TOPEKA--A project to build a manse, or parsonage, on the island of La Gonave, Haiti, will be the beneficiary of an appeal from the Star Thrower Society in the Kansas East Annual Conference.
The project is one of three specific needs identified by Gesner Paul, president of the Haitian Methodist Church, and included in the partnership agreement adopted by members of the Kansas East Conference at its annual session June 10 at United Methodist Church of the Resurrection.
“Our conference has had a close and caring relationship for many years with ministries in Haiti,” said Claudia Bakely, chairperson of the Kansas East Conference Global Ministries.
Having a place for a minister to live on the island of La Gonave is important to Paul because he was once leader of the circuit that includes the island, and he knows first-hand what a disadvantage it is not to have a place for clergy to stay there.
The inspiration for the Star Thrower Society comes from the story “The Star Thrower” by poet/scientist Loren Eiseley. In the story, Eiseley encounters a young man walking the beaches of Costabel early in the morning throwing starfish that had washed ashore overnight back into the ocean. Eiseley suggested to the young man that he could hardly make a difference as thousands of starfish wash ashore every night on thousands of miles of beach. The young man slowly bent to pick up another starfish and gently cast it into the ocean, replying, “It made a difference to that one!”
The Star Thrower Society is a way for ordinary people to participate in God’s enveloping mercy and make a difference one need at a time. The Star Thrower Society hopes to give people a new or better chance at life.
“God is using you to touch many lives,” Bakely said.
To become a member of the Star Thrower Society or to make a one-time contribution to this project, download the July Star Thrower Society letter and send the return slip with your contribution to Treasurer, Kansas East Conference, PO Box 1831, Topeka, KS 66601-1831.
