News From Bouzy

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

A Haitian-American Thanksgiving

In our Haiti sister parish ministry we are blessed to work with Gift of Water, the organization that designed and supplies our home water filter program for Haiti, which brings safe water to 400 Bouzy families now.  Michael Herriman manages Gift of Water in Haiti.  He is an American, living in Port au Prince with his Haitian wife. In Haiti, there are celebrations throughout the year in recognition of blessings the people have received, but no official Thanksgiving Day.  After we shared our family Thanksgiving dinner stories with Michael, he told his:

Our Thanksgiving was similar to yours with maybe the main difference being that we must work with all raw materials... except for the varied gravy sauces which were brought in from the states. I bought a live turkey a month in advance so we could plump him up, and I spent some time making a makeshift oven with our charcoal grill. Since the bird ended up being too big for our grill, my wife cooked the legs, wings, and neck separately. We made mashed potatoes, corn on the cob, and roasted vegetables; all sourced locally. Last year we made enough to feed 80 people because it was right after Hurricane Matthew and people were in very difficult times. Luckily the hurricanes missed us this year so I was able to keep the festivities a bit closer to home and spend time with my immediate family while directing kitchen activities. Although the local Haitians don't celebrate Thanksgiving, they definitely look forward to attending the now yearly 'Turkey Party' that takes place in our yard; gras a la Ameriken (thanksgiving a la American).
 

Rectory roofing project was a real community effort
I was inspired by these photos which show large numbers people of all ages mixing concrete, positioning it to make a steel reinforced concrete roof, and supervising.  Fr Claude says that they used over 200 bags of concrete to make the roof.  Haiti is largely deforested, so they simply cannot build with wood as we do.  Parishioner Dr. Mark Millis recognized at least half of the people in these photos as Bouzy community members he has seen in the medical clinic over the past 8 years.  A real community effort.  ---Deacon Kevin

Click here to see more photos of the roofing project.

Rectory expansion/repair project  Mesi anpil/ Thanks very much
Fr Claude is very pleased to report that they have completed the second phase of his rectory repair project.  This project was inspired by several things- significant parts of the rectory were structurally unsafe ever since the 2010 earthquake & he and his people feared to sleep there; Fr Claude's deep desire to give us better accommodations when we visit; expansion & repair is far less costly than a new rectory.  The second phase put a steel reinforced concrete roof over 4 existing bedrooms and 3 new bedrooms and an office.  The third phase will be interior finish, electrical, and plumbing for the 3 new bedrooms and bathrooms.  This work is at a pause pending further funding.

A Message from Fr Claude:
Dear Deacon
Good evening, I am very happy to write you this email.  Thank you very much for what the parish of St. Joseph Minnesota is for us in Haiti, I can truthfully say that you are for us a gift & support, and we will never forget what you do for us. We always carry you in our prayers 
Dear Deacon, I wish to inform you that we have completed the second part of the work & I will send you photos. Thank you for your $3,000 gift.  With your help and that of the people & with the grace of the Almighty, we finally end this second part of the work.. 
As I have told you , this makes our people very happy.  You help make our dreams a reality. Again thank you
---Fr Jean Claude Telemaque

Rectory roofing project was a real community effort
I was inspired by these photos which show large numbers people of all ages mixing concrete, positioning it to make a steel reinforced concrete roof, and supervising.  Fr Claude says that they used over 200 bags of concrete to make the roof.  Haiti is largely deforested, so they simply cannot build with wood as we do.  Parishioner Dr Mark Millis recognized at least half of the people in these photos as Bouzy community members he has seen in the medical clinic over the past 8 years.  A real community effort.  ---Deacon Kevin

Visit the picture gallery

New Haiti Sister Parish Display in St. Joseph Hall
Stop by and check out the new Haiti Sister Parish display in St. Joseph Hall. Discover the work, ministry and relationship we have with St. Catherine’s in Bouzy, Haiti.

In April, thanks to your support, we sent Fr Claude a small gift to get his rectory construction started, in addition to our quarterly gifts to support teachers salaries and the water program. Despite our assurances that we are very pleased with his hospitality in Bouzy, Father Claude told us that he was embarrassed to host us in his primitive and dangerous rectory during our mission trips. He is also quite afraid that the old building will collapse on him and others some day. The 2010 earthquake left it standing, but not solid, and so many lives were lost in collapsing buildings. So he tore down a small section of the rectory and laid the foundation for a new, safe 3 bedroom/bathroom addition to the rectory. He will build in small steps when funds are available. We are pleased to encourage this program when we can, because we want the rectory to be a safe place for them and this seems to be a sensible lest costly approach than an entirely new rectory. 

We also invited Fr Claude to join us for one week around the Sept 10 Outdoor Mass and picnic and Haiti Fun Run. Stay tuned for more info in this.

Good evening

I am very happy to write to you and to take this opportunity to greet Fathers Mike and Don and all the friends of Saint Joseph. I can in all sincerity tell you that you are for us here in Haiti an incredible support. We pray to God for you every Eucharistic celebration. We have put a special prayer intention for the faithful as well as the leaders of Saint Joseph. We ask God to be kind enough to have you and also to have all the fellows of Minnesota. For the date, I have no problem. I only wait for the day to visit you. I want to inform you that Sunday will be the feast of the mothers in Haiti. For every year, here the mothers are celebrated every last Sunday of the month of May. I will send you the pictures. Thank you for all that you are for us and for all that you do for us. Thank you, your little brother

Fr. Claude Telemaque

Meet our Haitian Water Technicians: Mikael & Madeline
Thank you for your on-going support of our brothers & sisters in Bouzy, Haiti!  Through the generous contributions of our parishioners and the Gift of Water program, 400 bucket-filtering systems are being placed in family homes, schools and clinics for families and children to have access to clean water, preventing water-borne diseases. This program is so crucial to community health, as all water sources are contaminated, whether it is drawn from one of the wells or the river and carried home in buckets.  After Hurricane Matthew last September, there was a surge in demand for the water buckets. Our parish's on-going support includes a monthly stipend for two water technicians, Mikael and Madeline, to train the owners on proper use, monitor the buckets to make sure they are functioning appropriately, and distribute the needed chlorine tablets. Fr. Claude receives their monthly reports and is currently forming a local water committee to assist in monitoring the technicians' performance, determining the priority for future buckets, and making sure that the buckets are used properly.



