Global Missions Committee

Our Mandate:
The Global Missions Committee is charged by the vestry both to encourage and to represent the parish in work outside the United States. The Presiding Bishop, Katharine Jefferts Schori, has challenged the Episcopal Church to become companions with others around the world, to love and care for one another. Both challenges are based on Jesus’ parable of the good Samaritan, his response to the question, “Who is our neighbor?”

Partnership with San Patricio in Honduras:
Our partnership with the parish of San Patricio includes a mission trip in May 2007 and a second in May 2008. Hondurans and Americans, including parishioners from St. Matthew’s parish in Hillsborough, worked together hammering nails and digging a ditch, training young acolytes, doing dental screening, teaching Vacation Bible School, and exploring micro-business opportunities. The Rev. Eduardo Monson made a visit to preach at Chapel of the Cross.
In support of an enduring and fruitful relationship, the vestry has funded a three-year commitment, parish children sent gifts for furnishing a small house for little girls, Social Ministry has sponsored two children in an orphanage, and the Episcopal Campus Ministry made a spring mission trip to El Hogar, a nearby orphanage and technical school for boys.

Partnership with the Parish of St. Peter and St. Paul in South Africa:
In April 2007 a delegation from the Parish of St. Peter and St. Paul and the Kwasa Center, a nursery school for small children who live in Springs, South Africa, visited the Chapel of the Cross. Parishioners responded generously in their homes and at an African lunch between services, sending $5500 for scholarships so that little girls might continue in primary school when they graduate from Kwasa. This commitment is part of the Chapel of the Cross’s support of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those related to the education of women.

Diocesan Partnership with Botswana:
Under Bishop Michael Curry’s leadership, the Diocese of North Carolina has a new mission with Botswana, presenting us with new opportunities. Anglican Bishop Musonda Trevor Mwamba visited the Convocation in January 2008 where he signed A Companion Link for Ministry between the Dioceses of North Carolina and Botswana. An aspect of this new and evolving relationship includes partnerships not only with Botswana parishes but with other North Carolina churches.

Our Organization:
All are invited to participate in the Global Missions Committee which meets on the second Monday of each month at 7:00 pm. As our involvement with others grows, the need for more hands-on help also expands. Please contact Martha Dill, Margie Will, or other committee members Ann Henley, Jerry Cotton, Cliff and Linda Haac, the Rev. John Keith, Barbara Day, the Rev. Dr. William H. Joyner, Vestry liaison Ann Craver, or the Rev. Victoria Jamieson-Drake.