The following was taken from Radio Bible Hour website and provides some background on the missions that have taken place and what the Jimani Project is doing:
In 2002, Dr. Don Smith was invited to give a commencement address to the graduating pastors of the pastor’s training school in Bryansk, Russia. We had been providing funds for pastor training in Russia for some time. God used that trip to open Don’s heart to the importance of direct missions, and the next year he returned to Russia with a medical team to serve in that region. Radio Bible Hour continues to support the training of pastors, the economic support of pastors, and support for orphanage ministries in that region of Russia.
In 2004 Don met Phil Ogle of Gatlinburg, Tennessee. Phil’s father (a Gatlinburg businessman) had started doing mission work in Haiti in the early 1970’s. Through his foundation (the Ogle Foundation), a number of churches and schools had been built in Haiti, and several thousand children were being fed daily, and educated in the Word of God. Dr. Clint Doiron, a Knoxville cardiologist, and Dr. J. Harold Smith’s doctor, was working with a group to develop a mission center on the Haitian-Dominican border, and invited Don to travel there in January, 2005.
On that first trip, Phil Ogle, Dr. Neil Barry of Middlesboro, Kentucky, Dr. Doiron, and several others shared a vision for a mission center which would house a mission hospital, and a training and residential facility for mission teams. Radio Bible Hour, over the next two years, contributed as a partner with others in the “Jimani Project”, to build a large hospital and mission center in Jimani, Dominican Republic. Since its completion several mission organizations and churches have used the facility for mission work in that area.
We have been blessed to work with Dr. Marc Pinard (a Haitian Christian physician) to develop a large network of Haitian preachers and pastors, and in November, 2005, we collaborated with the Ogle Foundation to carry out the first pastor training conference in that region. That conference led to an ongoing relationship with many of the pastors in that region. We have met with and worked with those pastors fairly regularly over the last three years.
The vision for our work involves developing a strong network of pastors in Haiti. Each church, under God’s guidance, could become a center for sharing the Gospel and making disciples. We believe that only as people accept Christ, and experience the transformation that He brings, can there be hope for any improvement. Christ is the source of all hope.
As the churches grow they can become the center for providing health care and dental care for the community. Christian doctors and medical people would participate in pastor training to educate the pastors in basic public health issues. As the network of churches grows stronger, the churches could become centers for the development of Christian businesses which would help to bring economic life into the poverty stricken communities. But none of these medical or economic projects mean anything unless they are based on the creation of new believers, and only God can do that.
As we worked toward these goals we saw the need for orphanage care in Jimani, and through our pastor training work, we met a young pastor, Miguel Olivas and his wife Sylvia who had been led by the Lord to begin caring for abandoned or orphaned children in Jimani. Our hearts were broken by their compassion, and we felt called to help. Through various donations their little orphanage was gradually improved and made livable, and in early 2007, Radio Bible Hour began paying their monthly expenses. Since that time we have provided several thousand dollars each month to feed, clothe, and meet basic medical expenses, as well as pay the salaries for eight orphanage workers. The orphanage grew, and it quickly became apparent that a bigger building was needed.
The men of the Jimani Project, under the leadership of Dr. Clint Doiron assumed the responsibility for building a new orphanage building near the site of the mission center in Jimani, Dominican Republic. If the e Lord wills, that new orphanage building will be completed by the end of 2008. Radio Bible Hour will continue to meet the monthly budget with help from our supporters, for as long as the Lord makes it possible.
This year we are setting our sights on Haiti, in the area in and around Port-au-Prince. This is dangerous territory, with the risk of kidnappings, violence and extreme poverty. We seek to invade Satan’s territory, and we expect that this next phase will meet strong resistance, but our God is supreme in all things, and nothing can stand against Him.
Living conditions in the slums of Port-au-Prince are the worst in the western hemisphere, and among the worst in the world. We consider it a blessing to be called to help among the poorest of the poor. We will continue with the development of a pastor training network, and envision the building of a pastor school and Bible college in Haiti. We are looking for the right location in that region, and envision a small clinic and perhaps another orphanage for that area within the next two years.
Pray for the Radio Bible Hour, that we will continue to be used by God to accomplish His purposes. We do not seek any glory or praise for ourselves, or even for this organization, but only seek and pray that we may bring glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ. It is in His name that we serve, and we ask that you prayerfully consider joining us in this project.
