REAL LOVE MINISTRY (RLM)

RLM is a non-profit, voluntary and charitable organization that works closely with the marginalized community, such as the illiterate, the mentally challenged, the deaf, people with AIDS (PwA) and the homosexual community.

The ultimate goal of RLM is to bring ‘real love’ or unconditional love into the lives of others. Love is real IF love is the element that motivates an individual into doing something good for someone else. In other words … it is always about WHY we do it - more than WHAT we do.

The Headquarters is at ‘RLM Management’, H Eredia Road, Portuguese Settlement, 75050 Melaka, Malaysia.

FOUNDERS OF RLM
The Founders and Directors of RLM are Ps Edmund and Ps Amanda Smith.

They met while both were reaching out to the marginalized community under The Salvation Army during the late 1980s. In 1997, they moved to Singapore and joined CHOICES - a ministry that reaches out to the homosexual community. When Ps Edmund and Ps Amanda left CHOICES in 1997, they continued to reach out to their gay and lesbian friends – and thus, the birth of RLM in 1999.

Ps Edmund has a ‘unique hands-on’ experience in such a community – he himself lived a homosexual lifestyle from 1983 until 1994 when he decided to walk away from it. He and Ps Amanda were married in 1996 and today, they have two beautiful children – Angelica Eshwarie and Ethan Ashwin Smith.

Other than being a Community Worker, Ps Edmund is also a professional performing and recording artiste. He is known as the ‘Artiste with a Difference’.

RLM undertakes three aspects, one of which is the RLM Society. The activities of the Society are strictly for Members only encompassing:

• Training Programmes to equip Members with knowledge and expertise in various activities;
• Support Groups to meet challenges;
• Annual Retreats to refresh and review purposes;
• Annual Mission Trip to spearhead the reality of helping others;
• Sign Language classes (‘Silent Voice’) for those committed to communicating and interacting with the hearing impaired.

• Befrienders – training programmes are run for individuals who commit to be trained as Befrienders to the Deaf (Hearing Impaired), the homosexual community, etc.
• Befriendees – individuals who choose to receive help and counseling

• The Member approves the existence of the society.
• The supports (morally and financially) the Society.
• When the Member is willing, he/she will be trained into becoming a Befriender to a specific community which needs help. This is optional.
• When a Member is serious about receiving help, a qualified Befriender will be introduced to the Member to journey alongside the Befriendee the Member who commits to receive help.
• The Member will be updated with all that is happening in the Society by its Member Coordinator - mainly through an interactive Group-email known as the ‘Member Groupmail’.
• The Member can participate in all Society programmes which are strictly for Members of the RLM Society …
  1. Training programmes
  2. Support groups
  3. Annual Retreat
  4. Annual Mission Trip
  5. Sign Language Classes (‘Silent Voice’)
  6. RLM Library
  7. Other activities which the Society will be involved with from time to time

RLM's Distinct

• There isn’t any organization in Melaka at this point of time, which is reaching out to the types of marginalized groups that we are called to reach out to; which are the Homosexual & the Deaf. Nevertheless, we are open to befriending any type of socially marginalized groups.
  
  
• Above all, we are called to build up Befrienders for the Marginalized. That is our primary calling! This is in fact, our distinct. Most Community Services are called to reach out to the Community. But we on the other hand, are called to train, motivate and give opportunity to regular individuals into becoming Befrienders of the Marginalized. We clearly see the need to multiply Care Givers in Malaysia. RLM goes all out to do this. We realize the need for more individuals to rise up so to make a difference in the lives of the marginalized community around them. We work with housewives, students, professionals and anyone who is looking for an opportunity to be a Befriender that changes lives. So instead of just a few us reaching out to the Marginalized Community, today we have many sincere and qualified RLM Befrienders not just in Melaka but in all over Malaysia who is touching the lives of the Marginalized. We are in the “business” of making BEFRIENDERS!  
  
  
• Many of our Befrienders today are also our ex-Befriendees. It goes back to our primary call – that is making people Befrienders… even with those who once use to be Befriendees.