For the past several years we have been doing some collections through envelopes, the box in the back of church, and the youth groups have collected and saved money for a mission in Haiti.
It is time we make this a reality and put people and faces to this mission.
                                           
We have joined up with the Parish Twinning Program of Americas in Nashville, TN to help get our feet off the ground. This program has been facilitating and linking parishes with US and Haiti since 1978 and has helped with over 300 twinning programs. A huge benefit to using this program is that our donations will go directly to the parish in Haiti. They will also assist with travel arrangements and someone from the program will travel with anyone from St Raphael's the first time to visit our sister parish in Haiti.
                                                                                      
Haiti is the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere.  80% of the population is below the poverty level, 50% of primary school children are not enrolled in school and 70% of the population is illiterate.

St Raphael's chose as our sister parish, St Michael the Archangel in Mouillage Fouquet  on the southern coast of Haiti. This parish also has a school, Ave Maria. On January 8 there were 85 children and 5 teachers that started the new semester. Father Evens, the pastor there, has expressed a great need for their educational program in all ways. As you can well imagine they have basically nothing. We think
we have "nothing", we have NO clue what "nothing" is.

So with Lent upon us, I would ask that each household put a bowl on your table and each day that you go to buy that fancy coffee for $2 or $5, or that donut or candy bar, or that drink, that you think about the kids in Haiti and take that dollar bill or two home and put in the bowl. If every household in our parish would commit to a $10 month donation, we would be on a roll to make a difference for a group of young children and their families.

Our mission here at St Raphael's, by establishing this sister relationship with St Michael's, is that it will show
us the face of poverty and suffering and help us experience the joy of giving and receiving. This will become a bridge between us and the parishioners and children of St Michael's where we can experience the flow of Gods love by caring, sharing, and praying for one another.
                                                   
 
Thanks for taking an interest in the Haiti project, if you have any questions or want more info contact me, Sue Sather, at 228-2606.