Rod Wildman – A mission to empower families and disrupt the cycle of poverty

Rod Wildman, a Kosciusko County native and co-founder of 2nd Mile Missions, shares his story about building an organization that serves people in the Dominican Republic, to spread the love of Christ, and provide children and adults with educational resources, spiritual enrichment, and employment and business opportunities.

 

Show Notes

• Rod Wildman is a Kosciusko County native, and co-founder of 2nd Mile Missions.
• The organization began after Rod and his wife, Nancy took a trip to the Dominican Republic. The mission of the organization is “To spread the love of Christ by disrupting the cycle of poverty in the communities we serve. We will do this by providing children and adults educational resources, spiritual enrichment, and employment and business opportunities.”
• 2nd Mile Missions opened its first school in the Dominican in 2007, serving 60 children. Today, they serve more than 1,000 kids at school, and would like to build a new high school in the next couple of years.
• Vida Plena, also part of 2nd Mile Missions, was created to give women dignified employment. Support these women through the Vida Plena on-line store.
• Rod expressed his gratitude to the Kosciusko County community, sharing that around 90% of the sponsorships for students come from donors/sponsors in Kosciusko County.
• When asked what kind of transformation Rod has seen in the community throughout the years, he said The Village at Winona and Grace College have really grown and evolved in positive ways.
• Rod recommended checking out the local mountain bike trails, and Trailhouse Village Bicycles. Jody and Rod both noted that if you talk to Barry at Trailhouse, he will help connect you to people and places if you have a passion for the trails and biking.