years ago the Lord has been putting a growing desire in their hearts for Barb to be able to join Kim in the ministry. They saw that RMI values teamwork, highly encouraging spouses to minister together as much as possible. RMI even asks spouses to be involved with Board members as much as they can. They weren’t sure when or how God would work it out. Then Barb was unexpectedly laid off from her job in May. As tough as it was, it was a clear open door from the Lord. She joined the RMI Family at the end of May.

It is exciting to see God at work! He orchestrated Barb’s arrival at the time that we needed to replace Amanda Biser (who is leaving to begin the ministry of being a stay-at-home mom in late July) in the Hope for Kidz Program. Barb’s strong organizational skills, meticulous work with details and pleasant personality will be a real asset in the office. She will also be helping out in a number of other areas in the administration.

She and Kim have 2 adult sons and 1 granddaughter. Her loves include riding motorcycles with Kim, sewing, reading and living near the water (which started as a young child growing up near Lake Michigan and then living the last 22 years in Southwest Florida near the Gulf). She enjoys serving in the nursery at church and held a teaching assistant position in the 2 yr. old class for several years. She is currently serving in the 1 yr. old class.

She can be reached at Barbara.Rose@rminet.org. Feel free to drop her a note and welcome her to the family!

Where language limits

“Where language limits, hugs and smiles take over.”

This is my favorite quote from an evaluation sent in by a team member who recently went to Haiti for the first time. I love it! Love transcends culture. Relationships are built despite the differences and language barriers. That is what RMI is all about. It is a part of our DNA.

RMI’s evaluation form is now online and easier than ever to complete. We want to get better at what we do, but need your feedback to help us know where we need to tweak things or make changes for the better. And of course we want to hear what the trip meant to you!

If you have been on a team, we would love to hear from you. You’ll find the evaluation HERE.

Cool idea of the week

1st Associated Reformed Presbyterian Church of Gastonia, NC went to Haiti last month for their first visit to their Sister Church in Sous Baptiste. They had 4 unique ideas that we thought you might find helpful:

1. Poster – they developed this glossy, 12” X 18” poster that they posted around the church buildings and in each Sunday School classroom in the weeks prior to their trip. They raised money for 120 Bibles, 120 songbooks, 45 boxes of food aid, 450 Bible storybooks and even had enough money to support 3 kids in school! I’d say that it was pretty effective!

2. Group prayer card – Not only were the name of the team members on it, but the back listed specific prayer requests. Each team member were given a stack of the cards to share with their friends, co-workers and family.

Cool idea to keep the team members going, the place, date and requests in front of people!

3. These zippered canvas bags were embroidered with “Sisters in Christ” in French and English. The team sold them to the ladies to the ladies’ group at 1st ARP. They raised enough money to pay for the bags. The Haitian ladies were “tickled pink” with the bags. They are large, zippered, sturdy yet a pretty bright color that they’ll enjoy. Ladies on both sides of the ocean now have matching bags to use!

4. Banner – Written in English and French, this colorful banner is seen in the team’s prayer card. They presented it to the church and hung it while they were there. Shown are both church’s pastors.

Good job 1st ARP!

We’re always looking for new ideas to share with other churches! Send any ideas to Debbie Shoemaker at debbie.shoemaker@rminet.org

Hope for Kidz changes–pardon our dust

Change is inevitable. It’s not necessarily fun, is most often disruptive and stressful, can be messy but it is still a part of life and thus inevitable. This is the case at RMI currently. We are undergoing a few changes so, please pardon our dust!

Internal Dust

We are in the process of changing our donor management database. The process has indeed been disruptive, stressful and messy, not to mention it’s taking quite a bit longer than we thought. The RMI US staff has been tirelessly working to get the changes finalized. It is mostly an internal change, but you will notice it in the receipts you receive as well as our increased ability to keep you up to date on the latest happenings at RMI.

Haiti Field Dust

The Haiti field is undergoing changes as they work to reposition current staff, hire additional qualified personnel in a number of positions and re-organize our scheduling calendar to accommodate more teams. It’s stretching everyone!

