St. John’s has partnerships with the parish of St. Philippe et St. Jacques in Gressier, Haiti; a Catholic mission in San Lucas Toliman, Guatemala; and the village of Nueva Providencia in Guatemala.

Haiti Partnership

The Episcopal Diocese of Haiti is the largest Diocese in The Episcopal Church USA. Through the Diocese of Haiti’s Parish Partnership Program, St. John’s has been connected with the parish of St. Philippe et St. Jacques in the village of Collin, Gressier.

Through donations from St. John’s parishioners, we have paid teacher salaries at our partner school since 2007. With our help, the school has grown from 120 students, preschool to sixth grade, to nearly 400 students, preschool to tenth grade. Students are able to attend school without paying any tuition.

If you would like to be part of the Haiti Partnership or travel to Haiti, please contact the chair of the Haiti Committee, Dianne Pizey.

Guatemala Partnership

Since 2009 St. John’s has made annual trips to Guatemala to work with the Catholic Mission in San Lucas Toliman on the shore of Lake Atitlan in the western highlands. Recently we have begun to partner with a small village outside of San Lucas Toliman called Nueva Providencia.

Nueva Providencia was created after the coffee crash of 2004 when coffee prices dropped precipitously and the coffee plantation went bankrupt. The mission at San Lucas bought the land from the finca and relocated former finca workers and the survivors from of a landslide to the land that has become Nueva Providencia. Consisting of about 45 families, Nueva Providencia now has a school, a water system, and a solar-powered and hydroelectric generating system.

St. John’s has worked on the water system, the hydroelectric system, helped to raise money for a new footbridge, installed fuel-efficient stoves, help build an addition to the school, supply a library for the school, replace a small footbridge, and helped with road construction.