For the past couple of years there has been a group of people in the DMV (Episcopal Churches in the three dioceses) who have been meeting and talking about our concerns about Haiti. Called the Haiti Advocacy Ministry, it is comprised of representatives from various parishes that have long time connections with priest, churches, schools, or hospitals in Haiti. I have been asked by Anne Derse to represent St. John’s with the group because of my work in Haiti. St. John’s has sent money several times to support the Episcopal school at Petit Harpon as well as money to support of the Bishop of Washington’s request for funds for the clergy and school where the gangs have taken over nearby villages.
What we hear in the news is about the gangs that have taken over so much of Port au Prince and towns in the central plateau. This is the news. What we don’t hear is about the Episcopal clergy that continue productive ministries or the hundreds of children who attend schools each day where they often get the only meal for that day. We don’t hear about the teachers who may walk miles to teach their children or the health care workers who climb steep mountains to see those unable to leave their villages. Life goes on in many positive ways.
On Saturday, February 28, at Virginia Theological Seminary, we will have a service of prayer for Haiti and remarks by Dr. Chuck Robertson on the current state of the Episcopal Church in Haiti. We will also break bread together and hear from Dr. Erlantz Hyppolite with who I worked with in Haiti years ago. I hope you will come and join us.
- The Rev. John Talbird
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