Hope for Kidz Dust

Hope for Kidz is going through a major change as well. This new donor management database now gives us the capacity to offer monthly child support payments. Because of this you can now either send in your full support in one lump sum or in monthly payments. RMI trusts that this new option will enable people who might not be able to afford a lump sum one-time payment to be able to now sponsor a child for the first time.

New Pricing Structure

While making this option available, RMI also analyzed their current sponsorship rate. The basic Hope for Kidz sponsorship amount has stayed at $200 for approximately 7 years (not including the $50 increase to help fund the hot lunch program). In recent years, Haiti has been impacted by global inflation even more so than the US. This inflation has dramatically impacted the costs associated with education such as tuition rates, entrance fees, school supplies, etc. Because RMI does not want to limit any child in their access to a quality Christian education, the decision was made to change the sponsorship rate from $250 a year to that of $28 per month.

New Monthly Rate: $28 per month

Start Date: March 2012 for the 2012-2013 school year

Transitioning to Monthly Payment Plan

The first monthly payment needs to be made by March 2012. This will ensure that RMI has the resources available to provide for all your child needs to start school in September/October.

How to Transition to the Monthly Payment Plan:

Option 1: Fill out an automatic recurring payment authorization form and return to RMI (available from your Hope for Kidz coordinator or the RMI website)

Option 2: Renew online HERE (available after March 5)

Option 3: Call the RMI Office at 239.368.8990 to set up recurring monthly payments.

Option 4: Send monthly check directly to RMI at 5475 Lee Street, Suite 301, Lehigh Acres, FL 33971. Your child’s name and ID number MUST be included!

New Benefits for Sponsors

· The ability to spread sponsorship payment out over a full year via the monthly plan

· The opportunity to send and receive 1-2 letters per year to their child. This has been something that many sponsors have desired and we are now able to accommodate

· Additional opportunities for interaction with their sponsored child are continuing to be examined and evaluated for possible future implementation

Continued & New Benefits to the Sponsored Child

· Continued provision of a quality Christian education

· Continued provision of needed school supplies

· Continued expansion of hot lunch program (currently feeding over 2,600 children in 12 schools each day)

· New Community Health Training Program in the schools starting with Annual De-Worming and Prevention Education

· Establishment of a new Emergency Major Medical Needs Fund for sponsored children: Continued provision of a quality Christian education

· Continued provision of needed school supplies

· Continued expansion of hot lunch program (currently feeding over 2,600 children in 12 schools each day)

· New Community Health Training Program in the schools starting with Annual De-Worming and Prevention Education

· Establishment of a new Emergency Major Medical Needs Fund for sponsored children

Answers to Frequently Asked Questions

Q. When do I need to start paying in order for my child to be enrolled in school in the fall of 2012?

A. In order for the start-up costs to be covered by the beginning of school, the first monthly payment must be made by March 2012.

Q. How do I know if I will have the same child for the 2012-2013 school year?

A. Unless your child graduates or leaves the program, you can be assured that you will be continuing on with the same child. In the unlikely case that your child has graduated or left the program, RMI will work with you to provide you with a new child. Should your child not continue in the program and you do not choose to take on a new child, any funds received up until that point will be applied to the Hope for Kidz Program.

Q. When will my child’s new profile arrive?

A. New profiles will be distributed through your Hope for Kidz coordinator by August 2012 at the very latest.

Q. Can I still pay annually?

A. Yes. The annual cost is $336 per year. However, RMI is offering a special introductory offer of $300 for the 2012-2013 school year if payment is received by June 30, 2012.

Q. What if my financial situation changes and I am unable to fulfill my sponsorship commitment?

A. RMI will assume that you will be continuing your sponsorship of your child for as long as the child is available for sponsorship unless you indicate otherwise (a minimum of 12 months commitment). If your financial situation changes, please contact RMI as soon as possible. We would ask that you give us three months lead time before cancelling payment. This will enable us to find another sponsor for your child if at all possible.

Q. Who can I contact if I still have questions?

A. If you have questions that your Hope for Kidz Coordinator is unable to answer, contact Amanda at the RMI Office in Florida at amanda.biser@rminet.org or 239.368.8390.

