Haiti Partnership

Almost 10 years ago, St. Mark began a relationship with St. Joseph parish in LaLomas, Haiti. St. Joseph is located in a rural, mountainous section of Gonaives called LaLomas. The sky is crystal clear, the mountains are beautiful and the people are filled with a faithful, hopeful spirit. 

We have 2 schools with a total of over 800 children.  When we started this relationship with St. Joseph, the schools went through 6th grade; they now go through 9th grade.  The children are excited to attend school and the parents, like parents everywhere, are very focused on their children getting an education! 

It is a fruitful and rewarding relationship that offers an opportunity for our parishes to pray for one another!  After prayer, our main focus is to provide a healthy lunch for the children during the school day.  Some of the children walk miles to attend school often without having eaten before leaving home.

St. Mark joins with 2 other parishes, Sts. Joseph & Paul in Owensboro, Kentucky and Holy Spirit in Stevens Point, Wisconsin to minister to our families in LaLomas.  St. Joe & Paul parish pays the salaries of the teachers with the help of Holy Spirit. Holy Spirit also contributes to the food program. 

St. Mark has traveled to LaLomas 5 times and both Father Eveneau (previous Pastor) and Father Max have had an opportunity to visit us!  We look forward to the day when visits between LaLomas and St Mark become possible again!

Please keep our Haitian brothers and sisters in your prayers and know that they pray for us every day!

If you are interested in learning more about our parish family in Haiti, please contact Sheila Bateman at Sheila_lamb@comcast.net.