Hands & Feet Ministries (H&FM) is a non-profit ministry that was established for the purpose of taking teams of people to locations of need to share the love of Christ, relieve the burdens of the needy and challenge Americans to stretch themselves beyond their normal comfort zone while experiencing the power of God through their service.
Although not exclusively, much of the focus of H&FM has been directed towards ministry related to the deaf. Unlike the United States, many developing countries do not seek to accommodate the needs of their disabled citizens. As a result, many of them live in substandard conditions without the ability to create sustainable income. Our efforts have focused on developing schools where the deaf can live within a community, learn a language and acquire occupational skills for the future. We partner with existing ministries in support of their ongoing efforts.
Our partnerships with these ministries are established in three important areas. The first is through construction. Our teams raise funds not only to travel to the country, but also to provide the much needed material for construction. We work with on-site staff to continue ongoing efforts to build classroom, dormitory and vocational facilities.
Our second priority is to provide spiritual teaching and guidance. We accomplish this through programs and presentations that include songs, drama, gospel illusions and lessons. These efforts enroll most of the team members which allows each of us as a group to be involved in some way. These ministry times have a strong emphasis on sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ and challenging the students to mature in Christian conduct and behavior.
In addition, we also create intentional time for relationship building. We do this with crafts, organized games and activities, one-on-one time and small group interaction. If working at a deaf school, each team member is encouraged to learn some basic sign language so that they can interact on some level with the children and staff. In non-deaf ministry situations translators are used. These efforts have proven to forge long lasting relationships and friendships.
To date, our teams have ministered in schools and orphanages and have conducted medical missions in the following countries: Guatemala, Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Liberia, Malawi & Burundi, Africa and Palawan, Philippines.
Additionally, H&FM has deployed some inter-city mission teams to work with the homeless in the United States. These teams were designed to reach out to poverty stricken areas. The focus of these trips is to increase awareness, impact the needy, and bring the gospel to those in the affected areas.
H&FM has a proven track record of successful mission trips. After returning to the Kingston, Jamaica campus of the Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf for five consecutive years we were able to see dorms, classrooms and water storage tanks established for the ongoing needs of the school.
In Mexico, at the International Christian Center for the Deaf, a much needed house was built over a three year period for an onsite missionary family to live and run the school, as well the initial construction of a two story multi-purpose facility.
For two consecutive years H&FM has taken teams to the island of Palawan in the Philippines for more than 20 days each time. Each year a dormitory was constructed to house deaf children. In both situations the current facilities were not only insufficient in size, but in extreme disrepair and had been condemned by government agencies, putting the school in danger of losing its license.
