News From Bouzy

A 60 Day Campaign

Thank you for your outpouring of concern & prayers for our brothers & sisters in Bouzy, Haiti.  The collapse of St Catherine's Church after the latest severe storm is a devastating shock to our Haitian friends and to their entire community.  (For details on the collapse of the church see Church Collapse story on sjtw.net)  Our brothers and sisters urgently need our help.  Desperately poor, they depend on us. 

We have commissioned an engineering study for rebuilding St Catherine's Church.  Preliminary plans will be available soon.  We will study them with St Catherine's pastor, advise, and jointly approve plans before they begin construction.  In the meantime, we ask for your help in raising funds that would enable them to begin rebuilding, once plans are approved.  This is a 60 day campaign to rebuild St Catherine's Church.     All funds donated to our Haiti sister parish ministry from now through our regular Haiti second collection in April will be dedicated to rebuilding their church, unless donors designate otherwise.  While their church fundraising and rebuilding process will likely take quite some time, after Easter our undesignated Haiti contributions will once again be directed to sustain our core sister parish programs of education, clean water & health.   We will keep you informed as church plans and fundraising proceed.   

Questions, and ideas for Haiti church fundraising, are appreciated.  Contact Deacon Kevin or any member of our Haiti Core Committee.

Your special gift now brings new hope to our devastated Haiti brothers and sisters.  Please help.  Thank you!  And thank you for your consistent generosity toward our brothers and sisters in Haiti these past 10 years. Our Haitian friends are so grateful to you.   You can donate through all  regular SJTW channels, by check, online or "text to give."  Please designate "Haiti church" on your gift.


-The Haiti Core Committee 

of St Joseph the Worker

Donations needed for the April Mission Trip to visit our sister parish in Bouzy, Haiti. You are making a difference each time we send a group of parishioners. We see the needs and the struggles they face. We bring medications and supplies which are used up before we are able to return and the shelves at the Dispensary (Clinic) are again empty. Please help us to continue to make a difference in April when a group of 9 will again be making the journey. We are bringing a whopping 16 pieces of luggage that we need filled! Thank you!

Donations can be placed in the bins by the Haiti display boards in St. Joseph’s Hall by March 20.

• Anti-fungal creams (esp. Miconazole) • Adult Tylenol (regular strength), and Ibuprofen • Pediatric chewable tablets of Acetaminophen (Tylenol) • Infant Tylenol liquid • Anti-acids (Tums, Zantac)

*Enteric-coated Aspirin (81 mg) tablets • Children’s Vitamin tablets (No gummies please) • Adult Multivitamin tablets • Bacitracin or Neosporin (antibiotic) ointment

*Hydrocortisone ointment • Saline (artificial tears) Eye drops • Reading glasses

Thank you for the outpouring of prayers and support for our brothers and sisters in Bouzy after the devastating news their church collapse. To fill you in; their church is the center of their universe. When they are short on food to eat for the day, low on clean water, little access to health care and all of the daily crisis they have, one thing was constant – their beloved church where they pray and give thanks to God for all they have. Since this structure is no longer, we are devasted for our Haitian family. Although for those that have been in that peaceful church, it is not a huge surprise since the 2010 earthquake had severely damaged it. Through the years it became weaker and weaker, with the heavy rain last week too much for it to bare. Unfortunately, insurance is not an option in a country like Haiti since paying for essential needs to survive is a challenge, and already being in the extreme poverty class, this is crushing.

We are working with Fr. Claude and the people of St. Catherine’s to develop a plan to meet their immediate and long term needs.

There are options for you to assist. We ask that you continue to offer your prayers for everyone in Bouzy during this exceptionally difficult time. Also, we gratefully accept donations of any amount to the Haiti Church Fund. You can write a check to St. Joe’s with Haiti Church in the Memo, you can also Text to Give at 7634029008 with "100 Haiti church" (or whatever incremental amount) if electronic giving is easier. All prayers and financial support are greatly appreciated.

We are in our tenth year of partnering with our sister parish, St Catherine's in Bouzy Haiti. We are grateful for the blessing that our sister parish is to us.  Recently Haiti Core Committee leaders Lori & Dave Henke attended an archdiocesan morning of reflection on parish partnerships.  Here is their report:
The Archdiocesan Parish Partnerships (Center for Mission) recently held a morning of reflection on how cross-cultural and international parish relationships deepen our faith.

Archbishop Hebda joined us for conversation and reflection. There are 48 parishes in our Archdiocese that are involved in partnerships; 34 international and 10 in our country. These relationships have been established an average of 18 years and more than 1,000 people have traveled to 17 different countries.



Our discussion centered on 3 questions:
Why do you participate in global mission relationships?
We are called by Christ to serve and be a witness; to form long-term relationships; to pray together; to share visions and gifts; to learn from others; to transform our faith; to advocate for our partner and to see the church globally. Mission helps us become more connected in our own parish.

How have these global relationships deepened your faith?
Our brothers and sisters help us to slow down to hear God’s voice; we experience the joy of Christ in our midst, and the unity of faith comes alive. It us helps clear our vision and encourages dependency on God (God is trustworthy). We see and recognize new ways to express our faith, to give praise and to be spiritually fed. Our love gives them hope and they give us the understanding of great faith.

What ought to be the role of global mission relationships, and how can we promote them?
We are called to go to the peripheries and share our love and to be in deep relationship with our brothers and sisters. Through our relationships we overcome fear by learning about and understanding our differences. We can become better partners by collecting and sharing what we learn from each other’s successes and failures. 

 By going out and telling our stories and sharing the joy of mission we become advocates and increase awareness. We must share our passion for mission in our parish and our community.
Involving our youth is key to sustaining the future of mission.

Our morning ended with a celebration of mass in the chapel at Our Lady of Grace with the Archbishop presiding; and all joined together with beautiful hymns of thanksgiving and praise.

Father Claude sent Deacon Kevin these videos from mass a few weeks ago.