- John and Velvet Sommer continue to be involved in developing community outreach to Holt County, Missouri, through LIFE Center - a division of Missions Beyond the Beyond.
The Sommers continue to maintain relationships with Educational Centers in La Vega, Dominican Republic.
In 2010, Missions Beyond was founded and grew into a 501c3 Humanitarian effort focusing on education and community involvement. Missions Beyond serves Stateside and served in four countries:
Kenya, Venezuela, Haiti, and Dominican Republic.
Our focus is reaching out, offering a hand up. Hand outs come and go and often cause dependency, but a hand up establishes and continues self-sustainment. Quality endeavors versus quantity of endeavors.
As we daily view our Stateside community, we see that we have a unique opportunity here, where we live and work, to connect with those around us, offering a hand up in times of urgent and emergent need. We also view our World community and know that we have opportunities overseas to offer a hand up, connecting with nationals establishing relationships, offering encouragement, equipping outreach efforts, and moving towards sustainment.