4 By Hannah Wilder T


he Diocese of San Diego has a history of engagement with Episcopal Relief


and Development (ERD), the international relief agency and compassionate response to human suffering on behalf of the Episcopal Church. After the wildfires of 2007, ERD sent representatives to our diocese to train people as chaplains. ERD funds assisted with wildfire cleanup and long term recovery efforts.


During the 2009 General Convention, Terri Mathes, then president of Dorcas House, a foster home for children of prisoners, spent valuable networking hours with representatives from ERD.


“The goal was to leverage ERD’s extensive experience in effecting international social change to create real change for the people


Companion relationship with El Salvador


By the Rev. Leland Jones, co-leader of companion diocese relationship and priest-in-charge in Fallbrook


I


n 2008 our diocese entered into a companion relationship with the Diocese of El Salvador.


Since the initiation of this work we have had home and away visits to our respective diocesan conventions: Bishop Martin Barahona comes to our convention each February and Bishop Mathes, the Rev. Canon Suzann Holding, the Rev. Juan Acosta and I have taken turns attending theirs on Trinity Sunday weekend. The Rev. Carlos Garcia, priest-in-charge at St. Philip’s, Lemon Grove, led a Cursillo weekend in El Salvador. College students in our diocese have also made the pilgrimage to visit and work in Salvadoran schools and villages.


We are one of several entities to partner with El Salvador because the need is so great. Episcopal Relief and Development (ERD) has built six communities—simple houses, a church, school rooms and a clinic—and sponsors a doctor to visit each one every two weeks. Episcopal dioceses in Vermont, New York, Los Angeles and Ohio all journey alongside our brothers and sisters in El Salvador, helping to provide infrastructure, medical supplies and expertise, scholarships and more. Each of the above mentioned dioceses have invited us to participate with them; we are exploring these, and other, options.


Several lay and clergy who have participated in previous trips to El Salvador gathered in August to explore what our next specific work shall become. Our diocese will host the Most Rev. Martin Barahona, bishop of the Diocese of El Salvador,


COMPANION Continued on page 6


You’re Invited! Join friends from El Salvador, Noah Bullock and Bishop Barahona, for an evening of wine tasting on Saturday, October 1 at the Episcopal Church Center. Silent auction. All are welcome! 7p-9p. $20 in advance. $30 at the door. Details on edsd.org.


El Salvador


Rebuilding the soul of a nation The appeal to rebuild Holy Trinity Cathedral in Port-au-Prince, Haiti


M


ore than a year after a magnitude- seven earthquake wiped out 70% of


the Episcopal Church in Haiti, it remains clear that the church has been among the first and most effective responders during the ongoing crisis. During the weeks after the disaster, the bishop, clergy and staff of Holy Trinity Cathedral handed out food, water and tents to refugees who flocked to church properties. Episcopal Relief and Development moved in with medical support and temporary shelter. Over time, cash-for-work helped put some Haitians back on their feet.


This fall, the Diocese of San Diego will join the Rebuild Our Church in Haiti campaign to rebuild Holy Trinity Cathedral so that there will always be a place people can go during times of trouble, a place that will lift them up both spiritually and physically. At the instigation of the Standing Committee of the diocese, a leadership team (the Rev. Leland Jones, Jerry Campbell, the Rev. Rebecca Edwards, Pamela Wade and Sarah Shealy) has been created to guide this effort. The “Rebuild Our Church” program is a national project launched by the Executive Council of the Episcopal Church to encourage every congregation to participate in resurrecting the poorest and most populous diocese in the Episcopal Church.


The Diocese of Haiti is a member of Province II and home to nearly 100,000 Episcopalians with 97 parishes and 200 schools. In 2008 the Diocese celebrated over 200 baptisms and 700 confirmations. Per capita income in Haiti is about $480 a year.


This is a simple, grass roots appeal, designed to run for six to twelve weeks, beginning at a time that is convenient for each congregation and ending no later than January 12, 2012, the second anniversary of the devastating earthquake. The Standing Committee hopes that we might achieve a goal equal to a gift of $10 from each Episcopalian in worship on an average Sunday morning. Here in the Diocese of San Diego that is roughly 7,000 people! However, you will be invited to set a goal in your congregation consistent with your commitment and ability. Everything necessary to run the appeal can be downloaded from the internet, including a week-by-week guide for volunteers. Visit episcopalchurch.org/ HaitiAppeal.


Reaching Out Bey


Changing the lives of Mexico’s poorest connected to Dorcas House,” said Mathes.


These conversations laid the groundwork for innovative collaboration that is now beginning to take shape in our diocese.


Background In a city where 80,000 children do not attend school and 6,000 children live on the street, Dorcas House houses, feeds, educates and loves the most ostracized of this marginal population: the children whose parents are in prison.


Instead of merely caring for the casualties of Tijuana’s violence and poverty, Mathes wanted to go to the root of the problem and break the cycle that lands many children in orphanages, or in prison with their parents. Without resources and at least one parent in prison, most of these children ended up on the streets. Dorcas House is the only foster home


in Tijuana that accepts these children.


Under the capable, loving guidance of Tijuana native Sylvia Laborin, Dorcas House children receive shelter, three warm meals a day, medical attention, psychological therapy and education. Dorcas House staff members ensure that every single child is enrolled in school, and they provide after-school tutoring sessions. The children received such high marks that teachers began sending other school children to the foster home for help with their homework.


Dorcas House doesn’t stop there. They have organized and hosted parenting classes for people who don’t have the skills or knowledge to care for their children, rehabilitating them as parents so that families can be reunited.


This success demonstrated that Dorcas House CHANGING Continued on page 6


Mexico Haiti


X


For more information please contact Jerry Campbell, jerry@jlcampbell.net or the Rev. Leland Jones, lelandbjones47@yahoo. com. X


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