But God Ministries

About the Organization

Organization category

Public Charity

Country / State

United States / Mississippi

Mission

But God Ministries mission is to build sustainable communities around the world while sharing the love of Christ.

Programs or services

Education, Afterschool Programs, Workforce Development, Housing, At Risk Youth, Dental, Farming, Recreational Youth Sports, Christian Mentoring, Youth Mentoring, Summer Camps

Detailed programs

BGM operates using a model called SPHERES that stands for Spiritual, Physical (Medical/Dental), H2O, Education, Roofs (Housing), Economic Development (Jobs), and Soil (Access to healthy food). We have programs in all most all of these areas in Haiti and in the Mississippi Delta. Our goal is to lift up people in poverty by bringing them hope for a better future by investing in the areas that make their community more sustainable for themselves and their families. We serve people of all ages and backgrounds. Our programs include:
In Haiti:
* 2500 School children attend school daily in our 7 schools.
* We give 4+ food distributions out per year to hundreds of hungry people.
* We have 3 clinics in Haiti that see 10,000+ patients a year.
* We have built 350 houses in Haiti and continue to as funds allow.
* We have 2 churches in Haiti.
In Mississippi:
* We have an Afterschool Program for grades 3-6th serving 36 students.
* We have built an Economic Development Center that houses entrepreneurial businesses.
* We support a Farm Incubator with 7 farmers.
* We built a baseball field with the MLB and MLB Players Assc. and run recreational sports for 150 children.
* We have a free Dental clinic
* We have mentor and Bible study programs for Youth.
* We have a low income / wealth building housing program.
* We have a workforce development program for youth for housing and farming.
* We have a Hope Center that sleeps 40 people and is where our mission trip participants stay.

Target Audience

People living in poverty in Haiti of all ages, and all ages of African Americans living in poverty in the Mississippi Delta (Jonestown, MS)

Geographic Focus

United States, Haiti

Current projects

All the above programs are ongoing and current.

Organization goals

Our overarching goal is always to make our work sustainable. This has been accomplished in Haiti in every way except financially. We still support all the work financially.

In Mississippi, our major goals are:
1) Education - to expand our Afterschool program to neighboring elementary schools.
2) Housing - to complete 10 houses in Hope Crossing, the new neighborhood we are building in Jonestown, MS.
3) Recreational Sports - to continue to grow our program and reach more kids with sports.
4) Dental - to fund our denture program and to recruit more Dentist to volunteer.

Leadership

Stan Buckley - Founder and Executive Director
Dina Ray - Director of Development
Jana Parrish - Director of Accounting
Amber Bee - Community Director
Bennie Brown - Assistant Community Director
Billy Fields - Recreation Director

Strategic priorities

Education, Healthcare and Housing are the current top priorities for BGM in both Haiti and the Mississippi Delta.

Organizational capacity

We have strong organizational capacity.
In Haiti:
248 Haitian employees carry out our work across all areas of our SPHERES.

Mickie West - A long-time missionary who lived and worked in Haiti from 2012 to 2019 and now lives in Mississippi. She works daily with our Haitian staff to communicate on behalf of the BGM locally. Mickie also speaks Haitian Creole.


In Mississippi:
Stan Buckley - Our founder and Executive Director who oversees all the work in Haiti and in Mississippi.

Dina Ray - Director of Development - Raises money for all BGM programs.

Jana Parrish - Director of Accounting - Manages all donations and accounting functions.

Annette Hall - Mission Team Coordinator - Manages all mission teams going to Jonestown.

Jo Willett - Child Sponsorship Coordinator - Coordinates all child sponsorships for Haiti schools for 2500 students.

Amber Bee - Jonestown Community Director - Oversees all work done in Jonestown, MS.

Bennie Brown - Assistant Jonestown Community Director - Works with the Farm Incubator, Economic Development, and Housing program.

Linda McGrew - Community Worker - Works with teams visiting Jonestown, MS, and the Dental Clinic and Dentists.

Billy Fields - Recreation Director - Runs and manages Hope Fields and the Recreational sports programs for kids.

Mary Kimmons - Director of Afterschool Program - works with the Jonestown Elementary School and all the teachers we employ part-time for our Afterschool Program.

4 part-time teachers - teachers employed by Jonestown Elementary working in our Afterschool Program

Funding Needs

Grant categories you're seeking

Aging and Seniors, Arts and Culture, BIPOC, Capital Funding, Children, Community and Economic Development, Community Services, Education, Elementary Education, Entrepreneurs and Startups, Faith Based, Farming and Agriculture, Health and Medical, Housing, International, Literacy and Libraries, Nutrition and Food, Operating Support, Sports and Recreation, Students, Workforce, Youth and At-Risk Youth

Funding needs

Our biggest funding needs in Haiti are:
1) Education - this changes lives forever, but we always have more students than we have sponsorships to cover.
2) Medical - Money to pay our Haitian Medical staff and money for medication.
In Mississippi:
1) Education - It is universally life changing but teacher salaries is the biggest part of our expense. Many funders want to fund "education" but no salaries. We need funding for all education expenses including salaries.
2) Housing - We are building a new neighborhood with 10 new houses. Our model brings the cost down through donated goods and labor. It is difficult for low-income individuals to get a construction loan so having a little money we can use to put into a house that we will get back when the next loan comes through and we can use it for the next house is important.
Recreational Sports - Money for uniforms and equipment, and utilities to run the field.
Dental - Money for dentures.

