St Paul's Episcopal Church: Haiti Mission

Haiti Mission

Collaborative Ministry Launched in Bondeau, Haiti

Four representatives from St Paul's journeyed with 12 other Palm Beach County residents to Bondeau, Haiti from July 19 - July 23.

St Paul's Vestry member Mike Armstrong; St Paul's member Nicole Fontes; Paul's Place staff member Flore Die and Fr Chip Stokes journeyed to Bondeau, Haiti, a town located three hours southwest of Port au Prince. They represented St Paul's in a collaborative effort begun by St Gregory's Episcopal Church in Boca Raton, to reach out to this poverty-stricken community in one of the poorest nations in the world. Other participants in the collaboration include Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach and Toussaint L'Overture High School in Delray Beach.

These organizations are teaming together to reach out to St Marie Madeleine Church in Bondeau.  St Marie Madeleine is a 'station' or mission of St Mark's Church in Jeannette, Haiti and is under the supervision of Fr Amirold Lazar and the Diocese of Haiti.

In 2007, St Gregory's raised $50,000 to build a school in Bondeau, a rural town of about 2,000 people.  150 students attend the school and St Gregory's contributes $20,000 annually to support salaries for administration and teachers.

Earlier this year, Deacon Anita Thorstad and Fr Andrew Sherman, both of St Gregory's, expressed an interest in having St Pauls partner with them in the mission to Bondeau.  They felt that the two churches working together could make a greater impact in the community. Subsequently, Holy Spirit Episcopal Church in West Palm Beach and the administration of Toussaint L'Overture High School for Social Justice also expressed interest in a joint effort.  Toussaint L'Overture is a charter school in Delray Beach founded by Major Joseph Bernadel, a Delray Beach resident and activist for the Haitian Community and Dr Diane Allerdyce, principal of the school.  A sizable part of the student population of Toussaint L'Overture is of Haitian descent.

The mission group spent considerable time with Fr Lazard who shared with the group his understanding of the needs of the community and also his vision and hopes for the Bondeau mission.  The group also spent time with members of the church and local residents of Bondeau who were candid in expressing their needs and frustrations, most of which centered on not having enough jobs or food. An immediate and primary goal is to strengthen a program for feeding the students and staff of St Marie Madeleine School.

A meeting is being planned in the near future so that those who journeyed to Haiti and others who are interested in the project, can begin to formulate a plan and discuss next steps to be taken in order to implement it.