St. Mark’s and St. Andre — Over Twenty Years Together
The Latest from Canon Serena
Long-time St. Mark’s member Canon Serena Evans Beeks, D.Min., is US Coordinator for Haiti Episcopal School Partnerships. Over the past 20 years, whenever political conditions allowed, she has traveled to Haiti, sometimes several times a year. Read her latest posting below about the country, the people, and our paternership with St. Andre in Trinon.
Mirebalais
Dear Haiti Friends, One last message for today. This note came from Wendel Dorsainvil, asking us all to remember the first anniversary of the attack on the town of Mirebalais. Many of you know Wendel as a faithful acolyte at St. Pierre Mirebalais. You may also know...
Haiti Episcopal School Partnerships spreadsheet
Dear Haiti Friends, As promised, attached is the very-much-in-need-of-attention spreadsheet of US Episcopal School partnerships with Haitian Episcopal Schools plus some of the parish, consortium, and individual partnerships with Haitian Churches/Schools. I'm aware...
WORK: an update on our families, other news, a recommendation, and a reques
Dear Haiti Friends, Below my signature please see an update on their progress in Haiti from the organization WORK, supporting dignified jobs in effective and sustainable recycling projects in Haiti. Basically, they started in a small way trying to help the people who...
From Haitian Hope: Phishing Attack + articles about Haiti
Dear Haiti Friends, Below my signature please see a message from Haitian Hope regarding a phishing attack through an e-vite -- you are reminded NOT to open e-vites to events you are not already aware of. And may I say that anyone who attempts to scam Haitians or to...
Announcement of the Passing of the Reverend Father Berthold Phanord
Dear Haiti Friends, I am sorry to share with you word of the passing of the Rev. Pere Berthold Phanord. Please see the letter below from Pere Kesner Gracia and the attached announcement from the Standing Committee of the Episcopal Diocese of Haiti. I know that many...
Central Plateau Shelter Project, Fund Transfers, Prayer Service for Haiti
Dear Haiti Friends, Shelter Project: I am happy to tell you that construction on the shelter project for displaced persons in the Central Plateau has begun. Mirebalais is still under gang control, and more than 200,000 adults and children have been forced to seek...
Sad News from Agape Flights
Dear Haiti Friends, Carolyn Hamm has forwarded the sad news that an Agape Flights airline crashed in the mountains near Jeremie and there were no survivors. You know Agape as the missionary flight service that carries our letters to Haiti, the only mail service...
TPS Deportations blocked temporarily
Dear Haiti Friends, A Federal judge has just given our Haitian friends in the U.S. some breathing room: https://www.nytimes.com/2026/02/02/us/haitians-temporary-protected-status-trump.html?unlocked_article_code=1.JVA.Dhou.7ZQ4jVzXgFf4&smid=url-share It's not the...
The end of TPS; Haitian Art in Greenwich, CT; Government dissent
Dear Haiti Friends, If you are near Greenwich, CT, please see the message below from the Vassar Haiti Project about their sale of Haitian art at the end of February. If you can't get there, they always have Haitian art available on their website, The Haiti Project |...
You are invited…
If you will be in the area, you are invited, but RSVP to Karen Wires before January 24 in order to give the seminary and accurate head count for lunch and for seating. Many thanks to Virginia Theological Seminary for their sponsorship. Serena Evans Beeks Canon Serena...
The partnership of St. Mark’s with St. Andre’s Episcopal Church and School in Trianon, Haiti began in 2001. That year, one and then two parishioners began making regular visits, taking with them the offering from the St. Mark’s School’s Christmas Eucharist.
The relationship grew until 2007, when St. Mark’s members were able to make our first group visit. Since then, groups from the church and school have visited annually when conditions in Haiti have permitted.
Students at St. Mark’s School took the lead on such projects as a new four-room classroom building, a water project, and new school uniforms. Support from St. Mark’s pays teachers’ salaries, covers the occasional hot meal, and provides for repairs on the water system—which was damaged in the hurricanes of 2008—and the replacement of the old classroom building, which was damaged in the earthquake of 2010.
St. Andre’s was the first church and school on Haiti’s central plateau established by Bishop James Theodore Holly when he founded the Episcopal Church in Haiti in the early 1860s. Since its founding, St. Andre’s has offered a primary school for the children of local subsistence farmers. In Haiti, only 50% of the children have access to any education at all.
Please pray for the people of St. Andre’s, especially the children. If you can, give your financial support.
