MISSIONS MINISTRY

Kristy

Herring

What is “missions”?

One of Merriam Webster’s definitions for “mission” is a ministry commissioned by a religious organization to propagate its faith or carry-on humanitarian work. For years, this was the backdrop of European colonization, followed by more recent practices of engagement where American Christian leaders traveled to Africa or Asia to preach the Gospel with missionaries distributing food to the poor and almost certainly spending time playing with orphaned children. However, today’s mission experiences are evolving into relational encounters that celebrate collaboration and honor the diverse ideas, cultural norms, and indigenous best practices of others as an avenue to display the love of Christ and His will for His people. Essentially, “missions” is an opportunity to build a relationship with a community and to partner in long-term work to improve lives-spiritually and practically. Many organizations, like Ministry Beyond Myself

(MBM), a nonprofit in Windsor Mill, Maryland, embraces this type of engagement.

Created in 2007, MBM supports children and families through education and economic development projects in Baltimore, Maryland, La Haciendita, Mexico and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic. We are known for our dedication to relationship building and partnering with communities for change. Through our programs: not orphans, The Great Connection (TGC), Beyond C2 and Para La Comunidad (For the Community), MBM continues to deepen its impact and expand its reach.

Locally, TGC offers community engagement workshops for churches, while Beyond C2 provides global education courses and servicelearning opportunities for youth. MBM also partners with local organizations on projects to build relationships with newly arrived migrants and refugees to support their resettlement.

In La Haciendita, Para La Comunidad supports women-led startups including a community store, home based barbershop, and nail salon. We have also funded irrigation projects and planted hundreds of fruit trees. COVID-19 and recent frigid temperatures have negatively

impacted small businesses in this community of 600 families and an infusion of funds is desperately needed for their recovery. In 2018, MBM partnered with Emilio Carranza Primary School and CSR Santa Isabel y Dolores Clinic. We have provided curriculum, classroom equipment and constructed bathrooms. Like most schools, Emilio Carranza has had limited in-person instruction. Consequently, students need laptops and access to the internet to participate in online learning. Similarly, the clinic faces many challenges. It has limited resources yet serves four communities and regularly needs medical supplies and functioning equipment. A fully operating clinic is critical as the closest hospital is 45 minutes away. Prior to the pandemic, MBM hosted bi-annual service-learning trips to Mexico allowing us to regularly deliver needed supplies.

In addition to working in Mexico, we provide educational support to children in Santo Domingo.

Last year, we launched a popup school for children in a squatter community. After a fall hiatus, we are reopening this year from January to June. This outreach is in addition to our sponsorship program that pays school expenses for children in an orphanage.

MBM is committed to children and families and will continue to model relationship building in its mission work worldwide.

Kristy Herring is the Founder and Executive Director of Ministry Beyond Myself. For more information email info@ ministrybeyondmyself.org or call 443-595-7626. Be sure to visit www. ministrybeyondmyself.org TODAY!