About Us and Our Ministry:
The Rev. Tom Parsons is a retired Presbyterian minister living in the
Adirondack mountains of New York. His wife, JoEllen, is a retired social worker.
Since the initial trip to Haiti in 2001, they have
been returning each year and getting to know more and more about the people and
their aspirations.
Headquartered in Jeremie ( link to "About Haiti" ), at the southwestern
end of the island, they have been working with the Free Methodist Church in
Jeremie. This church is the "mother church" to 9 small "outstation
churches" scattered through the mountainous region around Jeremie. In
2005, they visited many of these outstations and talked with the leaders about
their hopes and dreams.
These leaders had many concerns, but the one dream which they shared was for
education for their children. The small communities in the mountains
frequently have no schools and consequently the children have no opportunity for
education. Most of their parents do not read or write. And so later,
after much prayer and discussion with the church leaders in Jeremie, it was
decided to open a school in Labastille.
The ministry is sponsored by and is a mission of the Caldwell Presbyterian
Church in Lake George, New York. The school also receives support from 16 additional churches and several service clubs as well as many individuals.