R.A.M. - Rural America Ministries

A Vision for Rural Missions

For so long, rural communities were considered the heartland of America, the moral bedrock of our culture.  Those days are gone.  One example of the moral and spiritual decay that is rampant in these communities is drug abuse.  According to a report by the National Survey of Drug Use and Health, meth use was twice as prevalent among 18-25 year olds in rural communities as it was among their urban counterparts. But this is only one piece of the fractured mosaic.

Many churches in these communities are struggling to survive. They need hope; a vision for the future, beginning now.  How do they bridge the gap between the faith of their fathers and the doubts of their children? How do they respond to the burgeoning and diverse needs of their communities with the love of Christ that results in transformed lives?  R.A.M. has an answer.

R.A.M. stands for ”Rural America Ministries.” It is a ministry recently born out of the awareness of the increasing spiritual decline of rural America and the power of Christ’s love to reverse it.  Part of R.A.M.’s vision is to recruit Christian students from state and Christian universities and form short-term “mission teams” to go into these rural communities during their summer break.  We are presently recruiting a team(s) of 4-5 students who will work with the 4^th & College Church of Christ in Cordell, OK for one, and possibly two, 4 week missions during the summer of 2013. 

Join Our 2013 Rural Missions Team!

Jesus’ ministry was a combination of evangelism, discipleship and serving others. Your ministry in Cordell will model the same. Working alongside the ministers and members of the 4^th & College congregation, you will daily have the opportunity to experience ministry first-hand.  Every week we will have some type of outreach event or activity to meet kids, teenagers and young adults.  You will be involved in community service projects in town and have multiple opportunities to mentor and disciple younger Christians in the youth group. You will also be helping us with a VBS outreach to one of the smaller communities near Cordell. Depending on scheduling and your availability, you may additionally have an opportunity to serve as a counselor at one of two Christian camps.

While you will be actively ministering to others, you also will be ministered to.  You will have several opportunities to be personally discipled and mentored in individual and group settings.  You will participate in weekly discipleship groups that will explore the teaching of the Kingdom as revealed in the Gospels and how that applies to our lives as disciples of Jesus today.  We will also examine and apply the spiritual disciplines as outlined in Richard Foster’s, “Celebration of Discipline.”  If you are an Oklahoma Christian University student you will have the option of earning college credit for your participation in RAM.

At the heart of your involvement this summer will be the building of relationships with children, adolescents and other adults, and through those relationships, showing them the genuine love of Jesus.

We believe we are standing at the edge of a great opportunity. Rural America is ripe for the harvest. If you believe God is calling you to be a part of His work in rural America through R.A.M. then download an application and submit it today or contact us at: raministries@live.com with any questions.  We would love to talk with you further.

For His glory,

Jim Weaver

Executive Doulos

R.A.M.