Impact & Recognition

Outcomes and impact

To date in Haiti, BGM has:
• 2500 children a day attending one of our seven schools, who are fed and educated
• 2000 children a year sponsored in school by BGM donors
• Built 350 houses.
• 258 Haitians employed in our schools, medical clinics, and Hope Center.
• Seen over 15,000 patients a year in one of our 3 clinics.
• 2 communities – Galette Chambon and Thoman, Haiti
• 2 Hope Centers
• 2 churches
• Professional School (Vo-Tech) with over 100 students
• Sent adult Haitians to medical school, nursing school, and law school
• Distributed food to thousands of hungry Haitians

To date, in Mississippi, BGM has:·
• Hosted 450+ people a year on mission trips to the Mississippi Delta
• Built a “Hope Center” with dorm space for 40 short-term mission teams
• Opened a free dental clinic in 2018 in Jonestown, MS.
• Built an Economic Center in Jonestown, MS for local incubator businesses.
• Built first home in our “wealth building” program with plans to build a new neighborhood of 10more affordable houses.
• Launched I.G.N.I.T.E. a new Youth Mentoring Program.
• Launched Farm Incubator, farming 10 acres of land with 7 farmers.
• Opened a full-service free medical clinic in partnership with Medical Analysis in Jonestown.

Success stories

We have many success stories but the biggest one in the last year or to was building a Recreational Baseball and Softball complex called "Hope Fields" in Jonestown, MS in partnership with the Major League Baseball and Major League Baseball Players Association (MLB-MLBPA). This $3,600,000 was supported by a $1,000,000 grant from the MLB-MLBPA and BGM raised the rest through major gifts and additional grants. This field is in the most unlikely of places and was built to try and provide a pipeline into the sport of Baseball and softball for African American children living in poverty.

Organization achievements

We are not an organization that seeks recognitition or awards for our work, but rather we seek funding for the work that we do. We have accomplished much in the work God has called us to do, which is evident in this document, however I do not have any "awards" to report. If there is any achievement that might be viewed as a reward that the public would be interested in, it would be the $1,000,000 award we received from Major League Baseball and the Major League Baseball Players Association (MLB-MLBPA) to support the building of our Hope Field Complex in Jonestown, MS. We raised the remaining $2,600,000, which is more than our annual budget to build the field. It is the only one of its kind in the state of Mississippi.
In addition, BGM has a Platinum Seal of approval on Candid's Guidestar.

Major funders

87% Individuals and Groups
10% Grants
3% Mission Team Fees

Partnerships & Collaborations

BGM has many partnerships. We partner with churches all over the country, Universities and private businesses. We have specific partnerships with the Auburn University School of Building and Construction, Coahoma County College, Ole Miss Delta Psi Fraternity, Coahoma County School District, Partnership for a Healthier America, Brasfield and Gorrie (specifically for our Hope Fields) and several others. Because individuals and groups come on mission trips to Jonestown, so come annually and have done work with us for many years.

Sustainability, dissemination & replicability

Our SPHERES model (Spiritual, Physical (Medical / Dental), H2O, Education, Roofs (Housing), Economic Development (Jobs) and Soil (Access to Healthy Food) is designed to be sustainable. This model has proven itself Sustainable within the first 8 years of our work (2011-2019) when we were suddenly no longer able to take mission teams to Haiti due to the civil unrest. Our model was implemented in Jonestown, MS in 2017. We are seeing parts of it become sustainable now. Our financial support is still needed in Haiti and we suspect that some level of funding my always be needed in Mississippi as well, but the work and the partners involved are becoming more independent. Our goal is to continue towards sustainability.

Internal checks & balances to prevent fraud

1) We have a board of 8 that must approve any major decisions and all budgets.
2) We have to have dual signatures of a board member and the Executive Director for checks over $2000.
3) Monthly review with the Executive Director and Director of Accounting for the previous months expenditures.
4) We have an Annual Audit done every year by an outside accounting firm.
5) The Director of Accounting who cuts checks cannot sign checks.

Get Involved

How can volunteers get involved?

We work with volunteers in many capacities and are always interested in partnering with individuals and organizations that can bring value or resources to our work in Haiti or the Mississippi Delta. Just call us, or email us. Many organizations or individuals also book mission trips with us.

How can donors support your mission?

By giving. Because we do so many different things at once to support sustainable communities in Haiti and the Mississippi Delta where we work, general gifts are the best kind of support we can have. General gifts make it possible for us to meet whatever need comes up in any area of our SPHERES work.

Do you accept partnerships?

Yes, if it makes sense and brings value to our work.

Are you seeking board members?

Not at this time, but if you're interested, let us know.

Website & Social Media