New Around the Mission

The producers of the award-winning film As We Forgive announce the launch of the “40 Days of 4-Giveness” campaign during the Easter season. Starting February 17th, Ash Wednesday, the campaign invites churches and organizations to engage their communities in the topic of radical forgiveness by hosting film screening events to build a “Living Bricks” village of reconciliation in Rwanda.

Living Bricks is a project that equips repentant ex-genocide prisoners with the tools to build critically needed housing for their victim’s families, resulting in communities where former enemies live as neighbors through reconciliation. Operated by a partnership with Prison Fellowship International, the cost of each home is $5,000 with 100 percent of proceeds going directly to the village.

Joining the campaign are musician Sara Groves, author Gabe Lyons, journalist Mark Moring, author and pastor Mark Batterson, journalist and author Amy Sullivan and filmmaker and author Craig Deitweiler. Each week, read a blog post from these contributors with their reflections on forgiveness, reconciliation and redemption at http://www.AsWeForgiveMovie.com/

Building in Haiti before the Earthquake.

I have been asked by the Bishop of Haiti to assist him in the rebuilding efforts in Haiti – focusing on the mission and ministry of the Anglican Church in Haiti. I have known him and worked with him for over 20 years. Personally, his house was destroyed and his wife seriously injured. She has a broken leg and has had two surgeries to date.

His highest priority in this effort is to re-establish the education structure throughout the areas affected by the earthquake. In Haiti, schools provide not only intellectual opportunities, but they are also a delivery structure for faith, food, medicine and the basic social services that we might expect municipalities to offer. In Haiti, there are only two or three schools (all located in Port-au-Prince and all destroyed or damaged) that offer a high school education that would allow a graduate to go on to university studies both inside and outside Haiti. One of those is an Episcopal High School called College St. Pierre (1600 students). It was totally destroyed and still has over 300 students entombed in its rubble. The Bishop’s heart, as a first priority, is to re-build this school which all the other schools feed into (Anglican and otherwise, both those currently functioning and those destroyed). The country simply cannot put on hold for years to come the education of its brightest and best.

Building in Haiti after the earthquake.

I have felt called by God to step up to this leadership challenge, and I am attempting to put a team in place to work with me in developing a strategy to accomplish this work. So I am on the front end of this work, and I am trusting God for the leadership team to tackle this opportunity. I believe that this project has the potential not only to re-build a high school, but also to bring hope and encouragement to a next generation of leaders for a country that lacks Godly leadership at every level of its national life. Bishop TJ Johnston

Based on his 22-year history of friendship with the people of Haiti, Bishop TJ Johnston is continuing efforts to serve the country and model the heart of theAM to reach people with the Gospel. Travelling to Haiti just days after the devastating earthquake struck, Bishop TJ took $10,000 in contributions to help meet some of the immediate medical and nutritional needs of the victims and refugees. This impoverished nation continues to face enormous recovery and rebuilding work.

To read more about theAM’s ongoing response to Haiti, read Bishop Johnston’s blog here.

Read this recent letter from Bishop Johnston and watch for the full story about long term projects in our upcoming March edition of the Wave.

Donate funds for Haiti Earthquake Relief through theAM, here.

Bishop TJ Johnston is back from Haiti. Read about his time there and future ministry opportunities on his special Haiti blog. You can also view a video of his return to SC in our Multimedia section.

The Rev. Kevin Donlon

In the historic church, governance and polity are significant components as these contribute to the way we organize our life together. Bishop Chuck Murphy, in consultation with theAM’s Council of Bishops, has appointed the Rev. Kevin Donlon to serve as Canon for Ecclesiastical Affairs. In this role, Kevin will continue to provide advice and counsel on matters of church order, particularly about the complexities of canon law and ecclesiological principles. In addition, Kevin will assist in promoting a greater understanding of the norms of the Church in general and Anglicanism in particular with a focus on how the Province of Rwanda relates to the wider church.

Biographicsl Information
Kevin serves as Rector of Church of the Resurrection in Tampa, Florida. Over the last three years, he has served the church as a consultant in Canon Law to the Archbishop of Rwanda, GAFCON and the Conference of Anglican Primates in Africa. He is a member of the Ecclesiastical Law Society, Society for the Law of Eastern Churches, and the Canon Law Society of America. Having earned a degree in Canon Law from Cardiff University (UK) in 2007, he offers consultation to bishops, parishes, clergy and laity on matters related to Ecclesiastical Law.