Bringing Health Care to La Resurrection School in Haiti
The Diocese of Maryland invites you to open the door to better health for school children in Haiti by supporting the Haiti school nurse project. The 2012 Diocese of Maryland's Children's Lenten Project provides the opportunity to learn about and support this project during five weeks in Lent.
Two of the major challenges in Haiti are poor health conditions and lack of educational resources. Located in the rural mountainous northern part of Haiti, these challenges are even more extreme.
This year's program is "Nickels for Nurses" and it helps provide a nurse for La Resurrection Parish School in Gros Morne, Haiti. Working in partnership with La Resurrection Episcopal Parish in Gros Morne, the Haiti school nurse project seeks to address both issues. It will provide a nurse for the parish school and its 829 students from grades K-12. For $20 (or 400 nickels), the project will support the salary of the nurse for a week.
Very few schools have nurses in Haiti, and those are in Port-au-Prince. We intend that this project can be a model that will guide and encourage the provision of nurses in other schools throughout Haiti. It is an excellent way to direct health care where it is so desperately needed.
We are providing two curricula this year. One is for younger children (pre-K through elementary school) and a second is for middle and high school age students. It is intended to fit into your Sunday school, Journey to Adulthood (J2A), or other programs for children and youth.
Lent is a particularly fitting time for us to encourage our children (and all of us for that matter) to live into 1 John 3:17-18: How does God’s love abide in anyone who has the world’s goods and sees a brother or sister in need and yet refuses help? Little children, let us love, not in word or speech, but in truth and action.
We pray that through our action, we will bring better health and education to these children.
I want to also thank the Rev. Madeleine Beard for creating these curricula for the diocese.
Peace and blessings,
The Rev. Angela Shepherd
Canon for Mission
All of the materials below are available in Adobe PDF format. Click on the links to download.
About MissionContemplating the mission of the Church can be daunting especially when you consider the plethora of books, periodicals, web pages, and bloggers all chiming in with what they hope will be a panacea for the world. If we are not careful, information overload can lead to paralysis. There is so much to do in life with seemingly so little time. One must first begin with prayer. Where and how might you further the Kingdom of God on earth? Pray, watch and listen for a gentle nudging or bullhorn to lead the way! You will know when it happens. The harvest is always plentiful, but selecting the right place can be tricky.
Many of our parishes have outreach ministries that are traditional, innovative and everything in-between. There are also organizations in your community that need volunteers. Take a step forward into the mission field and be the light of Christ. Finally, don’t be fooled by exterior appearances, the poor, middle class and wealthy all have needs.
Click here for a list of Outreach Projects that our churches are sponsoring.
Q. What is the mission of the Church?
A. The mission of the Church is to restore all people to unity with God and each other in Christ.
Q. How does the Church pursue its mission?
A. The Church pursues its mission as it prays and worships, proclaims the Gospel, and promotes justice, peace, and love.
Q. Through whom does the Church carry out its mission?
A. The church carries out its mission through the ministry of all its members.
The Book of Common Prayer - The Catechism, pg. 854
Live on the average Food Stamp benefit of $30 per week
Often we think of racism only on a personal level, but an ongoing injustice in the Church and in our society is the sin of systemic racism. It plagues us by giving privilege to some at the expense of others. Through sharing our stories and learning how racism still affects us today, together we can dismantle systemic racism and become a church that welcomes all equally.
Seeing the Face of God Workshop Dates
The Rev. Canon Angela Shepherd
ashepherd@episcopalmaryland.org
410-467-1399 Ext. 375
800-443-1399