Joy at the Playground
We have had many request from the Bouzy community, which is to be expected.   One constant theme no matter who the requestor has been is to bring opportunities to the children.  We do this in many important ways with basic needs, like food, clean water, medicine and education.  The request for a playground was special and the core committee deemed it worth it in the end.   We are independently funded by your donations.  Fr. Mike and the Parish Council are always willing to help out in a tight budget situation.  We believe that your donations need to be used in a thoughtful manner.  With all the corruption in Haiti, people are apprehensive to donate and we need to make sure you know that each dollar is used in the right way.  So when the request for a playground came to us there was a lot of thoughtful discussion.  It isn't a basic need and there are so many other needs within the community.  For me the memory of the boys playing soccer with a glass bottle kept coming to mind.  When we gave them a real soccer ball they were so excited.  What could a playground do for the 107 kids who attend kindergarten at St. Catherine's?  Well it took some time which is often the case in Haiti.  First the wall had to be built for safety, the ground raked and lastly the equipment was purchased and installed.  This process isn't up to the standards we would expect and that takes some patience too.  They will get there over time, but their time not mine and that's okay.  Seeing the kids enjoying themselves and the teachers watching so close was worth the journey.  You can see all kids on a slide experience pure joy.  Let's face it, as an adult I find it pretty fun myself.  Last weekend when I was playing with my nephew at the local park, I knew he was safe and protected by the sturdy equipment and soft ground required at a US playground.  The Bouzy children now have a piece of that and it is my job to listen to their laughter and push them on the swing.  
 

Fall 2017 –  Journey to Haiti - Are you called?

Have you felt the calling to visit our sister parish St Catherine’s in Bouzy, Haiti?  A group will be forming in the next couple of months with tentative travel dates in early November 2017.  The group will begin their journey together here at home through formation this summer and early fall.  Please join us in our mission to grow in our relationship with the people of Bouzy. Contact Deacon Kevin or Suzanne Koenigs.

An Easter Message from our Sister Parish
Today I am very happy to greet you and to greet at the same time the Fathers Mike and Don and all the faithful of Saint Joseph Worker.
Thank you for all that you have done for the faithful of Saint Catherine and for all that you expect to achieve with them and for them.
In the name of all the faithful of St. Catherine, I wish all our brothers and sisters of Saint Joseph the Worker a holy and joyous Easter festival.
May the resurrection of Christ bring you joy, happiness and comfort.

-Father Claude Telemarque
Pastor, Saint Catherine’s of Bouzy

"Sharing Blessings"

Lori Henke, Haiti Mission Team Member

    I was part of the most recent mission team to visit St. Catherine’s in Bouzy, Haiti. Since I have been back people have asked me “Why do we have a sister parish and why did we go to Haiti?”

I tell them one reason we went was to offer medical care. On our recent visit to Bouzy, we completely filled the shelves in the dispensary with all of the medicines and supplies that our parish donated and that will help sustain them for the next 6 months. Much of our time there was involved with various clinics; one was to check patients with high blood pressure for a study we are doing to apply for funds for their medications for the next 5 years. Another clinic was to see all of the families on the clean water program to give them de-worming medicines and help teach the families. We also went to see several patient’s in their homes that are too ill or weak to travel; and put together medical aid kits and posters for patient teaching.

But the reason we go to visit St Catherine’s in Bouzy is much more than medical care and support for the community. The main reason we go is to share our gifts and blessings with one another.

I am blessed by each encounter I have with the people in Bouzy.  For me it feels like a visit to see extended family, and I enjoyed greeting many familiar faces, including Fr. Elysee (our 1st priest in Bouzy who stopped to say hello), and to see all the growing children. Fr. Claude and the rectory staff prepared and decorated rooms for us, meals for us each day and kept our water bucket filled. We were welcomed with smiles and embraces and Father told us “You are Home”. 

Taking a walk in the village one afternoon, we stopped at a home of a family I have visited several times in the past. Having brought back photos for them on previous trips, I was happy to see the elderly couple and their growing family; nine grandchildren now she was proud to tell me. Introducing me to her newest grandson, she surprised me by asking me to be his godmother. What an honor to be included in their family in that way…

As we share our blessings with the Haitian people, they share with us a deep and trusting faith, sustained hope in the future and a love for one another that includes us. In a country whose history includes slavery, dictatorships, political instability and multiple natural disasters (earthquakes and hurricanes), there is still faith and hope. They don’t expect all of their struggles and problems to suddenly disappear. They understand that the journey takes time and many steps to get there. I heard this saying while in Haiti, “Piti, piti, nap rive” which means, “little by little we will get there”. 

Our last afternoon in Bouzy, we held a clinic at a village far up in the mountains that rarely hasaccess to any medical care. As we were finishing up it started to rain, but after a few minutes slowed down and we were able to get to the truck to start back down the mountain. As we turned the first corner, we saw a beautiful rainbow arching over our path from one valley to the other side. It was such a concrete sign of God’s presence in our midst and we felt it confirmed our efforts to work together with the community.

Person to person, moment by moment, as we share our love, together we are changing our world.

Haiti Update - Mission Team Returns 

Welcome back, to our Haiti medical team. Thanks for representing us so well with our Haitian friends, and for working so hard to improve health and water in Bouzy. Suzanne reports that Fr Claude was an amazing host and partner to our team at St Catherine’s.

Please continue to pray for our struggling Haitian friends. They are just beginning to replant after devastating hurricane that destroyed all crops, & livestock and some rooftops and homes. They had to wait till they had rain. We’ve used your generous Haiti gifts for emergency food relief during the past 4 months. We will have one of our twice yearly Haiti second collections April 1 & 2.  Thank you for your generosity. Our Haitian friends particularly count on us in these difficult times.

-Deacon Kevin

Fr Claude’s “Thank You” for sending your mission team to visit us:

Dear deacon,
Good evening,

It is for me a great joy to be able to thank Father Mike, Father Don as well as all the faithful of St. Joseph the Worker to think of sending this delegation to visit us. We were very happy to acclimatize them. They showed their solidarity with the faithful of St. Catherine. For me, it was formidable.

