Missions
Open Air Cinema
This is an outdoor movie system, complete with a 20’ blow-up Pro Screen (including an air blower to inflate the screen) and an audiovisual package (including a state-of-the-art projector and sound equipment).
This is a tremendous evangelistic tool which has been proven by missionaries around the globe. This Open Air Cinema is set up in remote, very impoverished villages to show “The Jesus Film” and other Christian movies. As a result, many people have been saved, healed, and delivered. We train a ministry/prayer team in advance of the event when possible.
We also have Christian movies available to show for churches and other events.
The audience is treated to hot popcorn and a drink to enjoy while they watch the movie. At times, a children’s movie (i.e. Veggie Tales, etc.) is shown before the “main attraction.”
Judah's Footprint Clothing Ministry
The Clothing Ministry of Kingdom Connections International is lovingly named after our grandson, Judah Matthew Melo, who was stillborn on May 31, 2015.
During our trip to Jalapa, Guatemala, in April, 2016, God laid on our hearts to begin a clothing ministry. The intense poverty that we witnessed was devastating…children wearing the same clothes until they became rags and then tried to find another set elsewhere. We ship new or slightly worn clothes and shoes, all seasons. While there is a greater need for children’s clothes/shoes, we accept all sizes up thru an adult Large (the Guatemalan people are small).
This is a great way to become involved in missions right from your home!
There are several ways you can help:
- Donate towards the shipping cost of the boxes (it costs $300 to ship a LARGE box with no weight limit);
- Donate clothing (if you live in the Florence, AL area); or
- Your church or group can also fill boxes with clothes and shoes to be shipped directly from your locale. We can give you all the information you need!
Large clothes giveaways are done throughout the year, usually when we have a missions team with us. Most of the time, there is in excess of 500 people who stand in a long line to receive 3-5 articles of clothing per person.
Fortified Rice Program
In 2021 we were presented with the opportunity to start a fortified rice program in Jalapa, Guatemala. Through partnership with Orphan Grain Train ( ogt.org ) we receive 1-lb. packages of fortified rice containing vitamins and supplements to help with malnutrition. Our only cost is the shipping paperwork of a container from the United States to Guatemala which is approximately $2,500 per container. There is enough rice in each container to provide approximately 40,000 meals to a family of 4. We are currently feeding approximately 1,500 families each month in approximately 12 different villages/areas. This ministry continues to grow. Our vision is to become a distributor and to supply every needy village throughout the whole country of Guatemala with fortified rice.
Building Program
There is great need for housing in the poor villages in and around Jalapa. Many families live in shacks made of skids, plastic, or whatever else they can find to escape the rain and cold.
KCI has been building homes for the poorest of the poor. A KCI house measures approximately 18.4 ft. x 15.1 ft. It is made of a wood frame on a concrete slab with lamina (corrugated metal) sides and roof. The house also includes a stove made of block with a metal stove top and chimney. They cook with wood, so a chimney is very valuable.
Another problem in Jalapa, and especially in the mountain regions, is that water is scarce. Many people in the mountains only receive running water 1 day per week. The rest of the time they hike to a watering hole to fetch water. We have included with each house, pipes that line their roof to catch rain water that flows into a barrel. They can then use the water for cooking, cleaning, washing clothes, etc.
You can provide one of these houses for a needy family for only $2,000.00.
Water Filter Program
Another BIG need in the poor villages in and around Jalapa is clean water. In 2022 KCI partnered with Tears2water ( tears2water.org ) to provide Sawyer water filters to those in desperate need of clean water. We go into the most needy villages and train approximately 15 people at a time on how to use and clean the water filters. All that they need to provide is a 5-gallon bucket. We drill a hole in their buckets and instruct them on how to put the water filters together.
This program has been a great success in helping to provide clean water in the most desperate places.
Action Bible Program
In 2023, we partnered with “Action Bibles for Guatemala” to provide Action Bibles to public schools. The Action Bible has 66 biblically accurate stories written in comic book form, with full-color illustrated pages. Every 6th grade student receives an Action Bible to keep at school. Through the teacher’s instruction, they complete each lesson (story). This program is two-fold: (1) it helps the student by giving them reading material to practice their reading skills; and (2) at the same time, they are learning the Word of God. Once the student finishes all 66 lessons, they are given the Action Bible to take home with them. We currently have Action Bibles in 11 public schools in Jalapa, Guatemala.
