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The Least of These began in the heart of Kathy and Tyler Kangas nearly eight years ago. Kathy was recovering from a traumatic period that shook every area of her life: spiritual, marital, physical, and psychological. She recalls, “I had experienced complete and utter brokenness.” As part of her healing process, Kathy began reexamining her relationship with God, searching for answers regarding her faith, organized religion, and more. “To some extent, I was disillusioned,” Kathy recalls. “Then I discovered Revolution in World Missions by K.P. Yohannan, which challenges its readers to get a heart for those lost to Christ and to make lifestyle changes to reach them. I was convicted to rededicate my life to the Lord, and this time, it was to be an ‘at-all-cost’ relationship.” Shortly after this rededication, the Lord brought Kathy to James 1:26-27: If anyone among you thinks he is religious, and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his own heart, this one’s religion is useless. Pure and undefiled religion before God and the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their trouble, and to keep oneself unspotted from the world. “These verses became my religious paradigm,” Kathy says, “and I began searching the television, the Internet, and print materials to find people or needs that needed to be met." Then came the next hurdle, which was money. The Kangases were living on a farm and Tyler was running his own painting contracting company. There just wasn’t enough money to help in all the areas they wanted to, so Kathy had to be creative. “First I took a summer job to earn money for those needs that had to have money. For the other things I looked to the talents God had given me. I didn’t see the fact that we had limited funds as a roadblock but rather as a challenge to find creative ways to give.” As she began her new ministry, Kathy came up with a name for herself—The Homebound Missionary. Remembering back to that time, Kathy muses, “I never imagined that one day I would be doing missions in another country.” Over the next five years, The Homebound Missionary impacted several ministries and organizations. One of the first projects came from an article in Time Magazine entitled “Rwandan Sorrow” by Karl Taro Greenfield. The article detailed the horrific infant and maternal mortality rate in Rwanda. Kathy remembers, “As a mother, as well as a former childbirth educator, the article broke my heart. I had to do something to help.” The article had just such an opportunity. For $8 a reader could donate a birth kit, which would provide clean cloths, umbilical strings, razor blades, soap, and other necessities for a birth. “I didn’t have a lot of money to send for these kits, but I did have a lot of resources,” says Kathy. So she wrote a letter to every midwife, midwifery group, childbirth educator, LeLeche group, childbirth publication, and parenting magazine she knew, explaining the critical need in Rwanda and enclosed a copy of the article. “I asked the recipients to help as they were able and to pass the information along to anyone else who might be able to assist. Other projects followed, “Christian Freedom International, an organization that assists the persecuted Karen and Karenni in Burma and Thailand, was heavy on my heart,” says Kathy. CFI uses various means to assist these lovely people—self-help programs that create a market for their handcrafted items, medical care provided by paramedics who hike into the jungle, and political lobbying on their behalf. These people live under extreme persecution for their Christian faith. After receiving their catalog, Kathy held a home-party to give family and friends an opportunity to view and purchase craft items, selling more than $2,000 worth. The party also raised numerous donations to buy medic packs for the CFI medics. The next project was closer to home. Family members Bruce and Wendy DeVries were missionaries to Venezuela with Mission Aviation Fellowship and needed some extra funds for their field support. “MAF was doing a fundraiser called A Coffee Break,” Kathy explains. “The idea was to invite your friends over for coffee to raise money for MAF. Since Bruce and his family were in the area, I decided to advertise my coffee break to all my homeschooling friends and their children as a, ‘Meet the Missionary Day.’ Everyone would have the opportunity to get ‘up close and personal’ with a missionary pilot and his family. The children came prepared with questions, and everyone had a blast. We were able to raise $500.” The Kangases burden for Haiti developed through the process of adopting their Haitian daughter, Magnalie. “I found Magnalie through an adoption web site called ‘Precious in His Sight.’ It took years to adopt Magnalie, and we visited Haiti many times.” Kathy recalls. “It started with me bringing donations to the orphanage where Magnalie was living. I offered to help, and they would e-mail me a list of their biggest needs. My first project was crib sheets. All the mattresses at the orphanage were crib size. My Grandmother was my co-conspirator, as she was actually the talented shopper. I would pick her up and out we would go on our mission. The cheapest I could find crib sheets was $6.99, but by the end of the day, we had purchased 100 for $2.00 each (and a name brand to boot). My Gram helped me on several other projects, with the same awesome results.” Then a new and different opportunity arose for the Homebound Missionary, one which would later evolve into The Least of These. It came through a Haitian gentleman by the name of Obenson. “Tyler and I were returning to the hotel after visiting Magnalie, when we met a man passing out a letter,” explains Kathy. “The letter described his organization, ‘Ministry Taking Care of Children,’ which sought to give Haitian children a better life through food, education, faith, and adoption. We took his letter home with us and prayed for God’s direction.” Over the next months, Kathy and Tyler prayed about this opportunity with a willing heart. And on their next trip to Haiti in December 2003, they traveled with Obenson to Carrefour, a section of Port-au-Prince, to meet some of the children he was helping. “Our initial plan was to start a sponsorship program and to get or keep children in school,” says Kathy. “But we soon realized that helping the children was a short-term solution. We wanted healing for the families, which we believed could only be accomplished by creating ways for the parents to support their children.” As the Kangases explored ideas on how to do this, it became clear that their small steps of faith to help others through the Homebound Missionary were becoming a much larger project. Tyler explains, “Once we were at this crossroads, we decided it was time to incorporate and file for non-profit status. Our small ministry had grown to the point that it now needed oversight, a board of directors, and a financial plan. And non-profit status would allow us to benefit our contributors by giving them the ability to deduct their donations from their taxes. It would also require us to be accountable in an established manner.” In August 2004, the Homebound Missionary officially became The Least of These, Inc. “Tyler thought of the name,” says Kathy. “He kept remembering the children in Carrefour, and he couldn’t shake the thought that they were ‘the least’ that Jesus talked about in Matthew 25:40. Our new Board loved the name. And now each time we visit Haiti, the Lord helps us to clarify and refine His plan for us there.” Today The Least of These, helps Haitian orphanages and families with donations of clothes, shoes, school supplies, health and hygiene items, and diapers, as well as sends children to school. They have created WORK Haiti, a program that creates work opportunities for Haitian men and women to earn money through their crafts and talents. Other ministries are on the drawing board, waiting for the Lord’s leading to implement. “Tyler and I are thankful for the opportunities the Lord has placed in front of us. We know we cannot change the world, but we can make a difference for Christ one person at a time. Mother Theresa once said, ‘We can do no great things, only small things with great love.’ Our prayer is that Christ’s love will be ever present in everything we do.” |
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