I must take this opportunity to thank you for the gift you sent for me. The chalice was most welcome. To celebrate this year the 60 years of the parish, I was obliged to borrow sacred vessels. Grace be restored to God, we now have them. For the laptop, too, I say a big thank you.

--Fr Claude Telemaque, pastor of St Catherine’s in Bouzy Haiti

Our SJTW Haiti mission team arrived safely at Matthew 25 House in Port Au Prince late Tuesday afternoon, where they stay the night.  Wednesday morning they will set out for St Catherine's in Bouzy, where they will receive a big welcome.  We hope Fr Claude can delay Ash Wednesday mass till they arrive.  Each night our team gathers to discuss their day and pray together.  We invite you to join them in spirit and prayer.  Follow along with their bible readings and prayers: 

Tuesday February 28th      Luke 10; 1-9                  
Wednesday, March 1st      Matthew 10; 1-16        
Thursday, March 2nd         Rosary    We will gather for a rosary at SJTW chapel 6pm with & for our team.  Join us.
Friday, March 3rd               Matthew 5; 1-12           
Saturday, March 4th          Matthew 14; 13-21       
Sunday, March 5th             Matthew 6; 1-6, 16-18 

Thank you from Fr Claude upon distribution of FMSC food to hungry sisters and brothers in Bouzy & the Cocoyer chapel.  Some of the food is also available to serve the children at St Catherine's school:

Dear Deacon, 
Good evening, I am very happy to announce that we proceeded to a new distribution of food for the people of the community of Bouzy. In the name of all the beneficiaries, I would like to thank the faithful of the parish of Saint Joseph who have made tremendous sacrifices to make us enjoy this food. Deacon, you do not know what you are doing for people. At a time when there are no more millet, people are handed over food. Grace be restored to God, you have been able to help people subsist by sending them food every moment.  May God bless Father Mike and Father Don, & also bless the Deacons of the parish of St. Joseph. Let him bless the faithful also.

Pere Telemaque
Parish Bouzy

Feed my Starving Children food arrives in Bouzy!
It is with deep appreciation to our parish that I share the good news that 1260 cartons of vitamin-fortified food from Feed My Starving Children arrived at our sister parish, St Catherine’s of Bouzy, Haiti. This shipment comes with great contributions not just from the Feed My Starving Children organizations, volunteers who packed the food, but also from the generosity of our parish in helping pay the shipping costs.  Fr Claude will organize distribution to the neediest families in the area and use a portion of the shipment for piloting serving lunch in school.  Fr Claude sent us the news of the safe arrival of the food on Thursday, January 26th  via his message below.
Mary Hannemann, Haiti Core Team member

Dear deacon good evening,
I am very happy to greet you and thank you at the same time for all that you are for us.
I am very happy to announce that everything has been good for the food issue of people of the community. To facilitate the comprehension of everyone, I send you the picture of the containers as well as the boxes of food.

Again thank you dear deacon, because thanks to your suggestion we were able to transport the food of the people of Bouzy in complete safety. I want to remind you that the truck had problems on the road leading to Bouzy. He spent more than 3 hours of time in the small river. Grace be returned to God, he left the river at 4 o'clock in the morning.

Thank you to you deacon, thank you to Pere (Father) Mike and Pere (Father) Don and to the faithful of Saint Joseph. Tell them that we love them with all our heart.

For the visit of the doctors, we await them with great impatience.
 
Father Claude


You are making a difference in Haiti!
Each time we send a group of parishioners to visit our Sister Parish in Bouzy Haiti, 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 are again empty. But for the mother who has some Tylenol to relieve the fever of her ill child, and the elderly man crippled with arthritis who has some medicine to ease his pain, you are a source of healing. For the families who are stronger and healthier due to vitamins and clean water, you are a gift of hope. Please help us to continue to make a difference in March when a group will again be making the journey.
Donations can be placed in the bins by the Haiti display boards
in St. Joseph’s Hall by Feb 12. We are seeking donations of:

• Anti-fungal creams (esp. Miconazole)
• Adult Tylenol and Ibuprofen
• Pediatric chewable tablets of Acetaminophen (Tylenol)
• Infant Tylenol liquid
• Anti-acids (Tums, Zantac)
• Children’s vitamin tablets (No gummies please)
• Bacitracin or Neosporin (antibiotic) ointment
• Reading glasses

“Bondeye beni ou anpil!”(God bless you!) on behalf of our
brothers and sisters in Bouzy, and Thank you for your prayers.

Hurricane Matthew Update from Haiti: Sharing the Journey this Holy Season
Father Claude sends gratitude to the St Joseph the Worker community for the generous response to help the people of St Catherine’s recover from the destruction left by Hurricane Matthew. Last month he was able to use our contribution to buy basic roofing materials and bags of rice for hundreds of families. In his words, “On behalf of all beneficiaries I want to give you a big thank you because we were able to give many people food. May God bless you and all faithful of St Joseph.” In total, 550 bags of rice and 2500 sheets of sheet metal were distributed in November.
This October, Hurricane Matthew brought destructive winds & flooding rains to our brothers and sisters in St. Catherine’s parish in Bouzy, Haiti. Homes and the parish rectory were damaged by falling trees and sheet metal roofs torn off. This season’s crops were taken by winds and floods and concerns about sufficient food and access to clean water remain. Our St. Joseph the Worker Haiti teams have been working on assisting in a number of ways. Another hundred water filter systems are being distributed now. These systems are essential for preventing the spread waterborne illnesses.
After the initial distribution of rice, Father Claude reported that there is still much need for food, with children at the school asking for food. In response, we are coordinating to pay the shipping of a full shipping container of Feed My Starving Children’s boxes of fortifi ed rice and soy protein meal packages. Father Claude will organize distribution of the meals, which may include starting a school feeding program. Our parish also sent personal heartfelt messages of love to St. Catherine’s as the parish celebrated their 60th anniversary of the Feast of Saint Catherine, Nov 25.
In this holy season, we are grateful for the blessings of God’s abundance that we are to share with our brothers and sisters and for the gift of this sacred relationship that allows us to be who God calls us, in solidarity with one another.

Thanksgiving Blessings...
Wed, Nov 23: I am very happy to received your food here. They are preparing for the 60th Anniversary of the Parish foundation. On behalf of all the [Bouzy] faithful, I would like to wish you a good Thanksgiving celebration. May God’s kindness continue to bless the American people and in a special way the faithful of Minnesota.

