Blog

Yep, that’s right.  RMI is 30 years old.  God has done amazing things in and through RMI and our C3 Partnership Program these past 30 years.  Our foundational program, C3 Partnerships, was a vision that started as a seed in the hearts of Herb and Shirley Shoemaker and Dan and Debbie Shoemaker and finally became Reciprocal Ministries International (RMI) in April 1988.  Herb and Shirley ran the stateside administration and Dan and Debbie, along with a handful of Haitian staff, ran the Haiti side.  From that simple beginning of desiring to see the US Church and Haitian Church experience the unity of the Holy Spirit and minister to one another reciprocally, God has raised up RMI as one of the largest missions working in South Haiti with 35 ongoing partnerships, some that are 30 plus years old.  What an amazing tribute to our Lord as we see His faithfulness demonstrated

Nadège Lavaud grew up in a coastal town as far west as you can get in Haiti’s southern peninsula.  Opportunities were limited and her family’s resources were few.  As poor subsistence fishermen, they could not send Nadège  to school.  The church they attended had a C3 Partnership with a church in New Jersey and the national pastor, knowing Nadège’s family’s limited capabilities, put her name on the Hope for Kidz list of children in need of support.  Someone from that church in the US faithfully supported her and the education she received changed her life. After graduating from school, Nadège moved away from her small, remote town to attend teacher training school.  After finishing that program, she returned to her hometown and taught kindergarten there for 4 years.  Then she moved to Haiti’s capital to attend nursing school.  Last year, the director of the school called her.  The kindergarten program

Nadège Lavaud grew up in a coastal town as far west as you can get in Haiti’s southern peninsula.  Opportunities were limited and her family’s resources were few.  As poor subsistence fishermen, they could not send Nadège  to school.  The church they attended had a C3 Partnership with a church in New Jersey and the national pastor, knowing Nadège’s family’s limited capabilities, put her name on the Hope for Kidz list of children in need of support.  Someone from that church in the US faithfully supported her and the education she received changed her life. After graduating from school, Nadège moved away from her small, remote town to attend teacher training school.  After finishing that program, she returned to her hometown and taught kindergarten there for 4 years.  Then she moved to Haiti’s capital to attend nursing school.  Last year, the director of the school called her.  The kindergarten program

It’s truly a blessing to be a Hope for Kidz sponsor!  Don’t miss out on that blessing.  If you are already a sponsor, now is the time renew your sponsorship.  If you are not a sponsor, there are kids on a waiting list needing that hope that sponsorship provides.  The cost is $384 a year or $32 a month for 12 months.  Go to RMI’s website, www.RMIbridge.org to learn more and to set up your sponsorship online. One of the beauties of the Hope for Kidz Program is that if a sponsors goes with their church to visit their Haitian C3 partner church, they are able to  meet their sponsored child (ren).  These meetings are special to both the sponsor and the child.  Sponsors can see firsthand what and who their money is going for and the kind of help it is.  Here are a few recent such meetings.

It’s truly a blessing to be a Hope for Kidz sponsor!  Don’t miss out on that blessing.  If you are already a sponsor, now is the time renew your sponsorship.  If you are not a sponsor, there are kids on a waiting list needing that hope that sponsorship provides.  The cost is $384 a year or $32 a month for 12 months.  Go to RMI’s website, www.RMIbridge.org to learn more and to set up your sponsorship online. One of the beauties of the Hope for Kidz Program is that if a sponsors goes with their church to visit their Haitian C3 partner church, they are able to  meet their sponsored child (ren).  These meetings are special to both the sponsor and the child.  Sponsors can see firsthand what and who their money is going for and the kind of help it is.  Here are a few recent such meetings.

The statistics related to the worldwide lack of clean water is both staggering and sobering. 100 million families are stuck in a cycle of poverty and disease because they don’t have access to safe water. More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war. Water-borne diseases kill more children under the age of five than malaria, measles, and HIV/AIDS – combined. In developing countries, as much as 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. Women and girls spend up to 6 hours every day walking to get water for their families. 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases. Time spent gathering water around the world translates to $24 billion in lost economic benefits each year, furthering the cycle of poverty. What can YOU do?  Even though you are “one” person, you can indeed make a difference. 

