St. John's World Mission Programs

The World Mission Committee met on January 14^th to begin to draft objectives for 2008 and beyond concerning our relationships with Hospital Albert Schweitzer in Haiti and with the Anglican Diocese of Lebombo in Mozambique.  In drafting objectives, the committee kept the following principles in mind:

• Well-formulated outreach objectives and activities should mutually reinforce the other three dimensions of St. John’s ministry: worship, fellowship and education.
• World mission objectives should first seek to develop enduring relationships that benefit the spiritual, intellectual and social growth of the members of our congregation and those of the partner organization. Financial support, while it is an important means to this end, is secondary.
• World mission programs are assets that can be used to strengthen the relationships between St. John’s and the local community, the Diocese of Connecticut, and other parishes of the Diocese.

 L'Hôpital Albert Schweitzer, Deschapelles, Haiti (HAS): The committee agreed to focus St. John's efforts on establishing a relationship with a single dispensary and the community which it serves. (HAS is a distributed health system in which the hospital serves as the hub and the dispensaries as the spokes. Dispensaries provide front-line and preventive care, sending cases in need of more skilled care to the hospital.)  Our objectives include: improving maternal and child health in the district served by the dispensary by funding pre- and post-natal visits, constructing latrines to improve sanitation, funding malnutrition therapy and education, and establishing a forum for ministers from Haiti and the U.S. to share experiences and best practices for pastoral care or seriously ill patients. Possible future activities include: a World AIDS Day Service, a work-team visit to the dispensary, and education events on Haiti, HAS, and Albert Schweitzer.

St. Stephen’s Community Center, Matola, Mozambique: The committee agreed that St. John's over-arching objective is to help the Centro attain financial stability. Since the Mennonite Central Committee withdrew regular funding two years ago, St. John’s has provided the Centro with its only reliable source of income, typically between $4,000 and $5,000 per year depending on the results of Alternative Giving. Adelaide Munguambe, the Centro’s founder and director, estimates that funding the Centro properly would require about $100 per child per year or $20,000 per year total. We agreed that commitments should be made to fund a child’s entire 5-year education at the Centro (K-4). Possible future activities include: a significant fundraising event, a Sunday School project, visits to Matola, sharing the stories of Centro students, families and staff, a World AIDS Day service and developing relationships with AIDS patients, caregivers and researchers in Connecticut.

Click here to read a recent report from St. Stephen's

Cathedral of St. Augustine, Maciene, Mozambique: The Cathedral at Maciene is the mother church and spiritual center of Anglicanism in Mozambique. Under the leadership of Bishop Sengulane and Dean Carlos Matsinhe, the cathedral is being developed as a national resource for leadership and skills development. Draft objectives include: providing support for students to attend the leadership school and for the reconstruction of the cathedral. Possible future activities include: parishioners serving as instructors at the leadership or vocational school, commissioning a banner, altar cloth or vestments from the industrial arts school, and construction or engineering professionals reviewing plans for the cathedral and leadership school.

NetsForLife, Mozambique: Malaria is one of the biggest health problems facing Mozambique, a coastal plain through which many of Southern Africa’s greatest rivers pass on their way to the Indian Ocean. Nearly one in five Mozambican children dies of Malaria before they reach their fifth birthday. Anti-malarial bed nets, which cost $5.65 apiece, have been donated in significant quantities, including by St. John’s parishioners as part of Alternative Giving for Christmas. Lack of funds for distribution, training and follow-up, however, blunt the impact of these life-saving gifts. The objective for malaria relief, therefore, focuses on these needs. Possible future activities include: visits by St. John’s parishioners to Mozambique to deliver nets, malaria education and an Africa Malaria Day (April 25^th) service.

The Anglican Diocese of Lebombo, Mozambique: As an over-arching objective, the World Mission Committee seeks to strengthen the relationship amongst St. John’s, the wider Diocese of Connecticut, and the Diocese of Lebombo. There are clearly many opportunities for service in such a relationship, both for Mozambicans and Nutmeggers. One way we can achieve this is by getting to know the 45 clergy of Lebombo, who serve 300 widely dispersed parishes, and to provide them with supplemental stipends. (Clergy make less than $2 per day, although they receive other support such as housing.) Possible activities include: developing a Lebombo-CT cycle of prayer, continued exchange visits or sermons by CT and Lebombo clergy and parishioners, and Portuguese lessons.