St Catherine’s Anniversary News 
Fri, Nov 25: I am happy to tell you that we celebrated the 60th anniversary of the founding of the parish this morning.  We organized a very nice celebration. The faithful as well as the pilgrims are all happy, for them, it  was marvelous, the decorations, the way the choir sings, it was really great. I wish to thank you for the $300 given to the parish (toward anniversary feast). I wish to let you know that on Sunday we will have a celebration for the choir. Thank you dear Deacon for your support. Thank you also to all the faithful of St Joseph.  Thank you to Father Mike and Father Don on our behalf.  May God bless you with His Grace.
Fr Telemaque,
Bouzy Parish

St Catherine’s 60th Anniversary Celebration this week!
As we celebrate Thanksgiving this week, our sister parish in Bouzy Haiti celebrates its 60th anniversary as a parish. They hold a big community wide celebration beginning with a 9 day novena, and culminating with a community mass, feast and festival on Friday November 25, the feast of St Catherine of Alexandria.
We have sent the people our congratulations, our love and our best wishes for a happy and holy celebration. Please remember our sisters and brothers of St Catherine’s in your thoughts and prayers, and give thanks for the gift they are to us.
--Deacon Kevin

Post Hurricane Matthew Needs

This weekend, a couple members of the Haiti Environmental team had a conference call with our Haitian friends, Michael (water technician) and Saint Louis (interpreter). This was a very productive meeting. The highest priority of our conversation was the importance of clean drinking water. In the past few years, St Joseph the Worker has helped provide 300 water filtration systems to community members in our sister parish. The two-bucket Gift of Water system filters and chlorinates the water so that it is safe to drink. Most of these systems are in family homes, but several are in the church, medical clinic and parish schools.
After Father Claude returned home from his visit to Minnesota last month, he and Michael went to the Bouzy community to assess the Post Hurricane Matthew needs for clean water. The need for clean drinking water is extremely urgent right now. The number of people contracting cholera in Haiti is on the rise after Hurricane Matthew. Michael reported that they have confirmed an immediate need for nearly 100 more of the water filtration systems. The Environmental Team, in representation of the entire community of St. Joseph The Worker, is striving to get 100 more systems in the hands of our Haitian family as quickly as possible.
Water is so important!!  Water is both; the main source (breeding ground) and part of the primary cure of cholera. Please keep our sisters and brothers in Haiti in your prayers as they continue to recover from the damage done by Hurricane Matthew.  -- Dan Koshiol, Haiti Environmental Team

THANK YOU FROM BOUZY, HAITI
Fr Claude and friends are safely home in Haiti.  Fr Claude sends his thanks to all who welcomed him to SJTW:

Dear Deacon, I am very happy to send you this email to thank you and your wife. Thanks to everyone for the sacrifi ces you made on our behalf. Please greet Father Don and Father Mike for us, also. We were very happy to meet with them. And please greet all the faithful parishioners of St Joseph with thanks for their warm welcome. We were surprised to see how much they carried in their hearts the needs of the parish of Ste Catherine. - Father Telemaque, Parish of Ste Catherine
Thanks to your generosity we sent $10,000 home with Fr Claude for emergency hurricane relief for the people of Bouzy. Hurricane Matthew destroyed crops and livestock. In addition, Fr Claude estimates that 100 homes in the community lost roofs or were completely destroyed. Fr Claude will use your gift to provide rice, and sheet metal to restore roofs, to the neediest families. Mesi anpil.
-Deacon Kevin


Haiti Mission Trip, March 2017
Have you heard the call to visit our sister parish, St. Catherine’s in Bouzy, Haiti? A medical mission is being formed for early March of 2017 (tentative dates Feb 28 – Mar 6). We have two doctors confirmed and are looking for nurses and other medical professionals. We also welcome non-medical professionals to strengthen our relationship with the community. This is a great chance to witness and experience the miracle of Haiti. Formation to begin in Nov 2016. Please contact Deacon Kevin or Suzanne Koenigs.

Getting to know the new pastor of Sainte Catherine’s in Bouzy: An Interview with Fr Claude Telemarque

Q: What are your first impressions of Minnesota?
A: You are sharing and living as a community. You share with each other as brothers and sisters. Pope Francis says this is the Year of Mercy. In your community, you have mercy. As soon as we arrived, you have been asking about our community. Also, I see you are doing so well in teaching your children in your faith formation programs.

Q: Tell us about your family.
A: I am the second child in a family of four children, two boys and two girls. My mother passed away, but my father lives about an hour and a half away from Bouzy.

Q: What do you want us to know about our sister parish, Sainte Catherine’s?
A: There are so many activities in the church. The parish celebrates big events together. I am looking forward to celebrating the 60^th anniversary of our parish on the Feast of Sainte Catherine, November 25^th, this year.

Q: What are your hopes and dreams for the parish?
A: I have many dreams. One is to gather the people closer together to serve God and to have no more room in the church building because it is filled with people.  Another dream is to build a nice church for God and for the community.  The church building is in bad shape. I ask for your prayers so that my dream can be a reality. I also would like to welcome you the way that I have been welcomed in Minnesota and have a nice place for you to stay.  [Note:  The rectory, where visitors from St Joseph the Worker have stayed in the past when visiting the parish, was damaged by falling tree limbs in Hurricane Matthew.

Q: When did you first feel called to be a priest? How long did you study to become a priest?
A: When I was very young. Where I grew up, all the people used to call me a priest when I was a kid. I always went to church and was an altar server. I studied for seven years before becoming a priest. One year was called Propaedeutics, similar to introductory courses, and the other years included studying Theology and Philosophy.

Q: Do you like to sing? What kind of music to you like to listen to that we might recognize?
A: I do like to sing but I’m not so good at it! I enjoy listening to Celine Dion, Michael Jackson and Elton John.

Q: How did you learn the English that you know? Do you like to watch any TV?
A: I studied it in high school. I do like to watch soccer matches on television. My favorite soccer team is Argentina.

Q: Do you have any other thoughts you’d like to share with the people of St Joseph the Worker?
A: When you have come to visit before, you visited Fr Hubert. Now that Fr Hubert is in a new parish, he is not far away. We live as though we are brothers, so we pray together as one. Now I am waiting for you and hope that you come! Thank you so very much for welcoming me, for all that you have done for our parish and what I know that you will be doing in the future.

