A lot was accomplished over the weekend and our team worked tirelessly. The water systems on the mission center have been restored. One missionary stated this morning, "...it is starting to feel more like home even without power. Just having water has really improved our living situation so much!" The team did take a much needed day of rest on Sunday and enjoyed some down time together.
Many more trees, debris and electric lines have been cleared making the roads passable in the Cayes area and the road from Port-au-Prince to Cayes is open. The rivers are going down, so vehicles are able to get through them where the bridges are down.
We hear that the road west from Cayes to the town of Les Anglais has been opened up. This is fantastic news and means we should be able to get reliable reports and pictures on the churches along that road.
What we hear from areas like Port Salut, and Les Anglais are indeed grim. Lives, crops, homes and livestock has been lost. Hunger is a dire need and people are desperate for any help. We sent out a truck this morning with 172,000 meals to distribute meals in the west, but it had to turn back due to insecurity along the road. Our staff are looking at options and ways to safely deliver food to our churches and areas that are in the most need. Since we are one of the only organizations who already have food on the ground and in place, a number of NGO's have contacted us to partner together to distribute food in the south.
A note to Hope for Kidz sponsors...right now we are not able to check up on individual children. In one sense, we have to proceed with the adage of "no news is good news". We know you are concerned for your sponsored child and so are we, however, the circumstances are so extreme, we haven't been able to get to all of the churches and schools to check up on them. Keep checking this website for updates. And keep praying for their safety and provision for their families.
We know it is very difficult for many of you who have been to Haiti and have left a piece of your heart there to wait for news of your loved ones at your Sister Church. Please know we are doing our utmost to get accurate reports and pictures for you. Since the cell phone system has been severely damaged, we've not been able to get in touch with the churches and pastors.
Our Partnership Facilitators are hitting the road to visit each of their assigned churches to check on the church buildings, the schools, parsonages and communities. Once they make those reports, we'll post them - so keep an eye on RMI’s website and Facebook as well.
At this point we are not collecting relief supplies here in the states. That may come at a later date and may involve construction supplies more than clothing and toys. Our priority right now is to help with the overwhelming food need. Hunger is what they are facing now, even as they begin cleanup and work to rebuild their lives. This is where we can help. And it is where YOU can help.
We need your help now. Every little bit helps. Please share RMI's website with your friends! Get your colleagues at work involved in helping. Spread the word.
Give today HERE.
As reports from the field continue to trickle in, it is beyond obvious that there is a major relief and rebuilding effort that must begin. As an organization that has been working for 30+ years all throughout the Southern Peninsula (South, Grand Anse, and Nippes regions), we, along with our deep national partners, are positioned well to have a great kingdom impact. We want to help. All of our efforts will be done in coordination with local and National leaders and under the authority of local churches. Our effort will be their effort. We will do this together.
HOW CAN YOU HELP?
1. Pray for God’s grace and care for His people.
2. Donate generously by visiting our website at http://www.rmibridge.org
3. Share this with as many people as you can.
4. Partner with us! If you are a part of a church or association that would like to partner with RMI in our relief efforts, please call us toll free at 877-764-5439 or email us at info@rmibridge.org.
MORE INFO...
The RMI Team, National and American missionaries, our many church and school partners, our trucks, our equipment, our facilities and our hearts will be fully engaged. As we begin to dig ourselves out, we will quickly begin to do all that God has for us. We can't do this alone. We need you.
-It isn't an exaggeration to say that near 100% crop loss is throughout Southern Haiti. The food needs of the people will be great. We have much food already pre-positioned in some of the most highly affected remote areas. This food will serve well, but millions of meals more will be needed.
-The Mission Center, home to some of our missionaries and the RMI facilities is in need of repairs. All electric lines are down. Many trees need to be removed. Water systems need repair. Roofs are missing. Walls have crumbled. RMI Office office equipment has been lost. Gates are destroyed. The list goes on.
-Many homes, churches, and schools in our local and partnership church communities have lost roofs, and or the structures themselves.
-Many animals have been lost. Access to clean water has been dramatically reduced.
-Our facilities, our trucks, our equipment and our people will all be fully engaged in the effort.
Frankly, we need all the help we can get to do all we can to serve the Haitian people. Will you please join us by prayerfully and generously donating so that together we can honor the Lord?
Thank you for your consideration!! Let's do this together...
