Our purpose

To bring education to those denied the opportunity; to reduce barriers to education – more fully, the vision statement of May 2013

Mission:  

To minister to the children of St. Matthieu’s School in Bayonnais, Haiti, by supporting their education through prayerful collaboration, personal connection, and monetary contribution.

Vision:  

• To bring hope to the children of St. Matthieu by equipping them with the elementary education that will enable them to live fulfilling and productive lives in 21st-century Haiti and that will instill a love of learning that will continue to reward them throughout life.

• To set these children on the path to making meaningful contributions to Haiti’s future, as educated and informed citizens with the skills and values Haiti needs.

• To recognize the centrality of St. Matthieu’s teachers, providing them with classroom materials, training, encouragement, and support.

• To encourage the families of St. Matthieu’s pupils to invest in the future by keeping their children in school and encouraging their learning, and to recognize the sacrifices that may require.

• To enable St. Matthieu’s School to become a center for community improvement and a source of pride for Bayonnais

.• To remember the children of St. Matthieu and their families as our brothers and sisters in Christ in our worship, prayer, and parish life here at Grace Church.  To recognize the important things we learn and the many gifts that we receive from them

.• To create, within the community of Grace, a nuanced understanding of the complexities of true partnership in a developing country, and to fulfill our baptismal promise to respect the freedom and dignity of every individual.  

• To provide avenues through which college students from the Haitian diaspora can “give back” to Haiti.  In this process, to strengthen ties between Grace Church and the Five Colleges.

• To serve as a model development project, in a country where many other well-intentioned development initiatives have failed.