Thank you
Thank you to Fr Claude, Fr Hubert and St Louis for making the effort to visit us in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew this week. Thank you for furthering our friendship. You are a gift to us. Fr Claude is pastor of our sister parish, St Catherine, in Bouzy Haiti, Fr Hubert is the former pastor, and St Louis is our interpreter. We send our love and support with you to all of our sisters and brothers in Bouzy.

Post Hurricane Message from Fr Claude
We want to salute our brothers and sisters of the Parish of St Joseph of Minnesota. We want to show them our deep gratitude for all they have done for us and continue to perform for us. Today we have an extremely difficult crossroads after the passage of Hurricane Matthew, people are really affected. So we would like to make you aware of the situation. We send you pictures so you have an idea. View Fr Claude’s photos of damage in Bouzy in a slideshow at www.sjtw.net.
Notice photos of large trees that fell on the rectory. You also see homes demolished & homes without roofs and full of mud and waterlogged possessions. Crops are greatly damaged and livestock is lost to the fl ood waters and hurricane winds. We promised to help. Fr said that the people especially need food and corrugated metal sheets to replace roofs and walls.

“Thank you for your words of encouragement. We need your prayer of thanks to our Good God. If God was not with us, things would have been even more unhappy for us. Because even the rectory has a side where it’s crushed by a mango tree that fell upon it. Pray for us and I myself am praying for you and all the faithful of St Joseph.” – Fr Telemaque

If you would like to make a financial contribution to help our friends in Bouzy, Haiti, you can place your check in the collection plate or drop it off at the parish office. Please indicate “HAITI” in the memo area of your check. There are no envelopes and there will be no special collection.
Thank you for your support in helping the people of Bouzy rebuild following the hurricane

Hi Friends of Haiti,
Please especially pray for the safety of our Haitian friends this week. Hurricane Matthew hit southwest Haiti today, where Bouzy is, and is expected to drop 15-25 inches of rain on this area prone to mudslides and flash floods.
The new pastor of sister parish St Catherines, Fr Claude, and prior pastor Fr Hubert were supposed to arrive here for a visit today.  American airlines cancelled their flight due to the hurricane and rescheduled them to come late Thursday October 6.  So they are presently planning to be here  Oct 6-12, weather permitting.  We are rescheduling events originally planned for Wednesday and Thursday.  We pray that Fr Claude and Fr Hubert will be able to get to Port of Prince for their flights to visit us and have safe and uneventful travels.
We will let you know if plans change further.
Mesi/ Bondye avek ou.  Thank you/ God be with you.

Please visit our Haitian guests
Please give Fr Claude, Fr Hubert and St Louis a warm St Joseph's welcome.  Take time to meet new pastor Fr Claude, and help us forge deeper friendships.   You can find us at & after weekend and daily masses, at youth faith formation Wednesday night, and at various events and community meals.  Please join us as often as you can.  Contact me to get connected.

We need many volunteers to make our Haitian priests stay with us welcoming and inviting.  If you can jhelp us in hosting lunches or dinners, driving, shopping or sightseeing trips, visiting with Fr Hubert while we take first time visitor Fr Claude places, please contact me.
---Deacon Kevin.

Medical supplies needed for Haiti 
We would like to send some medical supplies back in our Haitian friends suitcases, especially since we don’t have a mission group visiting Haiti this fall. Any donations of medications below would be greatly appreciated. We need them at church by next weekend (Oct. 8-9).
These are the items that would be most helpful:
Anti-fungal creams (esp. Miconazole)
Bacitracin or Neosporin (antibiotic) ointment
Adult and Pediatric tablets of Acetaminophen
Ibuprofen
Anti-acids (Tums, Zantac)
                                
Donations can be placed in the bins by the Haiti display boards in St. Joseph’s Hall.

“Bondeye beni ou anpil!” (God bless you !) on behalf of our brothers and sisters in Bouzy.
---Lori Henke

Fr Claude's Thank You
"Dear Deacon thank you very much for the prayers. I greet the faithful for you. We on our side, we always pray for you and for the faithful of St. Joseph Parish.
Deacon, we have a camera problem that is why we had not had a chance to send you the pictures for over a week. Grace is made to God, Abbe Emmanuel (seminarian) came to help me. So I send you photos so you have at least an idea of ​​the work we have done this month with your gift. Thank you, I love you all, I pray for you. Pray for me and also for the whole parish of St. Catherine."

Mesi Anpil
Thanks to all who made Outdoor Mass celebration such a blessed and fun event. We especially thank all who walked and ran in solidarity with our sisters and brothers in Haiti after mass. We hope to make the Haiti Fun Run an annual fall celebration. Ste. Catherine’s pastor, Fr Claude, adds his thanks for your prayers, participation and for you generous fi nancial support. Mesi anpil/ Bondye avek ou. Thanks very much/ God be with you.


Meet Fr. Claude Telemaque 

Fr. Claude Telemaque is the new pastor of our sister parish in Haiti, St. Catherine de Alexandre in Bouzy. We were pleased to represent you there on July 17 when Bishop Dumas installed Fr. Claude as pastor at Sunday mass. We are very happy that Fr. Claude made time often during his busy fi rst few days in Bouzy to talk with us. We had many good conversations. Fr. Claude seems eager to work with us and is easy to talk with. Fr Claude has been a priest for 5 years. He seems excited about the possibilities in Bouzy. He says he can see that the people are in better health in Bouzy than in his prior community, thanks to us. He said our relationship is a precious gift, as was our travel to be with the community and him for his installation. Fr. Claude says that education for his people is a big priority, just as it was for his predecessor Fr. Hubert. He wants his people to be educated citizens of the world, good for his people and God. We have invited Fr. Claude to Minnesota Oct 4-10, provided that he can get his passport renewed in time. We hope that you will all have a chance to meet and talk with Fr. Claude soon.
--Deacon Kevin and Hieu Tu


Laptops for Haiti!

