She went to Haiti in 1986 to serve as a missionary nurse. She began as the director of N.E.W. Mission’s medical clinic. Later, she became the mission’s Deputy Director and the Primary School Director.
 

After much prayer, Mary Jane left N.E.W. Mission in May 1994 to seek the Lord’s will for her future. She considered other countries, but finally, she was led to start a new ministry in Haiti. She began the founding process by filing the necessary paperwork and appointing a US board of Directors. On September 21, 1994, Living Hope Ministries in Haiti, Inc. was founded as an independent, faith-based evangelical ministry.
 

With a total of $6,000 in contributions, Mary Jane and Pastor John Taranto flew to Haiti in February 1995 to locate property for the mission. Most of the properties they visited cost between $50,000-$150,000 USD. The Lord, however, led them to a mission called Caribbean Mission for Christ (CMC), located in Mariani, Carrefour, about 15-20 miles outside Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti. CMC allowed LHM to use their property for three years. Mary Jane returned to Haiti full-time and inherited eight Haitian staff, a house, and a beat-up truck from CMC.

The original purpose of LHM was to establish a school of ministry to train up young Haitian men and women to change their families, communities, and nation with the Gospel of Jesus Christ in word and action. Over the years, the Lord has continued to transform the mission as the needs of the Haitian community have changed: the boy’s home, a church, a primary school, a clinic, a trade school, and other community projects.
 

Andris Jolibois, an electrical and mechanical engineer born in Haiti, became the temporary mission administrator in November 2002. In April 2004, the US Board of Directors voted to install Andris Jolibois as LHM’s Haitian Director. On July 2, 2005, Mary Jane and Andris were married. Since then, they run the mission together. He was ordained as a minister in 2007 with Commissioned Ministers Network.

Many years later, much has changed, but much has remained the same. The Haitian people need an education, but more importantly, they need Jesus. Many Haitians have been saved and lives are being changed. The mission has a licensed and government-recognized primary school (pre-K to 6th Grade) serving hundreds of students; a trade school (cooking, welding, business, sewing, tailoring, embroidery, arts, and music) serving over 300 students; and a fully constructed and active church.

Today, we remain a non-profit organization dedicated to bringing the hope of the Christian gospel to the Haitian people through education, community, and charity.