We were able to have a long phone call with Lee Nunemaker this morning. All the missionaries are safe (RMI's and about 30 others from other organizations). The mission center has no water since the system's pipes were broken when trees fell over, roots and all, as well as there is no power. There's no electrical power. All the lines are down on the mission center and beyond and many of the poles are broken off. Six out of 18 missionary homes lost their roofs. The internet satellite antennae was ripped right out of the roof where it was stationed, taking a chunk of concrete with it so they don't have internet. Driveways and roads on the mission center are covered in debris and downed trees.
Yesterday they spent the day just trying to dig out of their homes and carve out paths to get from one house to another to check on their neighbors and offices there on the mission center. All the missionaries are pulling together to take care of each other, and working on establishing some sort of water system, power, and shelter for those who lost their roofs.
We have heard that Benjamin, Benson and most of the other staff have checked in. Some have damage to their homes, and one had a family member struck by flying tin and was being taken to the hospital.
We received pictures of Rob Thompson's yard and property which is posted here in a slideshow format. We are thankful that his tin roof stayed on but were saddened to hear that the other side of their duplex lost the tin.
So many trees are down that movement is almost impossible right now. Benson lives 10 minutes from the mission center but only today was able to find a way to get there. When asked how the roads were, his response, "There are no roads anymore, just trees on top of trees." What we've heard from Haitian nationals over and over is, "The country is finished. There's nothing left, it's no more."
It is hard to wrap our heads around the complete and utter devastation that we are seeing and hearing about just around the Cayes area. We haven't been able to get through to any of our church partners but know that many villages are cut off. Roads and bridges are washed out. Crops and livestock are lost. Homes have been flattened and/or flooded.
Keep praying for our staff as they work on recovery priorities, care for their own families and as they try to get in touch with our partner churches
As it advanced last night, Oct. 3, Hurricane Matthew pushed east a bit at the last moment with disastrous results. Instead of the eye staying off the coast, it came ashore east of Les Anglais along the southern coast. The devastation is much worse than anyone expected. There is extensive flooding – it is safe to say that the majority of the crops in southern Haiti are gone. Livestock have been swept away. Much of the vegetation is lost, down or stripped bare. Entire villages have been flattened. Mud huts destroyed, thatched or tin roofs torn off, and all electricity is out. Roads are not only washed out but are gone. One major bridge connecting Port-au-Prince and Cayes is gone and the raging river is impossible to cross. Other bridges are washed away as well.
We have heard from our missionaries and they are all safe. Their homes are intact as well. So many trees are down that it’ll take a while for them to dig out and be able to get around on motorcycles or in vehicles. The RMI office is intact as well although several windows were lost and there is water all over the place. A few of our Haitian staff took refuge at the RMI Depot (there are many more we haven't heard from) and are safe. Our huge metal gate to the Depot yard is in the middle of the road. The metal roof over our mechanics shop is gone. Most metal roofs we put over our containers to protect them are gone.
Apparently cell phone service in the south is down and we haven’t been able to get ahold of anyone as of this afternoon (Oct. 4). Tomorrow our staff will try to get assessment reports and once we hear from them we’ll post those updates.
One of the greatest and most immediate needs will be food. You can help us provide that food by donating HERE.
Keep praying for our brothers and sisters in Haiti as they are going through a very difficult time.
Urgent prayers are needed for our Haitian church partners, our ministries, national staff and missionaries - and all of southern Haiti. Hurricane Matthew, currently a category 4 storm, has shifted slightly east, bringing the eye close, if not passing right over the tip of the southern peninsula. We have a number of churches that are right on the water and in that area....Tiburon, Aux Coteaux, Boyer, Les Irois, Dame Marie just to mention a few. Morency is on the beach, and Baraderes is near the water and where 3 rivers come together (the parsonage backs up to one of them) and floods frequently. Many other churches are in the mountains, where the estimated 15 to 40 inches of rain could bring life-threatening mud and landslides. You get the idea! We are very concerned how up to 150 mph winds will affect so many. Haiti is ill-prepared to take such a serious hit. It will make the already existing extreme poverty even worse.
The missionaries and staff have been preparing their homes, the RMI office, and other facilities. They have a good hurricane preparedness plan of action, which they are implementing. Most of them live in cement homes.
The Partnership Facilitators have already called the C3 Partner churches to let them know what to expect so they can prepare as much as they can and to let their people know about it. Once the storm is passed they'll be checking in with them to see how things went and what their needs are. As we have updates, we will forward them to you. We do have food aid ready to get to the areas of need once the roads are passable.