Webinair Available

Amanda Biser, Hope for Kidz US Coordinator, recently hosted a 25 minute webinar explaining these changes. If you are interested, it can be found here: http://www.slideshare.net/amandabiser/hope-for-kidz-monthly-sponsorship-transition.

4:53 p.m., January 12, 2010 will never be forgotten

A point in time that changed the history, landscape and the national psyche of Haiti. Today is the 2 year anniversary of the 7.0 earthquake that hit just to the southwest of the capital, Port-au-Prince. Every Haitian was affected in some way, if not by losing family, friends, homes or jobs, then by being injured, or having to take in homeless family and/or friends. Having their governmental buildings and office destroyed, the places they shop, go to church, or school destroyed has irrevocably changed life as they knew it.

There are still over 500,000 living in tent cities. Just think of that! That’s the size of Lee County, where the RMI office is located. All those people still, 2 years later, living in tents. It is mind boggling to think of what it means to live like that for so long.

RMI is happy to be a bright spot in that sea of hopelessness through Homes for Haiti. Last year alone RMI built and provided 59 homes. But the work is not stopping there! Here are Facebook entries from 2 of RMI’s field missionaries posted just this week:

From Gary McLaughlin:

Thursday, Jan. 7: Starting Saturday we'll be building 4 homes in 5 days. Taking Sunday off to attend church at Picot with the Loomis Team. It's going to be a great week.

Saturday, Jan. 9: First house was finished today and the new owner is the retired pastor's daughter that was trapped under the rubble in Port-au-Prince for I think 9 days. I saw her are CNN news come out of the rubble, stand on top of the pile of broken blocks, put her arms in the air and praise God for sparing her life. She lives in the Simon area, right next to Citi Lumiere, where many missionaries live. It was a great day 1. One of 4 finished. Picot tomorrow for church service with the team.

Tuesday, Jan. 10: We'll be loading #4 home on the truck this morning and taking it to the site for assembly. Weather's been great and the team is strong and working hard. Hardest part of the job is holding Wilfred [Haitian contractor in charge of building the homes] back so the team can do the work. That's a good thing though, ah? Good day all.

Last of 4 homes finished by 12pm today. This afternoon we put in 5 bio water filter systems. Another great day in Haiti for us. Praise God!

Wednesday, Jan. 11: Up at 3:30 this morning and off to Les Anglais for kids pictures and to check on the three new classrooms OSLC [Our Savior’s Lutheran Church] had us put up for them. Going to be another great day with Marilyn, Benson, Merry Raymond and Marie France.

(Explaining his photo of the 3 classrooms) Three homes purchased for classrooms. Church took a wall out and made them wider. Not finished yet but first room had room for 39 kids. I was thinking they could do 18 or 24 depending on what class was in them.

(In response to a comment about the 3 classrooms built from the houses.) I was thinking they would be hot too when I first saw these homes but the opposite is the case. They are cooler inside than out. You can put this house in the direct sunlight all day and it's cooler inside than out. The roof is a reflective galvanized material and the walls are white painted aluminum.

From Becky Thompson:

Tuesday, Jan. 10: Nebraska team finished 4 houses in 2.5 days for earthquake displaced people. They are WAY ahead of schedule! So the rest of today and tomorrow morning they are installing biosand filters in people's homes and helping with some small projects around the mission center.

[Bio-sand filter is shown at one of the installations.]

Rebuilding Haiti is an agonizingly slow process. But we are there for the long haul! We have a committed cross-cultural team who feel called of God to continue to serve Him there. For the missionaries, this is their home. For the national staff, they are thrilled to be a moving force in helping their own country. They feel empowered to accomplish the tasks given them and work tirelessly. We are so thankful for this on-the-ground team!

Food for Haiti continues to meet the needs of hungry Haitians. Last year over 67 tons of food (822,672 Meals) were distributed and approximately 2600 children were provided with a daily hot lunch at school through the Hope for Kidz program. Plans are already made to distribute more in the coming months.

RMI leadership, Dan Shoemaker and Kim Rose, will be going to Haiti Jan 23 to 27. It will be a time of meeting with our missionaries and staff as we plan activities, etc. for this year. They will also be meeting the new president of MEBSH and his staff to introduce him to Kim and to begin a dialogue as to how RMI and MEBSH can continue to work hand in hand into the future. In addition, they will visit several businesses that RMI is interested in working with to create jobs in southern Haiti in some of the towns where we have Sister Church Partnerships.

