Red Bird Mission

Red Bird Mission was founded in 1921 in the southeastern corner of Kentucky to provide education and Christian evangelism ministries to residents of the area. Since its early days Red Bird Mission has worked to meet the health care needs of people in the Red Bird River Valley. Soon after teachers came, nurses and doctors arrived to begin medical work in 1922. When Evangelical United Brethren Churches and the Methodist Churches united in 1968, the Red Bird Missionary Conference was formed. In 1975 Red Bird Hospital, now called Red Bird Clinic, Inc., became the 3rd agency of the Red Bird Missionary Conference. In 1988 the Red Bird School became a Christian mission school funded by Red Bird Mission and is fully accredited by SACS and the United Methodist Church. Community outreach ministries have grown to become a significant part of the overall ministries in recent years. The clothing and craft ministries as well as ministries to the elderly and families has flourished since the 1990s. The DeWall Senior Citizens Center began operations in 1991 with the Red Bird Elderly Housing apartments opening in 1996.

There are 3 counties in Kentucky involved in Red Bird: Bell County, Clay County, and Leslie County. The per capita income is $9,119, meaning 39.7% of the people live below poverty level. The problems they face include quality of education, access to health care, drug abuse, lack of economic opportunity, and poor resources. The ministries of Red Bird Mission are education, community outreach, health & wellness, economic development, and community housing improvement.

Our education, health, and community outreach ministries continue to address the needs of the community today. The work camp is a year-round work opportunity for volunteers in mission and service-minded groups. The Work Camp program has grown to over 2500 participants annually. Work Camp strives to provide home repair for low-income community residents and maintenance for Mission buildings and grounds. Work projects include roof replacement, small room additions, painting, building porches or ramps, and grounds keeping. Light duty work includes cutting soup label UPCs, office work, craft and community store helpers, and recycling. A single fee covers the cost of each person's lodging, meals, and materials used. Evenings are spent in Christian fellowship and learning about the diverse ministries of Red Bird Mission. For folks who want to help but are unable to attend Work Camp, sponsors are always welcome to help someone attend a Work Camp. There are also specific needs to be met for the school, community store, housing improvement, and medical clinic which we try to furnish and transport with Work Camp opportunities. Please see the list attached for these specific needs.

Red Bird Work Camp will be May 1-7, 2011! We hope you will consider attending the Work Camp, help sponsor someone to go, or help provide items for the needs list. If you are interested in attending, please call Jim Ferrel @ 835-9203. Deadline for registering is March 1, 2011.

Visit the web site at www.rbmission.org. The Red Bird Mission Craft Store web site is http://crafts.rbmission.org.

NEEDS LIST FOR RED BIRD.pdf (82.00 kb)

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