The statistics related to the worldwide lack of clean water is both staggering and sobering. 100 million families are stuck in a cycle of poverty and disease because they don’t have access to safe water. More people die from unsafe water than from all forms of violence, including war. Water-borne diseases kill more children under the age of five than malaria, measles, and HIV/AIDS – combined. In developing countries, as much as 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. Women and girls spend up to 6 hours every day walking to get water for their families. 443 million school days are lost each year due to water-related diseases. Time spent gathering water around the world translates to $24 billion in lost economic benefits each year, furthering the cycle of poverty. What can YOU do?  Even though you are “one” person, you can indeed make a difference. 

Would you please consider a monthly gift to directly help our Haitian Staff? Our desire is to give our staff a raise, as well as add a few more team members.  We can’t do this without help. Can you help! We need to raise an additional $4500/monthly.  We’re just getting started, but so far, we’ve raised just over 8%.  We have a ways to go. Maybe you’ve been here and have appreciated our Haitian staff?  They are the backbone of our ministry. Can you help?  Click below to donate monthly, or with a special gift.  Choose “Haitian Staff”.

Would you please consider a monthly gift to directly help our Haitian Staff? Our desire is to give our staff a raise, as well as add a few more team members.  We can’t do this without help. Can you help! We need to raise an additional $4500/monthly.  We’re just getting started, but so far, we’ve raised just over 8%.  We have a ways to go. Maybe you’ve been here and have appreciated our Haitian staff?  They are the backbone of our ministry. Can you help?  Click below to donate monthly, or with a special gift.  Choose “Haitian Staff”.

Benjamin Altema Director of Field Operations We are proud to share with RMI’s followers and supporters that Benjamin Altema has been promoted from Field Administrator in Haiti, to the position of Director of Field Operations. Benjamin will directly report to Rob Thompson, Field Director, and the rest of the team (missionaries and Haitian staff) will now report directly to Benjamin. Benjamin came to work with RMI as an administrative assistant in 2006 and his gifts of leadership and administration were evident in a very short time. Anyone who knows Benjamin and has worked with him over the years, knows that he is a Godly man of integrity and leadership. He has been a blessing to our American missionaries, Haitian staff, and our team members who have had opportunity to work with him over the last twelve years. Benjamin has been married to his beautiful wife, Lucette, for seven years and

Benjamin Altema Director of Field Operations We are proud to share with RMI’s followers and supporters that Benjamin Altema has been promoted from Field Administrator in Haiti, to the position of Director of Field Operations. Benjamin will directly report to Rob Thompson, Field Director, and the rest of the team (missionaries and Haitian staff) will now report directly to Benjamin. Benjamin came to work with RMI as an administrative assistant in 2006 and his gifts of leadership and administration were evident in a very short time. Anyone who knows Benjamin and has worked with him over the years, knows that he is a Godly man of integrity and leadership. He has been a blessing to our American missionaries, Haitian staff, and our team members who have had opportunity to work with him over the last twelve years. Benjamin has been married to his beautiful wife, Lucette, for seven years and

RMI’s ministry is labor intensive.  Quite a bit goes into working in the field for the Lord.  The seed is planted.  It is faithfully watered.  And then comes the harvest.  [See the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.]  This principle was clearly seen and experienced by 2 different teams and one C3 partner church as God used each one of them in a different part of the process.  Early last year a team from Walloon Lake, MI went to visit their C3 partner church but were unable to reach the church due to political issues in the area.  So the RMI team took them to the Cote de Fer area.  While there, they delivered food to needy families, sharing the gospel at each home.  On one particular visit they shared the food aid and the message of salvation with a young man who had just lost his leg as

RMI’s ministry is labor intensive.  Quite a bit goes into working in the field for the Lord.  The seed is planted.  It is faithfully watered.  And then comes the harvest.  [See the parable of the sower in Matthew 13.]  This principle was clearly seen and experienced by 2 different teams and one C3 partner church as God used each one of them in a different part of the process.  Early last year a team from Walloon Lake, MI went to visit their C3 partner church but were unable to reach the church due to political issues in the area.  So the RMI team took them to the Cote de Fer area.  While there, they delivered food to needy families, sharing the gospel at each home.  On one particular visit they shared the food aid and the message of salvation with a young man who had just lost his leg as