At the end of their trip, they will be attending a one day conference in Port-au-Prince designed to bring non-profit agencies together with Haitian businesses. The goal is to better understand each other and to encourage more partnering together in buying supplies or services from the businesses instead of going outside of the Haitian community for these things. The conference is a part of a coalition of agencies that RMI is a part of called “Rebuilding Haiti”. This coalition is striving to see 100,000 jobs created in the next 10 years as well as leadership development and pastoral training.

Like we said, The work goes on! Pray for Haiti and the rebuilding efforts. Pray for RMI’s work there. Pray for our staff and the teams that are going to minister. We cannot do all that we are doing without your prayer involvement and without your financial involvement. You can donate online HERE.

Remember Haiti with us.

They make it look so easy…

Gary out on a trip with the Hope for Kidz team on their way to the Grand’Anse.

But months of hard work go into making the Hope for Kids program ready for a new school year. In fact, in October of every year, not too long after the current school year has gotten underway, the Hope for Kidz team starts gearing up for the next year. Marilyn McLaughlin, Merry Raymond, and Benson Joseph, the Hope for Kidz team, head out into the country side to get photos of each of the students. This year the team was also joined by Marie France Cherival and Perguens Hyppolite and an occasional visit by Gary McLaughlin as well.

The Paperwork:
Before photos are taken, each Haitian pastor receives a packet of applications for students to be selected for the following year. The number of applications is based on participation from the previous year, expected graduations at the end of the current year, a few additional applications as decided by the RMI field staff and any requests that the Sister church has made for additional students are also considered. Once these applications are completed by the pastors and turned into the Haiti Field office, the hard work begins.

The Pictures:
The Hope for Kidz staff makes appointments with all the churches to take the kids pictures; and then they hit the road. To locations within just a few hours of the mission center, day trips are made but for locations which are farther away, such as out in the Grand'Anse, a schedule is created which allows them to spend a few days out in the area, making visits at a different church each day. They pack their overnight bags, load up their camera equipment and head out. At the church, they set up an area that will be suitable to taking the photos. They hang the back drop (each year a new backdrop is chosen), set up the area and work with the pastor to get the children called in an orderly fashion. The RMI staffs have a list of all the kids that are to have their photos taken that day.

The team hard at work taking the students pictures.

Students waiting in the school yard to get their pictures taken and on-lookers curious as to what's going on.

One by one they are called. Two pictures of each student are taken; one with their ID number and Church location (for ID purposes) and one without the ID info for the student profiles. The staff work really hard and sometimes even do silly things to try and get the kids to smile for their profile pictures!

Marie France working with some of the students on their thank you letters.

After completing the pictures for the day, they enjoy a meal cooked by some of the ladies of the church. They then settle in for a good night’s sleep. Early the next morning they pack up, say their good-byes and head to the next location. This process begins in October and ends in January, once all the students’ pictures have been obtained.

The Process:
Once the team has gotten the students pictures, they begin the next step in the process. Information and updates on students are entered into the computer in order to begin creating the profiles for next year. The pictures are processed and matched to their sponsor profiles. Upon completion, profiles are sent out to their respective US church and then they wait for the magic to happen! (This is where all you amazing sponsors come in!) Though the profiles are completed the work is never done. Marilyn and Merry continue to process incoming payments, send payments to the schools, work on thank you letters, respond to emails and continuously update their records with information sent to them by the Pastors. Marie France and Perguens are also busy translating thank you letters that the kids have written to their sponsors. Benson stays busy maintaining contact with each of the schools and holding them accountable to the things they have been asked to do as part of the process as well as delivering food to the schools which participate in the Hot Meals Program. It’s a process that never ends.

So next time you walk past the table in your church lobby and see the picture of a student from Haiti (which may or may not be smiling- but trust us, we TRIED!) perhaps you’ll take a moment to remember that that child isn’t there by accident. He was chosen. And a team of individuals are working hard to make sure that he gets a chance to be known.

