By Marilyn Tinnin
An Invitation
Our January 2016 cover story profoundly touched us. The AIDS epidemic and the orphan crisis in Lesotho and Botswana might as well have been right here in Ridgeland, Mississippi. I could not look at those little faces, hear the hearts of Jason Stoker and his small staff at Reclaimed Ministry and see the very real and practical solutions they were putting into place and not want to help.
Several things make this ministry unique, but at the top of the list would be that Reclaimed empowers the people who live in those communities to become self-sufficient. The American missionaries do not come in, do everything for the people, and then leave. They work beside them teaching them how to run afterschool care for their orphans through their churches.
But this is not a cold bureaucratic impersonal program. The staff members at the centers are personally invested, following their children to see they have the tools to succeed. In addition the caregivers have developed their cottage industry of handmade items they sell, and with the proceeds, they are able to fully fund the centers. The ripple effect on individuals and communities is enormous.
The Reclaimed Ministry’s Holistic Approach to meeting needs is one of the most beautiful pictures of the gospel at work I can imagine, and I am excited to tell everyone I know about it.
Jason can share many a story of how God continues to meet the needs of this ministry. He and his team will host an evening at The South at 627 East Silas Brown in Jackson on April 21 at 6:30. Dinner, The Reclaimed Marketplace with hand made items, and a program that I guarantee will touch your heart and make you want to know more.
Tables for eight are $1000. Grab seven friends and split the cost, but please do this. Join Mississippi Christian there! Contact hscoggin@reclaimedproject.org or call 601.717.3535.
