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Recently, Jim Starkey drove up through the mountains to the Puerto Plata area to meet with Dr. Milton to prepare for the first team coming in October. He met a mom there whom Dr. Milton introduced them to, who lost her husband in a motorcycle accident. The lady has three young kids. Their “house” has a lot of hard things going on, and we have a wonderful team coming to supply what she needs.  They will be building solid concrete walls, cement floors, and wood doors. Right now, many of her partitions and walls are rotten old wood, cardboard, or curtains. We are very excited for this team to be part of this project.  We are excited to encourage this beautiful family, who has walked a hard road, and to help them feel God’s love during this time.  

The first day of school in Haiti was Sept 7.  We wish them all the best for this school year.

Andrew Tlucek and Jim Starkey went to La Vega, DR, recently to meet with some Haitian pastors. This was a preliminary event for the Ezra Institute and several seminars they have planned for the near future.  Plans are firming up for the first visiting professor as well.  Pray for Andrew as he plans these seminars.  Our Dominican partners were particularly eager to have these teaching seminars for their pastors and lay leaders.  They do not have any other means to get this continuing education, some of which were not even addressed in their seminary courses.

Thanks to all of you who have participated in VisionNext so far.  We still have quite a way to go to meet our goals.  One specific goal is to repair the RMI Haiti office.  We knew the office had been damaged in the 2021 earthquake, but a new and urgent issue has recently reared its ugly head.  The cracks in the roof recently began leaking in earnest!  This problem is located throughout the office. This is just one of many issues that will be addressed with the VisionNext funds.  Pray that God will continue to supply these financial needs.  For more details on VisionNext to rmibridge.org/vision-next/  

Have you ever looked for an original fundraising idea for your Hope for Kidz needs?  Something new that people would respond to?  Here is an idea that is organized by someone from RMI missionary Tessa Andrews’ mom’s church.  They are raising funds for a food storage building for an area called Fond Deron.  This building is required by RMI to protect their Hot Lunch Program food from rodents, bugs, the elements, and theft. Those dates are coming soon.  Pray for the success of this sale! If you have any creative ideas, let us know so we can share them!

There is rejoicing in Pederine this week.  July 9, we shared wth you about the Pederine Church parsonage being built.  This month, the keys were handed to the pastor and his family.  The construction is completely done; it is painted, and the doors and windows are installed.  The pictures tell the story!

  Ministry is moving forward in the DR.  The Starkeys are starting school and getting settled before welcoming a medical team from Beacon Evangelical Free Church (NJ) October 9-16.  Medical teams are exciting.  They partner with Dr. Milton, a Dominican doctor.  He operates these clinics free of charge for Haitians who live in the area.  The Starkeys will arrange room and board for the team as well as transportation and translators. The Tluceks are interviewing for future staff.  They need a competent person to care for the kids so Dawn can be fully involved in the ministry.  As well as committed translators. In the spring, Andrew was asked by our Dominican partners, the CBD, to teach 2 sessions (1.5 hours each) at their 8-week-long missions and discipleship conference.  It was held on the weekends and was well attended. Andrew shared that if God called them and they were committed, they

Tis the Season for missionary furloughs to end.  Everyone is back on the field.  They are settling in for another season of ministry.  Pray for each of them – they need clarity of thought and direction as they go about their respective ministries.  Pray that the time at home will have been refreshing and that they feel renewed as they face life in third-world countries.  Pray for the kids – that they will look forward to school.  Layton Tlucek will be starting school for the first.  Pray for everyone’s health and safety.  Sometimes being in a third-world country presents challenges when even the simplest illness or injury happens, and medical facilities are not readily available. Keep up to date on them through their Facebook pages. Tessa Andrews Jim Starkey Andrew Tlucek

  The Bayou Church of Lafayette, Louisiana, hadn’t been able to visit their C3 partner church in Petit Trou, Haiti, in a number of years, yet they knew that their heart’s desire and a real need was to have a new sanctuary.  Their old one was just that, very old, crumbling, and too small to accommodate the needs of their growing congregation. The Bayou raised the funds, the plans were drawn up, and construction was started.  All of it took time.  I’m sure they must have become impatient as the building took shape.  The decision was made to finish as much as possible and to hold their annual district-wide convention there.  [MEBSH, our Haitian national partners, has their ministry divided into regions and districts, and Petit Trou is the head of their district.  MEBSH has an annual convention, attended by 8-10,000 of their congregations.  Since not everyone can attend the

Technology today is nowhere near what it used to be.  In the past, to get any statistical data, we had to manually track sources, compile information, and do our best to put some pizzazz into the insanely boring spreadsheet-style reports.  Now, with a few simple prompts, we can ask AI to prepare it for us.  Check out this flyer! Our Hope for Kidz program has been operating since 1999 and has grown significantly over the years.  With support from our US church partners and individual donors, we have impacted the lives of so many.  But we must keep up with the times!  What is the best way to get our program in front of new donors and new churches?  Do we use Facebook? Instagram?  How do we connect with the largest audience?  It starts with one.  One sponsor, one conversation, one referral, one voice. Would you be that voice?  Would

What do you suppose the hope for Kidz kids are doing? For many, life and chores go on as usual, though they miss the hot meal they used to receive at school.  For some who have been living with a family just to attend school, it’s the chance to go home for a couple of months.  Usually by the end of August, they are all ready for classes to start.  Pray for these kids that they will have a fun and safe summer.

A number of our pastors lost their homes in the 2021 earthquake.  Their most urgent desire was to get their sanctuaries repaired, leaving their homes to last.  One such situation was the Pederin church.  The pastor has been without a home for 5 years.  Their Sister Church, Creekside Community Church (Gainesville, FL) saw his need and was able to raise the funds to rebuild his house.  Here’s how the house is doing so far:

Tis the Season for missionary furloughs. Every year, missionaries take the opportunity of the end of the school year to return to their home areas to visit supporters. This year, Tessa Andrews is home in northern Florida.  Every Sunday, she is in a different church, sharing about her ministry in Haiti.  You can contact her at tessa.andrews@rmibridge.org to find out her schedule.   The Starkey family is in their home area of Ohio.  They are speaking in several churches, sharing about their ministry in the Dominican Republic.  Their support is very low, so please pray that God would raise up new supporters to meet their needs.  They are thankful that several of the boys have been able to attend camp.  You can reach them at jim.starkey@rmibridge.org.     The Tluceks hadn’t planned to be in the States, since they’d just arrived on the field at the end of December; however,