And maybe, just maybe, he was sent there just for you!

Feeding Haiti… One Hot Meal at a Time

“But when you give a feast, invite the poor” – Luke 14:13a

It’s no great secret that Jesus has a heart for feeding and caring for the poor. He both talked about it and demonstrated it on more than one occasion. He instructed a rich young ruler to go and sell all he had and give his money to those less fortunate. He equated feeding the least of His brothers and sisters with the same importance as feeding Him, the King of the Universe. With that in mind, we at RMI would like to thank you, our supporters, for helping us to feed Jesus’ beloved in Haiti…one hot meal at a time.

In 2010 RMI asked each Hope for Kidz sponsor to increase their donation by $50 each year in order to help us feed children in Haiti through the creation of a Hot Lunch Program. Through these additional funds, it is our privilege to report that within just one short year, 431,856 hot meals have been distributed! This school year, children in 12 schools will be receiving one of these meals each and every day. For many of them, this will be the only meal they will eat.

Following the massive crop destruction in November of last year, RMI founded the Food for Haiti program. We asked for donations in $25 increments to help feed families that were in desperate need of food. Less than one year later, 390,816 meals have been distributed.

Yes, you read that right. In approximately one year, RMI has distributed 822,672 hot meals. And…we aren’t finished yet. Another container of food is already on its way to Haiti!

As we prepare for Thanksgiving and the giant feast that has become synonymous with that term, remember…there are several thousand formerly hungry people in Haiti who would list you among their list of blessings.

Welcome Home Gary and Marilyn!

Marilyn left for furlough at the beginning of June and Gary followed, leaving Haiti in the end of July. Because of Marilyn’s schedule with Hope for Kidz and Gary’s schedule with teams last summer they were unable to leave at the same time but they were together once both in the US. During their time away, they spent time with friends and family, visited some of the RMI Sister Churches and some of their personal supporters, as well as spent time at their cabin in Washington State.

Marilyn returned on September 3 and Gary on September 18. Marilyn spent time with friends and family, attended a family reunion, read lots of books and worked on getting their cabin back in shape after a flood last year. Gary said he had a great time but was ready to come ‘home’, referring to Haiti. He said during the three months he was gone, he visited 11 states, slept in 14 different beds, visited 6 Sister Churches, fished for salmon and hiked in the mountains. Gary’s additional time gave him the chance to spend a little bit of time with Jules and Marthe Gedna in Boston. He said Jules’ spirits were high and he was doing as well as he could be with all of the cancer treatment he is enduring. Please keep Jules, his wife, and their family in your prayers.

And welcome home Gary and Marilyn! We’re glad you’re both back!

Another 270,864 Fortified Meals Unloaded!

We just unloaded another container of 19 tons of food! Some of this food will be used for our Hope for Kidz Hot Lunch Program, and some used for general relief purposes. We are ready in case a Hurricane comes through this season to help those in deepest need!

It is exciting to get out to our churches and see some of the 1500+ students who are getting their daily Hot Lunch through Hope for Kidz. For many of these children, it is likely their only meal for the day.

19 tons of food. 1254 boxes of food x 36 bags in a box x 6 meals per bag = 270,864 fortified meals for the hungry.

Rob

Emma started a non-profit and she’s 11 years old!

Eleven year old Emma Rice is selling her paintings. Not for herself, but to raise money to support kids through RMI’s Hope for Kidz. Her parents have helped her set up a non-profit organization to handle the funds and set up a website, emmazinggrace.org.

Both of her parents had been to Haiti on mission trips (her mom, Wendy, went as a college student with her church, Creekside Community Church, whose Sister Church is Baraderes). The Lord touched her heart when she heard that Haitian children could not go to school. Then the earthquake hit Haiti, making life in Haiti even harder. It drove her to find a way to raise funds to support kids. You have to hear her tell the story in her own words! She was interviewed by GraceFM in south Florida on the morning of August 4, 2011.

What a challenge to us adults! If this soft spoken young lady can do this, what can, or rather, what should we be doing?

All we can say is “You GO girl!” It’ll be fun to see what God does!

Did you miss RMI’s first webinar?