Are you replacing your old laptop with a Windows 10 model? Thinking of upgrading to a touch screen or tablet? Go green, be generous, repurpose your old laptop for Haiti! The schools of St Catherine's in Haiti, our sister parish, have NO computers. Over time we would like to get a few in the hands of their teachers for classroom use. Please consider donating your Working old laptop for the benefit of the schoolchildren in Bouzy, Haiti. A parishioner has kindly offered to test, refurb and repurpose your donated laptop for use in Haiti. We hope to be able to take a couple working used laptops down on every twice-yearly mission trip to St Catherine's.

Program requirements:
1. Donated laptops can be received in person by Natalie during church office hours or you can make arrangements to get them in person to Dan Koshiol. Please do not just drop off your old computers! Please do not leave unwanted laptops on church property! Natalie will get you a blank in-kind donation receipt for your tax purposes as she receives them.

2. Provide your name and phone number for our records in case we need to get ahold of you.

3. Minimum computer requirements:

-working condition

-complete with battery and power adapter

-operating system must be Windows XP or newer. Vista, Windows 7 & 8 are ok too.

-CPU must be Pentium 4 or newer

4. If we find that your laptop does not meet the minimum requirements, we must return it to you, because they are costly to dispose of, and we cannot use parish Haiti donations to junk computers.

If you have not already done so, we will clean and erase all hard drive information when it is tested.

We will also attach a small card to your donated laptop with your first name asking the user to say a prayer for you.

Mesi anpil! Thank you very much!

If you have further questions, please contact Dan at dj.kosh@embarqmail.com


Bonjou, Friends of Haiti

Save the Date--- Our first Haiti Fun Run will be September 11 right after our annual Outdoor Mass and 40th Anniversary celebration.  This is a big opportunity to spread our story to a broader audience and to raise funds through pledges for walkers to sustain our Haiti ministries.  Stay tuned for more info.

Our Haiti communications team can use a few new helpers.  This summer's projects include a short video to be first used at the Haiti Fun Run, and sprucing up our corner of St. Joseph Hall with banners.  See Mary Oldham Hannemann for more info.

Big News- Pastor Change St St Catherine's in Bouzy.  Fr Hubert is being transferred after 6 years at Ste Catherine's.  It seems like a normal pastor change; terms there are generally 6 years.  We will miss him.  We have worked hard together at building a very good trusting relationship.  He has become a good friend of St Joseph the Worker.  Fr Hubert is moving to Our Lady of Perpetual Help, a very poor parish closer to Miragoane.  Please keep Fr Hubert in your prayers.

Pastors have a very big role in community life as well as spiritual life in Haiti, so a pastor change is a big community event. Last time Bouzy had a pastor change, SJTW sent representatives to attend new pastor's installation.  We plan to do this again this time.  We polled the Haiti Core Committee for volunteers; Hieu Tu and I will represent all of you.    Fr Hubert recently confirmed that the new pastor will be Fr Claude Telemarque  who will be installed as pastor by Bishop Dumas at Sunday mass on July 17.    We will be traveling to Haiti July 14-19.  Please keep us in your prayers.  We hope to get a final update on ongoing projects and programs from Fr Hubert.  We also hope to have several visits with Fr Claude the 3 days we will be in Bouzy.

Dates for future mission trips and pastor visits to Minnesot will be discussed with the new pastor in July.

We will be taking French books to Haiti in our extra suitcases.  We will also have room for maybe 2 suitcases of nonprescription meds, like pain killers.  So if you'd like to help, please drop them off in St Joes Hall over the next 10 days.  If we get more than we can comfortably take, they will go down with our next mission trip this fall.

We are recruiting for a fall mission trip.  Dates will be finalized soon.  Medical doctors and medical support have preference, since they are most needed in Bouzy.  We have interest from several new nonmedical people, who we invite to send in applications very soon. We are please to have some new travelers and nonmedical people represent SJTW on every mission trip.  We will also need a couple veteran Haiti travelers to fill out, and maybe lead, this next mission team.  mission trip applications and news are posted on our Haiti ministry webpage.  Please contact me or Suzanne Koenigs if interested.

Mesi anpil from Fr Hubert re solar generators

------------

News From Fr Hubert--He is being transferred.  We hope to send a couple people to the installation of the new pastor, Fr Claude Telemarque in July.

In Jesus our Savior and big brother and by Mary our mother I offer my humble and cordial greetings to Fr. Mike, Fr. Donald, Deacon Kevin, Deacon Randy, the different Haiti committees (Education, Medical, Environmental, etc) & everyone of the family members of St. Joseph the Worker in Minnesota.

Honor, glory and praise to God who created us and who in his son Jesus Christ brings us together as brothers, and gives to each of us a duty to go everywhere to bring good news, take care of the small, poor and sick. We are the Body of Christ, a missionary Church.  It is our missionary obligation and service spirit which led us to meet, bond and work together.  Even though we may be separated, we will be brothers and sisters for life.   For I have just received a letter from his Excellency Bishop Dumas directing me to go into service to another parish.
Accepting this obedience willingly for the good of The Church, I inform you with a heart full of friendship, recognition and sadness of my transfer from St. Catherine of Bouzy to the Sanctuary Parish of Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Chalon.  This transfer will be effective in the middle of July.

Regarding my transfer, I wish to inform you that the priest to replace me is named: Claude Thelemarque.  Already talking with him, he will be installed on July 17th 2016, but will be here at the parish starting Friday July 15th. In case there may be changes to these dates I will let you know.   In this case, I am doing my best to complete the work already begun, write up the reports to send you and also provide explanations to the replacing priest for continuity.

My responsibility in the parish brought us together among you in your various works to improve the lives of the faithful of the people from the community of Bouzy. But I believe that our strong friendship, our brotherhood remains forever.     Our friendship, brotherhood is marked above all by good, beautiful memories. That is why I ask your fervent prayers to help me bear this sacred, separation, to do this transition well.

My brothers and sisters in Christ, my friends know well: I love you with all my heart and I carry love by your works in Bouzy, your humbleness, your way of welcome, your patience and generosity towards me.
They separate me from you. But nothing in the world can or will erase from my spirit, and my heart that I am your brother for life, forever even to the grave if necessary; in heaven with the help of the Holy grace of God.

Union of prayer and sacrifice.
Your brother of always who loves you,
Fr. Hubert.


Who would have guessed that making plans and choosing among them would become another Haitian-American culture gap.

