Parish Ministry Website

Description of Ministries:

Mary Queen of Peace is establishing a sister parish relationship with Our Lady of the Annunciation (OLA) Cathedral Parish In Tamale, Ghana. Last year we partnered with St. John Vianney (Kirkland), In a trip to Ghana to celebrate the boreholes that we had funded In the Northern region of Ghana and to help build a house through Habitat for Humanity In Kumasi, Ghana. This year we are also participating in putting in boreholes in Northern Ghana and will spend time with OLA fleshing out our sister parish relationship.

Description of fundraising efforts (if any):

Mary Queen of Peace funded one borehole, in 2007, and is doing the same this year through our parish tithing. We are just kicking off our sister parish relationship with a retreat (April 5), and so specific plans for fundraising will follow. Mary Queen of Peace collected soccer balls for distribution in Ghana, in 2007.

Collaboration with individuals or groups outside of the parish/community:

Mary Queen of Peace collaborated with St. John Vianney and W.A.T.E.R, a nonprofit through which funds are transmitted for the digging of boreholes.

Describe visits (if any) between your parish/community and your African Partners:

In 2007, our pastor, Fr. Kevin Duggan, and two members of MQP parish joined a three-week St. John Vianney trip to Ghana led by Jan Kline. This summer Fr. Kevin and members of MQP will again be joining Jan Kline In a 2 plus week trip to Ghana. In September 2007, Fr. Matthew Yittiereh, pastor of OLA, visited Seattle for two weeks and MQP co-hosted him along with St. John Vianney. In January, Thomas Awiapo of CRS, Ghana, visited MQP for a weekend and spoke at all the Masses and several meetings.

How is your ministry organized and run:

We are just initiating a sister parish committee under the Human Concerns Commission to plan and manage our sister parish ministry.

Describe Youth Involvement (if any):

Since we are early in the planning stages, we are still working this out. It is our intention to use our sister parish relationship to educate and involve all parts of our community from children and youth through seniors.

Describe areas of expertise that exist in your mission work:

In this initial planning, it is too early to say.

What other information would be helpful for others or your community to know/learn from:

We expect to learn a lot from others at the conference.

What would you like to see or experience at future conferences

This is our first conference, so we are really here to learn from others and be inspired