Mission Life’s Mike Perkins Talks to Bedford Living Magazine About Building Stronger Communities

Written by: Jenn O’Neill

(This article appeared in the July Edition of Bedford Living Magazine.)

Pouring into communities is something Bedford resident Mike Perkins likes to be a part of when he’s not traveling the world for work. Mike, his wife and two children moved to Bedford in 2019 from the Chicago area. Once they settled, Mike was looking for ways to get involved in the community.

Perkins has served on numerous church boards helping with ministry, organizational leadership, finance and global missions. It wasn’t long before he and his family landed at One Church in Bedford (formerly Manchester Christian Church). He joined the leadership and he went on a mission trip with the church to Rwanda. That’s where he met Angel Galvis, Founder and CEO of Mission Life, Inc. 

The New Hampshire based non profit organization was in its early stages of operation and the team visited Mission Life’s Child Hope Center in Kigali, Rwanda’s capital. Through child sponsorship, children in need in Rwanda and Colombia receive critical resources at their center such as a daily hot meal, school expenses taken care of, tutoring and spiritual guidance. Unlike other child sponsorship organizations, Mission Life connects sponsors with children through video messages to form impactful, lasting relationships.

Mike joins mission trip to Rwanda with Angel.

“Getting to know Angel as a person and witnessing his ability to work with the children, you could just see he was in his sweet spot. Angel is working to build stronger communities by working with the children who are the leaders of the next generation,” Perkins says.

Perkins is helping Angel build a stronger community at home too. He joined the organization’s Board of Directors as Vice Chairman during a time of tremendous growth for the organization. 

Perkins helped Mission Life create a program to organize and lead mission trips for local churches such as its partnership with One Church. The non-profit also launched a Service Learning project for local schools. In its pilot program, Mission Life is connecting students at Concord Christian Academy with children at its centers to gain perspective about challenges children face in a second world country. Then, students are given the opportunity to make a difference through a coffee fundraiser. The high quality, single origin coffee, Cafecito is grown in the same community as one of the centers and proceeds go back to support the children.

Perkins says, “It will be great to follow these children ten years from now. If we take the time to speak life into these children, what’s possible? Investing in the next generation is definitely a good thing to be a part of.”

Mike speaks to the church community in the village of Nasho.

Learn more about Mission Life at www.missionlifechange.org.