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All About Serving

These two locals share their passion to help those near and far

Have you ever had a conversation with someone and could feel their excitement and passion in every word? That’s exactly the feeling you get when talking with Kirk and Edie Kinson about their calling to minister to others. Their love for the Lord and for impacting people with His love shines through in every story, every memory. Ministry is their lifestyle, and their enthusiasm is contagious.

“Ministry has always been a big part of my life and of every fiber of my being. I can’t imagine doing life without it,” says Edie. “People think of ministry as just standing behind a pulpit. That is part of it, but our ministry has always been outside the four walls of the church.”

In 2015, Kirk and Edie expanded their calling to help others by starting Freedom Ministries, a nonprofit outreach they founded through The Missionary Church International. Instead of being a starting point for Kirk and Edie, Freedom Ministries is a culmination of years of ministry that now allows them to have a greater impact in the community and even around the world.

“We ministered to people for years through a Bible study we had at our house,” explains Edie. “It grew until we had about 25 people.” Those numbers continued to grow until they needed a larger meeting space and eventually moved the Bible study to their business, All About Trucks and Autos.

“We’ve had a consistent weekly men’s meeting for over 14 years,” adds Kirk. “We have 17 different churches represented, and I can safely say that we’ve had hundreds of men come through it, and they always knew it was a safe place for them to return. It’s been incredible.”

For Kirk and Edie, ministering to people reaches beyond a weekly Bible study. “You have to go back to the [Bible] where Paul was saying in Ephesians that we should live a life worthy of our calling,” says Edie. “That is what Kirk and I try to do. We want to help people – that is just who we are. It’s a natural part of us to help people who are in need.”

Through their ministry, Kirk and Edie met Michael J. Stephens, a man who also has a heart for helping others. “Michael has, with his own hands, built a school in Tanzania, Africa,” says Kirk. Michael’s current vision encompasses building a forty-bed dormitory at Destino del Res, an orphanage in Honduras run by Rhonda Jackson, author of “Because I Said Yes.”

“The airport is about two hours away from the orphanage,” explains Kirk. “Right now, there’s really no where to stay on the property. Any missionaries who want to come help out have to stay quite a ways off. This will give people who want to come in for a one or two-week mission trip a place to stay while they are doing mission work. It will house orphans when needed.”

“Because he helps so many people and has such a heart for missions,” says Kirk, “we’re getting behind Michael in raising money for this dormitory.”

The fundraising structure is simple. The total cost of building the dormitory is $40,000. Since it’s a forty-bed facility, individuals, businesses, churches and small groups can sponsor a bed through a donation of $1,000. In honor of the donation, a plaque will be placed on each bed bearing the names of the sponsors.

“A lot of people think, ‘I don’t want my name on a plaque,’ but the thing is, it’s not for them,” says Kirk. “For the missionaries who are staying at this dormitory while serving, and for the orphans who stay there because they may not have a place to sleep, when they look up and see a name, it makes it more personal - to know that this person cared enough to do that.”

Not only will the building of the dormitory provide a physical resting place for orphans and missionaries, it will also provide jobs and economic stimulation for the local Honduran economy.

“It’s part of the mission that it’s not about us going down and doing the work,” says Kirk. “What we want to do is to give people jobs. The Honduran people are awesome at brick laying, block laying, cement and stucco work.” With those local skills in mind, the building design is being altered to something more conducive to the native workforce. “We’ve basically shifted a lot of what we were going to do,” says Kirk. “We were going to do wood beams, but we’ve got an engineer and architect trying to decide how we can do concrete pillars instead.”

The dormitory project, which is on track to be completed in the next six months, broke ground in November with the laying of the building’s foundation. Kirk, Edie, and all those involved with the project covet your prayers and partnership in completing this international building mission.

For more information on Freedom Ministries and how you can be involved with the Destino del Res Honduran dormitory project, email FreedomMinistries72@gmail.com

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