What would you like to know about St. Joan of Arc? Do you have a story about our parish or of general interest that you think others would like to hear? For story ideas, contact Jeff Rholl, jeff@stjoan.com. "Wherever you are on Your Journey"
Three St. Joan of Arc members travel to South Africa as AIDS ministers
 On August 20th, 2000, parishioner Chuck MacDonald(right) spoke at the Sunday homilies about his visit to South Africa and the International AIDS Conference. A letter Chuck wrote to his supporters also appeared in these webpages.
Read below as the saga continues... |
"Wherever you are on the journey"..is taking three St. Joan parishioners to
the AIDS ravished townships and rural areas of South Africa during the last
two weeks of October.
Father Jim Cassidy and Pat Murphy will accompany Chuck MacDonald on his
journey back to Cape Town to meet with some of the church and community
leaders in both the black and mixed race townships. They will also travel
into the rural areas to assess the needs in those locations. Chuck McDonald and
Kiersten Chace(the 4th delegate) have created an alliance to build a process that gives hope
and help to the South African people who are still struggling from the
affects of Apartheid: grinding poverty and the fast spreading AIDS virus.
Kiersten through her work at Carrousel Travel, has spent enough time in South
Africa to build strong friendships in the black and mixed race townships.
Five years ago Kiersten brought to America the Christian Explainers singing
group. St. Joan was one of the churches where this mixed race choir sang.
The fifth Minnesotan scheduled for this second trip is Leona Flaa, a
registered nurse and hospice worker. The group is
ecumenical and represents three denominations and a variety of health care
specialties. Jim Cassidy(right) and Leone Flaa are very interested in the clinic
and hospice work in the townships. Pat Murphy is doing work with Chuck
MacDonald and Kiersten Chace to see what can be developed as an alliance
between these suffering communities and a Minnesota Support group. Pat's
business expertise as a geriatric consultant and active St. Joan's volunteer
will be invaluable. Chuck and Kiersten are certified Red Cross instructors
in HIV/AIDS prevention and they will work with the South Africans on
developing some of the needed training.
This second group of AIDS ministers and volunteers is being named the Ubunto Group which is an African word meaning "People are people through other
people." A third group will travel to South Africa in February. That group
will be led by Kevin Winge, the Executive Director of Open Arms, who spoke at
St. Joan on August 20th with Chuck MacDonald. Kevin's group will focus on the cultural and nutritional world of South
Africa and spend time in the townships. If an alliance can be built that
incorporates the use of volunteers, then Chuck and Kiersten will lead a
fourth group to South Africa in the spring of 2001.
This small group effort has grown out of one man's response to a call for
help. Kevin Winge led three other board members from Open Arms to the XIII
International AIDS Conference in Durban, South Africa in July of this year.
Chuck, as a board member agreed to go and, seeing the need in the townships,
orphanages, clinics and hospices, determined to find some way of helping.
This second journey will be the beginning of an attempt to build a network of
assistance. Chuck says he is "not surprised that in the searching around for
help, two volunteers came from St. Joan of Arc". He believes it will be St. Joans
that will join with the other churches and groups to help the suffering
people of South Africa.
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If you are interested in working on the Alliance with South Africa AIDS
ministry, contact Chuck at Chuckmacdonald@comcast.net.
Currently help is needed to cover some of the transportation costs. |
One of our webreporters, Ronnie Angelus, is teaching a writing class at Grace House this fall. She submitted a poem from one of the residents.
 Red Ribbon of Love |
Back to South Africa
and
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| Chuck MacDonald is a parishioner and volunteer. He is on the leadership team of the Legacy Project, and ISAIAH’S Partnership for Justice. He currently half time in Art School and paints between projects. Chuck can be reached at Chuckmacdonald@comcast.net. |
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