Meet RMI’s newest missionary appointee, Dawn Shoemaker. She is literally returning to the land of her birth. Dawn is the daughter of RMI president, Dan, and RMI Director of Communication, Debbie Shoemaker and the granddaughter of Herb and Shirley Shoemaker, RMI founders. Dawn was born in Les Cayes, grew up and went to school on the mission center where the Shoemaker family were missionaries for 25 years. She returned to the US with her parents when she was 15. After high school she attended Trinity College of Florida and majored in cross cultural communications and Biblical studies. One of her summers was spent as an RMI intern in Haiti.
Besides growing up as a Third Culture Kid, she has participated in a home building trip to Mexico, a leadership training trip that traveled to Paris, Brussels, and Amsterdam and a trip to Paraguay using volleyball as an entry point to present the Gospel in public schools.
Dawn began to feel the call of God on her life while she was a child in Haiti. This was strengthened in high school and she chose to attend Trinity so she could prepare for full time ministry.
Dawn will be working with teams, helping them to engage in ministry and evangelism with the Haitian people, helping with hospitality, providing video/photos and stories for our blogs and social media, and assisting wherever the Field Director has need. RMI has many needs and will be looking as to how best to use her skills and passion. She is needed there as soon as possible so pray for her as she begins to raise her funds to be able to get to the field.
She excited to be going to Haiti to minister. She’ll be living and working on the same mission center in Cayes where her grandparents lived and where her dad grew up as well as where she grew up. The maternity clinic where she was born is also located on the mission center. Who would have known that she’d be back as a full time missionary one day?
We’re excited to welcome Dawn to the RMI family! If you would like to be a part of Dawn’s support team you can do that online HERE.
Exciting stuff!! RMI President, Dan Shoemaker, is now a published author! A shortened version (due to length restrictions) of his article was published on churchleaders.com. In the article, What’s Missing in Your Short Term Missions Program, he addresses 4 principles of how to do Short Term Missions correctly - which is RMI's specialty. Check out the article on church leaders.com HERE. The full article can be found on RMI’s website HERE. Way to go Dan!
Becky Rose (left) and Kendall Kehres (right), friends who are both from Crossroads Community Church, Doylestown, Ohio, joined the RMI team in Haiti for almost seven weeks as interns this summer. Their first weeks were full of visits to a number of ministries in the Les Cayes area. We spent time visiting a deaf school, orphanage, Maranatha School of Simon, Cite Lumiere Christian School, observing life skill training for some blind students, helping in the library of the American University in Cayes, along with some others. It was great for all of us to get a better look at the community in which we serve and the many needs that are being attended to by our friends and partners in ministry.
Becky and Kendall brought new life and excitement to our team as they connected with our Haitian and American staff with new vigor and enthusiasm at a time when many on our team were becoming tired from the busy schedule of our team season. It was an incredible blessing to have them add new energy to our lives, just when we needed it most. They were a huge help in connecting with teams and helping in the behind-the-scenes preparations that makes team visits with their sister churches run smoothly.
Both young ladies were actively involved in the day to day events and challenges of the RMI schedule. They spent some days interviewing the RMI staff for some new mini bios that you will eventually be seeing on the RMI website. They spent a day sorting through medical supplies in preparation for them to be sent to one of our local hospitals. Teaching Bible lessons and spending time with the children at the orphanage in Simon and at the Maranatha School of Simon were among some of their favorite activities.
In addition to their opportunities to minister with teams, RMI staff, and the Haitian communities; Becky and Kendall also spent some time reading several books focusing on the history of missions work in the Cayes area and around the world, to give them a better understanding of what 
life as a missionary really looks like for the long-term. They had several opportunities to interview the missionaries living in our missionary community, as well.
Kendall and Becky were a joy to work with throughout the summer weeks that they were with us. It was clear that God had them with us for those weeks, when He knew that we would need their zest for life and willing helping hands of service.
Thank you, Kendall and Becky, for giving so freely and abundantly of your hands and heart for God’s Kingdom.
Back to school is in full swing in the US now. It is also in full swing in Haiti. Education, while taken as an expected right here, is a privilege in Haiti. It can be the difference in being able to have a better life for Haitian children and their families. RMI is impacting 2,000+ children in southern Haiti through its Hope for Kidz Child Sponsorship Program. Are you sponsoring a child?
What does a Hope for Kidz sponsorship provide?