We Americans spend a lot of time planning, setting agendas. We set goals and work to make dreams come true. Our Haitian friends seldom have this luxury. Theirs is an immediate culture, entirely engrossed in dealing with urgent problems, getting today’s food, safe water and housing, as best they can. Our cultures collided again unexpectedly this spring, discussing a rare gift. “Fr. Hubert,” I said, “our people were so generous that we have, on a one time basis, $5,000 more available to address one of your many unsolved long-term needs.” I expected a big smile, and prompt description of his favorite new project. But he was frozen, puzzled, on unsure ground. After a long pause, I said this is good news, Father.
Tomorrow you will have one less critical need. Fr. Hubert appeared much less comfortable choosing among plans than in dealing with his people’s many urgent, unsolvable daily problems. Fr. Hubert did eventually make excellent choices for his people – solar generators for rectory & church, and library shelves for the school. I couldn’t understand Father’s dilemma at first, for I can describe a long litany of urgent needs at Ste Catherine’s, which he has given me. But I’ve come to appreciate his dilemma, for it reveals for us another face of God. My spiritual director later described it as our gift, one that takes us from the future back to the present. For God is “I AM.” We do not find God in yesterday or tomorrow. He is God of here and now. Our Haitian friends always bring us back to the present, where they must live all the time, back to where our generous Lord resides, from our dreams and plans where we may have failed to include Him. The Haitians’ trust in God is a blessing that frequently fills culture gaps.
---Deacon Kevin

Mesi anpil/Thank you very much from Fr Hubert in Haiti

In joy, hope in the risen Jesus who saves us by his body and blood, who resembles us like brothers, I cordially greet you Father Mike, Father Don, Deacon Kevin, Deacon Randy, and my other brothers and sisters of the St. Joseph of the Worker Minnesota family. Many thanks to you for your efforts to improve the lighting of the rectory by sending the Goal Zero solar generators.
We have not yet received this equipment because we do not yet have the cue from the person in charge of Matthew 25 House at Port Au Prince to come pick them up, but we hope to collect them in the next few days. (We sent them on the annual Parish Twinning container. They await customs clearance.)
I am truly happy about the implementation of such a project for the rectory & church. Finally, the rectory will be well lit. The priest who will replace me will not confront such sorts difficulties in the repair of the old generator, the purchase of gasoline and other things for lighting the rectory. Regarding this, the parish and I are very grateful to you. As soon as the packages are received, I will write you to gather more of your explanation of how to use them.
Your brother in Christ who loves you,
Father Hubert



A Very Joyful Woman
I followed Dr Mark into a modest, well kept home outside Bouzy, Haiti, and was greeted by a very joyful woman, bedridden yet dressed in her Sunday best to receive Dr Mark.  This woman, lovingly cared for by her husband, touched my heart. After Mark cared for her, we prayed together.  Hers was such a joyful prayer, all about how good God is and how He's always with her.  The translator asked if she was Catholic, and she energetically replied, "I'm a very Catholic woman." As if we couldnt tell by the big Our Mother of Perpetual Help picture on the wall, & a joy that out-shined great needs.  Delighted with our prayer time, and with her new rosary and holy card, she then talked about her family.  We gave care and prayer.  She gave us His joy. 


---Deacon Kevin




Thank You!
I am compassionately excited beyond words about my recent 4th Mission trip to Bouzy. We, the team, want to THANK-YOU our generous SJTW parishioners who we represented this last March on Our Mission trip to our Sister Parish, St Catherine’s. We brought over 900 pounds of vitamins, Tylenol, ibuprofen, antibiotic ointments, etc. etc. in our suitcases. Can you even imagine not having a band aide?...let alone prescription medicine?? No pharmacy nor grocery store there in Bouzy. With your added charitable donations we purchased locally in Port au Prince the medicine for diabetes, high blood pressure, antibiotics and other life saving medications. A mission trip to our sister parish could change YOU, change your prospective reality. I encourage you to venture “out of your box”, out of the comfort of your life here, to journey with our brothers and sisters in Haiti, to be present to the people who will benefi t from our compassion, empathy and tenderheartedness. We really need doctors and nurses (plus non-medical people) to step forward to work in the dispensary and home visits. We travel two times a year--Spring and Fall. We also work with teachers and students in our education program, as well as working on environmental issues such as clean water and solar. There are a lot of areas that will benefi t if only you step forward. This is a Win-Win situation.

Donna Richtsmeier, parishioner.

March Haiti Mission Team News

Thank you! We felt your prayers accompany our travels to our sister parish in Haiti. We are honored to represent you to St Catherine's in Bouzy. We had a fabulous trip.

The weather was balmy by Haiti's humid, tropical standards. We were greeted as old friends and welcomed into people's hearts and homes. We felt "at home" in Father Hubert's home. The rectory cooking team put on 3 feasts a day for us, delicious bountiful meals graciously given from their need, not their plenty, & artfully presented, all prepared on charcoal fires. We were pleased to find fr Hubert in good health and good spirits. The heart of our mission was to listen and talk and make deeper friendships, to play, pray, praise and sing with our sisters and brother of St Catherine's. We enjoyed it all. The girls choir led the singing at Sunday mass. They also performed sacred dance at mass and at our party the last night. Our mission team sang "Your Only Son" after communion, just as we do every Lenten Sunday at SJTW. We met the men's group, St Martin's Guild after Sunday mass. We had valuable meetings with Fr Hubert almost every day. In constantly supporting each other, making deeper friends and coming home safely, our team had a very successful trip. 

But what did you DO Americans ask, besides sitting on the rectory porch and visiting? That's our mission, I reply, we build friendships, not buildings, but we did also contribute to better health, education & safe water while there. We filled empty clinic shelves with your generous medication gifts, and purchased essential prescription drugs in Port au Prince on our way to Bouzy. Our medical team worked tirelessly, seeing endless streams of people who would gladly wait all day to see a doctor. We were blessed with 2 doctors for the very first time! (And we need more doctors and nurses to continue their great work. Please see me. We need you!) The medical team also conducted hypertension and deworming clinics and made home visits to those too sick to come to the clinic, and taught clinic staff. We preached and sang, we made plans to expand the Gift of Water program, visited the school, prepared to implement a grant for French texts and literature for St Catherine's school, discussed solar, and listened to other community needs.

