Sister Parish
In 1996, the Church of St. Michael became a sister parish to Parroquia Nuestra Senora del Perpetuo Socorro (Our Lady of Perpetual Help). It is a poverty-stricken parish with over 30,000 members that is located in northern Peru along the Pacific Ocean in Chimbote, Peru. Chimbote which is located south of Trujillo is a city of about 400,000 people whose main industries are fishing and a steel mill.

Father Jack Davis was ordained a priest for the Diocese of Fargo, North Dakota in 1969. In 1974, he moved to Chimbote, Peru to begin ministering to the poor. He is currently working at Our Lady of Perpetual Help. In addition to the main church, Fr. Davis has four satellite chapels in the neighborhood.

To learn more about Fr. Jack Davis and his mission in Chimbote, go to www.losamigos-chimbote.org.

Sister Peggy Byrne has been assisting Fr. Jack Davis at OLPH for over 15 years. She oversees the education programs (tutoring for public school students and religious education programs), the Human Rights Office, social workers and programs for the elderly and for the disabled.

Sister Parish Committee
A Sister Parish Committee was formed so that our parish community can help our brothers and sisters in Chimbote. The following is the committee's Mission Statement:

The Sister Parish Committee of the Church of St. Michael, Prior Lake, MN is committed to establishing, nurturing and maintaining an ongoing spiritual and humanitarian relationship between the people of the Church of St. Michael, the people of Our Lady of Perpetual Help and the people of Chimbote, Peru. The committee will focus on sharing our time, talent and treasure to minister to the spiritual, physical, medical and emotional needs of our brothers and sisters in Christ.
The Committee meets from September - June on the first Wednesday of each month in the Parish Office building beginning at 7:00 p.m. Everyone is invited to attend.

Sister Parish Sub-Committees:
Benefit Dinner: An annual dinner for the Twin Cities area is sponsored by our parish to solicit monetary donations and to offer Fr. Davis the opportunity to inform benefactors of the current status and progress of programs. The 2009 Twin Cities Gathering will be held on May 15, 2009 in Archangels Hall.

Communications: A link between the committee and the parishioners of St. Michael (see the Sister Parish bulletin board in the Archangels Hall), Los Amigos and OLPH.

Container: An annual project from August to December to solicit, collect and package donations to be sent to OLPH. A list of needed items, location of the warehouse and its hours of operation will be available in August.

Education: A kick-off campaign to solicit funds to assist students in attending public school in Chimbote. This time is selected because the school year in Peru begins at the end of March and goes to the beginning of December.

Health: A mission to solicit supplies, medications and donations that will be used to support the clinic and hospice missions. Through the work of Fr. Davis and the various groups in the U.S., the first hospice in Peru was formed and is part of OLPH.

Homes: An annual campaign held in early December to solicit funds to build new homes or improve existing homes for the poor in the parish. Most of the homes are built from woven reeds, so the money is used to build cement block walls between homes to minimize the effects of fire.

Business Development: A fund raising committee to facilitate small business loans to families in extreme poverty to form a business. The committee raises funds for these loans through campaigns held every other year.

Trip Planning: An annual trip to our Sister parish conducted in February or March. Members of the Church of St. Michael and other faith communities are invited on the trip to experience and advance the mission of Fr. Davis and serve the spiritual and physical needs of the poor.

Unidos en Espiritu (United in Spirit): An activity that develops a personal relationship and spiritual connection between the people of OLPH and our parish. Some of the ways that this will be accomplished is through ongoing mutual prayer and biannual communication with a "prayer partner" in Peru.