EDMOND — Ministry name change reflects vision
Jimmy Hodges Ministries International, an Oklahoma based-missions ministry, has been reaching the people of Africa and India since 1986.
Supporting national missionaries is the pivotal difference between the way traditional missionary work is done and the way the ministry has approached the same work.
Jimmy Hodges founded the ministry with a God-given vision of supporting, training and equipping local pastors and missionaries to reach their own people. In 1996, the ministry added a ministry to orphans which provides placement of orphans within local families and provides support to the family for the child. This provides food, clothing, shelter and education while allowing the child to grow up in a family environment.
Supporters of the ministry quickly caught the simplicity of the vision and have supported the ministry faithfully for over 20 years. With that support, the ministry has grown to its current capacity of 833 national missionaries and more than 300 orphans.
National missionaries and pastors are offered training during leadership development institutes provided by reaching souls in their native countries. Teams of teachers, evangelists and volunteers provide a week-long, intensive training boot camp for the missionaries, pastors, wives and families. National missionaries are equipped with a bicycle, a Peavey sound system and a monthly stipend to spread the Word of God to the people of their nation.
Anticipating growth in all areas of the ministry has facilitated the need for a new name. Looking forward to growth is exactly the reason for moving forward as Reaching Souls International.
“The new name more fully defines who we are as an organization and what we do,” said Dustin Manis, CEO at Reaching Souls International. “Jimmy Hodges, who is still president emeritus and a vital part of the ministry, sees the value in moving the vision forward by allowing for growth beyond him. He fully supports the change of (the) name to Reaching Souls International because it reflects what he has spent his lifetime focused toward achieving, reaching souls for Christ.
President Ben Manis said, “We believe as our organization continues to grow, this name will represent us well in the future of the ministry. The missionaries we support have no language barriers to overcome, no social etiquette to learn, no visas to worry with, no fear of being kicked out of their country. It just makes sense.”
For more information visit www.reachingsoulsinternational.org or call 917-7000.
Church sponsors sock hop workout
An Edmond church is combining two American traditions — working out and a good old-fashioned sock hop.
Local residents have a chance to join in a fun workout by dancing the night away at the New Covenant United Methodist Church Sock Hop. Break out your poodle skirts, leather jackets and blue jeans as you boogie down to the music of the 1950s. Activities will include 50s classics, a visit from Elvis, vintage snacks and ice cold beverages presented in a prom like setting.
You can twist and shout from 7-9 p.m. Saturday in the gym at the New Covenant United Methodist Church, 2700 South Boulevard. Admission cost is $5 for adults. The church is also collecting “socks” for Edmond grade school students.
For more information about the sock hop and other church offerings, visit www.ncovenant.org.
Metro church offers Lenten vocal concert
A concert of vocal music appropriate for Lent will be presented by Jessica Diana Salley, soprano, and Sallie Cavin, piano, at 3 p.m. March 21, in the sanctuary of Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, 2717 W. Hefner Road in Oklahoma City.
Compositions by Charles Gounod, Anton Dvorak and John Jacob Niles, and spirituals arranged by Moses Hogan will be included in the program.
The concert is free and open to the public.
Salley is a graduate of the Wanda L. Bass School of Music at Oklahoma City University, where she studied with Professor Florence Birdwell.
She has performed in opera and music theater productions.
She received third place in the Metropolitan Opera National Council 2009 Midwest Auditions after having won the Tulsa District Competition.
She was selected as the first recipient of the Stephen Dickson Award and was named a finalist in the Naftzger Young Artist 2008 Auditions.
Recently she was a finalist in Cimarron Circuit Opera Company’s new annual competition.
