New Around the Mission

February 17, 2010

Letter from Bishop Johnston

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

Posted By: Cynthia P. Brust
Categories: Recent News