Foreign Outreach
Canterbury's Foreign Outreach
Foriegn Outreach
Chair: Warren and Anne Marie Smith
foreignoutreach@stthomascanterbury.net
Our
foreign outreach committee consists of:
Warren and Anne Marie Werner Smith for the Philippines and Kenya,
Sally Barlow and Pam Brown for the Faith Alive AIDS Clinic in Nigeria,
Dave Tod for the African Team Mission (for which he sells crafts
from Africa once a year,) Kurk Klossner and Carol Klossner (generous
sponsors), Linda Hixon,who regularly travels at her own expense
to bring medical aid to developing countries, Laura Hughes has also
begun helping with contributions to a girls' school in Nairobi.
Our Outreach
Overseas
As a whole the people of Canterbury have been extremely generous with time and money. Linda Hixon just returned from Nepal, where she went on a dentistry outreach with her son Ricky. In the Philippines, we have sponsored two seminarians at St. Andrews Theological Seminary, Florence Ayban and Helen Papsa-ao. They have both graduated. Helen plans to enter the Anglican priesthood; Florence is already a priest and has a Chinese congregation in Manila (she has had to learn Mandarin in order to give sermons!). We were also sponsors of a movement to free elderly women prisoners from the Correctional Institute for Women in Manila, and these efforts paid off in 2005 when the Philippines president pardoned many of the women whom we were sponsoring. Most recently we sent a contribution to repair the church of St. Isidore the Farmer in Romblon, Philippines, under the Rev. Josie Atilano. They have already repaired the church (which was destroyed in a typhoon) and are holding services again.
The
Faith Alive mission in Nigeria is a
very ambitious project. Here is their web site:
http://www.faithalivenigeria.org/
And in Kenya,
we are in partnership with
the Rt. Rev. Lawrence Dena (in picture on right with Anne Marie
Werner-Smith
and Archbishop Nzimbi),
assistant to
the Anglican Archbishop in Nigeria, who visited
and spoke at Canterbury last year and confirmed at St. John's
Cathedral. We are sponsoring two seminarians at St. Paul's United
Theological College in Limuru, Kenya, the Rev. Lucy Dawa and the
Rev. Edward Mgaza, with the help of the N.W. Deanery.
We
have also been assisting the nursing school at St. Luke's Hospital
near Mombasa, which has many needs. The Diocesan Committee awarded
St. Luke's Hospital $2500 in 2008 for support of the nursing school.
We have many opportunities for involvement,
in particular for the Nursing School in Kenya. We need some help
and advice from anyone, particularly people who are already involved
in health care and know something about it, who might help us
get textbooks and supplies, or who would simply like to give that
school a financial contribution.
Episcopal Relief and Development
ERD
Episcopal Relief & Development (ERD) is the international relief and development agency of the Episcopal Church of the United States and an independent 501(c)(3) organization. The agency takes its mandate from Jesus' words found in Matthew 25. Its programs work towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals. Together with the worldwide Church and ecumenical partners, Episcopal Relief & Development strengthens communities today to meet tomorrow's challenges. ERD rebuilds after disasters and empowers people by offering lasting solutions that fight poverty, hunger and disease, including HIV/AIDS and malaria.
Episcopal Relief & Development has
launched its blog:
http://blog.er-d.org/blog/episcopal-relief-and-development
Click on the link to view up to date, in-depth stories directly
from the field.
To support Episcopal Relief & Development's work, please visit
www.er-d.org or call 800.334.7626,
ext. 5129. Gifts can be mailed to Episcopal Relief & Development,
PO Box 7058, Merrifield, VA 22116-7058.