We had a fabulous team, filled with caring, selfless servants. We became gifts to each other as well as to you and our Haitian friends. I heard no complaints along the way, but we are very grateful to come home to our loved ones and to safe running water, warm showers, & comfortable beds, & to discard our Deet & bug huts. 

We saw new faces of God in our Haitian friends' joys and struggles, and our own, throughout the trip. Thanks for letting us represent you. We will share stories soon.

Deacon Kevin

Haiti Reflections:

This Church stands on Love!
Wow! Isn’t this a beautiful church? I didn’t know what to expect when the protective gates of St. Catherine’s opened and welcomed us to their loving community. We arrived to Bouzy on Saturday
afternoon, so attending Sunday mass with them the following morning was one of the first things we did in Bouzy. There are 3 things I will always remember about that mass. 1) The first thing happened right away. We were walking into the church, and all filed in together into one single pew. Normally in our church, that doesn’t sound too auspicious, but the pews in St. Catherine’s need some love. As the 4th person sat down, the pew (bench) creaked and groaned under the weight. There was a quick dash to rearrange and distribute our Minnesota bodies across a few more pews. That’s not all. The building is slowly weakening, crumbling from earthquake damage. 2) The next thing that I was OBSESSED with is the music. I did grab a video of the church singing
together, so we’ll have to get that loaded to the church website so everyone can hear their great music. They praise the Lord with such joy and heart and soul, that it deeply touched my heart. Besides the music itself, another big difference was that the parishioners were all singing at the top of their lungs. It was awesome and beautiful and made me overflow with longing for the Lord.
Their music is such a gift! 3) I will also never forget about that mass was the gospel reading. I had just done a Bible study that highlighted to pay attention to the apt timing of God’s Word, and this moment was certainly one of them for me. The Gospel reading that day was the “Widow’s Offering” (Mark 12:41-44), where Jesus teaches us that we will only be truly happy if we are generous with God and generous with our neighbor. The virtue of generosity allows us to become fully human. By nature, we are made to love. I also was challenged by Father Hubert’s homily, where he pointed out that it is less about being materially rich or poor, but more about being spiritually rich vs. spiritually poor. When we give out of love, we are being spiritually rich. And he challenged us to evaluate the aspects of our life where we were spiritually poor. God truly blessed us with the ability to celebrate mass with our Haitian brothers and sisters.
--Becky Knutson, SJTW November 2015 Haiti mission team

Safe Water is Priceless in Haiti
One of my favorite parts of the trip was visiting the numerous schools in both Bouzy and nearby villages. One day, we arrived to the preschool right as they were preparing for lunch. It was so heartwarming to see the children neatly and quietly lined up in rows as they were washing their hands. SJTW has provided a 2 bucket water filtration system to community schools & churches (25), and families (175) in order to provide them with safe water for hand-washing and drinking. (We also support a water technician who does community water system training and maintenance.) This is a community that struggles with access to clean water on a daily basis. Women and girls especially bear the burden of walking miles at a time to gather water from streams, ponds & wells – all contaminated by water-borne disease that can make them and their families sick. Illness from drinking dirty water and the time lost fetching it robs entire communities of their futures. I saw with my own eyes that we were making progress in the area of clean water, but that we also have a long way to go. For example, many families do not yet have water filtration systems. Also, the filters are designed to last 6 months, but the water is so dirty that the filters need to be replaced much more frequently. Pleas pray for your brothers and sisters in Haiti and for progress to be made in providing this community with clean water.

--Becky Knutson, SJTW Haiti mission team November 2015


Spring Journey to Haiti
Jwaye Nwel Zanmi yo Ayiti (Merry Christmas Friends of Haiti)
 
Thanks for all you do to love our sisters and brothers of St.Catherine's in Bouzy Haiti.
 
We are building our mission team for our Mar 8-15 visit to St Catherine's in Bouzy.  We need your help.  We are in desperate need of nurses for this trip.  We have been blessed with many nurses for our past trips to Haiti, but those who have come in the past cannot return in March.  Nurses, might God be calling you to join us on this blessed eight day journey?  Everyone, can you help us identify nurses at St Joseph the Worker who might be open to a discussion on participating in this mission trip?  We will consider any nurses who wish to represent SJTW and will fully participate in our mission.
 
We are very excited about this mission team.  We have a new doctor who is planning to join Dr Mark Millis to serve our friends in Bouzy.  Dr Mark has served on at least 12 SJTW mission trips, and works tirelessly between trips to promote better health for the people of Bouzy.  This is the first time we are gifted with another doctor to join him.  This mission team also includes a returning leader, and very likely a nutritionist and a member of our Haiti environment team. To complete our team we really need three nurses to help our doctors be productive in seeing patients in clinic and in homes.  By nurses we mean RNs and LPNs, but also nursing students and other medical professionals with comparable experience.
 
If you have questions, would like more information about serving as a nurse on this trip, or know someone who might be open to a conversation, don't delay, please contact Lori Hernke    or Deacon Kevin.  We will solidify the team shortly, and begin team formation in 2 to 3 weeks.


The Gift of Presence
We do many helpful projects during our mission tips to our sister parish in Bouzy Haiti. We improve medical care, & support education and home water filter systems, among other things. But our principal goal in traveling to St Catherine's is to deepen our friendships and to be gift to each other by our presence. The gift of our presence may not seem like much, but it is always treasured in Bouzy. Our return is a source of great hope to our desperately poor sisters and brothers. As they themselves say to us, as they embrace us "You've returned. You haven't forgotten us!"
Kenold, St Catherine's choir director, said thank you for visiting us in November with this gift to me, and to you:

His message in Kreyol reads: “Sayle tout fanmi yo avek tout zanmiw yo pou mwen”. Translation: Greet all your families and friends for me. 

I am deeply touched by this gift. Through it we broke through language and cultural divides in friendship. The hummingbird symbolizes a spirit that brings sweetness of life. It is said that those who receive the hummingbird totem are invited to enjoy the sweetness of life, remove negativity wherever it's found, & express love more fully in our daily lives. May this gift bring you God's peace and joy, as it did me.
Thank you SJTW for the opportunity to represent you in this amazing experience with our sisters and brothers of St Catherine's this past November.
---Barb Höschen


Highlights of recent activities
Communication from Haitian Pastor & Friends
Letters and Prayer Requests