RHMA (Rural Home Missionary Assocation) Endowment Fund
This fund was started by Phil and Kelly Zobrist in February of 2025. The purpose of the Fund is to provide annual grants to RHMA, AKA Rural Home Missionary Association, a non-profit charitable organization currently located at 310 E Courtland St Morton, IL, to be used for whatever is needed most as determined by the RHMA staff and/or Board.
RHMA’s mission is two-fold: to plant and to strengthen churches in small-town America, typically in communities of 5,000 people or fewer. The organization aims to do this in a way that equips believers to serve the Lord effectively as He works through them to build His church.
RHMA does not seek to duplicate the many efforts already focused on planting churches in larger towns and cities. Instead, it focuses on establishing and developing churches in the diverse and often spiritually neglected landscape of non-urban America. From the deserts of Arizona to the forests of New York, from the southern drawl of Texas to conversations about the weather in rural Minnesota, and from white-collar communities in Connecticut to ranching towns in Nebraska—RHMA is there.
As a church-planting agency, RHMA fulfills its purpose by applying biblical principles and objectives when entering a community to establish a new church. Evangelism is of first importance, with the goal of producing new converts. These individuals are then discipled and trained to use their spiritual gifts, growing into effective servants within the Body of Christ. As this process unfolds, a congregation naturally forms, and the primary focus shifts to developing that congregation into a self-sustaining local church.
In addition to church planting, RHMA is committed to strengthening existing small-town churches that may benefit from outside support. Many of the same principles applied in church planting are also used in these revitalization efforts, which RHMA refers to as “re-starts.”
RHMA also supports small-town churches in other ways, including hosting conferences for small-town pastors, leading workshops and seminars, offering counsel to churches seeking guidance, providing helpful resources, and equipping new pastors for ministry in rural and small-town settings.
To make a tax-deductible donation to this endowment fund, you can:
Give online by clicking the button below.
Donate by check: Make it payable to Morton Community Foundation and mail it to 135 S First Ave, Morton, IL 61550. Please write “RHMA Endowment” on the memo line.
Make a tax-advantaged gift of stock…Visit our stock gifting page by clicking HERE.
Are you a Caterpillar Employee or Retiree?
The Caterpillar Foundation is proud to offer the year-round Matching Gifts Program to support their employees, U.S. retirees and board of directors in their contributions to worthy causes. Eligible Caterpillar participants may request an annual total maximum 1:1 match of $10,000 USD each calendar year to eligible charities to which contributions are tax deductible. The Morton Community Foundation is an eligible charity. So, if you are an eligible Caterpillar participant, you may submit any donations to this fund for an equivalent match, up to your total maximum of $10,000 per year. CLICK HERE to link to the Caterpillar Foundation’s Matching Gift website.