RMI held it’s first webinar on June 16, from 1:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m.

RMI’s **NEW** Starfish Strategy for Sister Church Partnership and its 5 Points of Strategic Impact was introduced and explained.

Other topics discussed included:
• Homes for Haiti Progress Report
• Hope for Kidz Update
• Food for Haiti Pre-Positioning Disaster Relief Need
• Upcoming 2011 Global Leadership Summit in Cayes, Haiti
• Life of Christ Picture Booklets
• Support Funding for Haitian RMI Staff

Each of these topics were discussed as it relates to the Starfish Strategy. We will be using the Starfish Strategy as the framework to evaluate each Sister Church Partnership in order to provide well developed, well-rounded holistic ministry to the Haitian Community that Sister Churches partner with. Additionally, we introduced the 2012 Sister Church Partnership Conference in February of next year in Fort Myers, Florida.

No need to worry if you missed this important webinar. You can catch up and listen to it HERE. To access and download the power point for the webinar go HERE.

Feel free to download the webinar and use it to catch up on what is going on in RMI and how it will affect your Sister Church relationship. It is something for your missions committee needs to hear so they understand the Starfish Strategy and how it will have a strategic impact on Haiti. Share it at a gathering of Haiti alumni or maybe even with another church in your area.

We are excited about this new tool! Not only does it give great updates, it’s live and interactive. People were able to send in questions during the webinar that could be answered right then. We hope to utilize this tool more in the future to better communicate with our volunteers, coordinators, teams, and churches.

30 minute interview on WRXY TV for RMI!

Tune in to WRXY TV, Christian Television Network on June 4 at 2:30 EST and again on June 9 at 10:30 pm EST. It will also be shown on these times at www.wrxytv.com. Paul Lodato will be interviewing RMI President, Dan Shoemaker, and RMI Ministry Development Coordinator, Amanda Biser, for WRXY’s Ministry Moments 30 minute segment. What an incredible opportunity for RMI to get our ministry more public exposure.

If you are in the Southwest Florida (Sarasota to Marco Island and Arcadia to Sanibel) area, these are the channels where WRXY can be found:

• Channel 49.1 - via air antenna
• Channel 10 - Comcast Cable; Fort Myers, North Fort Myers, Fort Myers Beach, Lehigh Acres, Alva, Bokelia, Bonita Springs, Captiva, Estero, Naples, Pineland, St. James City, Sanibel Island, Cape Coral, LaBelle and Punta Gorda.
• Channel 22 - Comcast Cable in Cape Haze, Englewood and Port Charlotte.
• Channel 44 - Comcast Cable in Arcadia.
• Channel 10 - Marco Island Cable.
• Channel 049-00 - Dish Satellite
• Channel 49-2 - International programming to the diverse cultures of Southwest Florida.

If you are not within range of these channels, you can see it at the above times on www.wrxytv.com. It’s a great interview! Don’t miss it!

Pray that it will touch lives…

spark interest and possibly new Sister Churches….

result in more Hope for Kidz sponsors….

lay a burden that will provide food through Food for Haiti…

or give the urge to build more houses through Home for Haiti!!

Hope for Kidz- Preparing for the New School Year

Marilyn is hard at work in her office preparing Hope for Kidz packets and the information the Sister Churches need to get all their kids sponsored!

Here Merry (Hope for Kidz Staff) and Ruth (a fellow missionary) are putting the Hope for Kidz Child Profiles together to send out to the US Churches.

The Child Profiles were sent out to the States yesterday and should be arriving in the RMI office in Florida within the next few days. Be on the lookout for your packets along with lots of other great information and promotional materials to arrive within the next few weeks. The Child Profiles have been redesigned and some new promotional materials have been created so we’re excited about sharing them with you. We’re also excited about how the program is expanding and growing.

Here is a great resource to help you promote the Hope for Kidz program within your church. It’s a Power Point presentation designed for you to share with your church and any other potential partners who might be interested in the Hope for Kidz program. You’ll need to sign up for a slideshare account to download the file, but its free and really easy to use. Clicking on the link will take you directly to the file where you can follow the instructions for downloading.

Thanks for all you do for the children here in Haiti through the Hope for Kidz program!