Normally, in May, the FPC Mission teams are gearing up to organize June and July medical, dental, and vision clinic trips to Haiti and Bolivia. However, due the COVID-19 pandemic, both of these summer trips have been canceled. Our teams will truly miss helping our friends in person, but the FPC Mission committee voted in May to send our trip funds to Bolivia and Haiti to assist with work happening on the ground.
Haiti Mission Update
Through our partner Haiti Outreach Ministries, the ROCKStars and many FPC members sponsor students at HOM supported churches in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Unfortunately, due to the COVID-19 situation, all schools in Haiti have been closed since March. One of the many benefits that the students receive at the HOM schools is a nutritional lunch, which for many is their only substantial meal for the day.
With school being closed these students do not have other options to get fed this critical meal due to the economic hardships faced by their families. However, in March, HOM received permission from Rise Against Hunger (RAH) to distribute the RAH food packets to the students and their families so that they could prepare meals at home. This has been a wonderful partnership between FPC, HOM and Rise Against Hunger to make a small difference to the 1,500 students in the supported schools in Haiti.
Rise Against Hunger is an international hunger relief organization that distributes food and life-changing aid to the world’s most vulnerable, mobilizing the necessary resources to end hunger by 2030. In January of 2020, thanks to the generous donation of the FPC Foundation, our congregation participated in an intergenerational packaging event.
The Mission budget funds will be used to support the Haiti medical clinic operating expenses.
Bolivian/Korean Mission Update
The FPC/Bolivian/Korean Mission began in 1996. In 1993, Rev. Ik Bai Moon opened the Eden School in Santa Cruz, Bolivia, with support and financial assistance from the Suhnam Presbyterian Church in Kwangju, South Korea. Many FPC members, PW Circles, and several Church School classes sponsor Eden School students.
The FPC Bolivian summer mission trip gives FPC members a chance to interact directly with the Eden children and members of Rev. Moon’s community. On the June 2019 mission trip, 1550 individuals were fitted with prescription glasses and 600 Eden School children, grades K-12 received fluoride treatment.
With the current pandemic, many Eden School students are unable to pay tuition. However, the Eden School is operating online and continues to pay teacher and staff salaries. In order to keep the school running, Rev. Moon is faced with selling his personal car to meet expenses.
Our Mission budget funds, normally used to buy medical, dental and vision supplies, will be redirected to the Eden School for operating expenses.
-Kathy Johnson