• Access to a quality Christian education
• All necessary uniforms and school supplies
• Continued expansion of the Hot Lunch Program (now feeding 5,500 children daily in 19 select schools)
• Annual De-Worming and Prevention Education Program in all Hope for Kidz schools (17,000+ receiving the medication)
• An Emergency Major Medical Needs Fund
• Teacher enrichment and much more
What are the benefits to sponsors?
• An annually updated picture and brief profile of your child
• The opportunity to send and receive 1-2 letters each year from your child
• Accountability - including frequent visits from RMI staff to your child’s school to check the facilities and curriculum, get updated pictures, confirm your child’s attendance, and assess his or her academic performance
You can be a change agent in a child’s life! Now is the time to renew your sponsorship of your child if you haven’t already done it. If you aren’t supporting a child now is time to take up the challenge to impact a Haitian child’s life. Sponsor a child through RMI’s Hope for Kidz child sponsorship program. Sponsorship is only $28 a month or $336 for the entire year. Donate online HERE. Don’t delay because like we said...it’s back to school time!
After innumerable doctor visits, a second opinion, tests and more tests, Becky’s surgery took place on the morning of August 18, last Thursday. All went as planned and the doctors were pleased with how it went. Becky was release the next afternoon to begin her recovery at home. The pathology reports will help the doctors know the next steps and the extent of her chemo and radiation treatments. The Thompsons have definitely felt and appreciated everyone’s prayers. Thank you!!
Please focus your prayers now on….
God has graciously supplied many things they needed…a home, furnishing for that home, a vehicle, a good Christian school and some good family times (see the smiling faces in that picture!) with both sides of the family.
For further updates, follow them on their Facebook pages or via their blog HERE.
The Rob Thompson Family - Rob and Becky Thompson received some very difficult news shortly after arriving in the US in June. A routine exam showed that Becky has breast cancer. A flurry of tests, doctor appointments, surgery, chemo and radiation treatments and recovery have replaced their planned visits to supporters and friends in the NJ and Chicago areas. They are living in a home provided by a supporting church in NJ and will spend a year there as they attend to Becky’s health. The cancer is classified as 2a and her prognosis is good, which is encouraging to them. Before Becky’s surgery (currently scheduled on August 12) and in between doctor visits they are getting in as much family time as possible. They are planning on putting the kids in a local Christian school for the coming year. Many other details remain to be worked out. Rob will still be working for RMI and they’ll still be on a support basis. Pray for them during this trying, difficult time. Pray that their support will remain steady...and that the additional funds they need for Becky’s medical treatments and the kids’ schooling will be supplied. This hasn’t caught God by surprise and they are confident in God’s supply. You can connect with them via their Facebook pages and their blog at www.robandbecky.blogspot.com.
The Greg Harvie Family - Greg and Star Harvie are in the US from mid-July to mid-September. Their daughter, Jessica, met them in Florida when they arrived. Star flew to Chicago to spend a week with their grandson (and daughter and son-in-law too). Greg had a motorcycle in Florida and he and Jessica took several days driving it to Chicago where they met up with Star and the rest of the family. Family time is one specific goal of their furlough. They’ll be sharing their ministry with churches in the Chicago area and their home area in Nebraska. Another goal is to raise additional support funds since their account is very low. Pray that they’ll have good contacts and these funds are raised. Keep in touch with them through their Facebook pages and their blog at www.gregstarharvie.blogspot.com. 
The Nunemaker Family - Lee and Tina Nunemaker’s home assignment is being spent in their home area in Pennsylvania. They are staying with Lee’s parents and will be visiting their supporters, friends and family. They’ll also be sharing their ministry with their supporting churches. Family time and vacation will take up a part of their time. Their support is very low and raising it up will be another major objective for them during this time in the US. Pray for them for refreshment, renewal and for the Lord’s supply of these support funds. The end of August is their return date. They have a new newsletter out which can be found on their blog at www.thehaiticonnection.blogspot.com. You can connect with them on their Facebook pages, too.
The Joel Sutton Family - Joel and Laura Sutton are visiting their family and friends in West Virginia and Florida. They will also share their ministry in several supporting churches. Some country quiet is something they’ve been looking forward to since their home in Haiti is located in a somewhat noisy village just 2-3 minutes from the mission center. They want to catch up and spend some time with their many grandchildren. Support raising is another priority for them since their account is very low. They’ll return to Haiti at the beginning of September. You can keep in touch with them through their Facebook pages and their blog at www.lbjtsutton.blogspot.com. 
