Jessica Stone

Easter.

Yes, it’s a long time passed now, but just wanted to give you a peek into what/how we celebrated this year. I’m keeping in mind the “catching up” theme-since I am so far behind on posts, so this will be short.

First we got together and had a yummy meal. We each brought something, potluck style, which turned out to be super fun. Seems like we were all missing traditional favorites served at home with loved ones, because each of us made a dish from back home. Now, more like tried to make, because Haiti doesn’t exactly have all the ingredients you are looking for. Which can make things fun, sometimes challenging too, when you try to re-create those favorite family traditional foods, and you fall short because you are working with very limited resources! But that didn’t stop all of us from trying! Then, we had a great time of diving in the Word. One girl, Kristen, prepared a great lesson type thing, that went through the whole Easter story-inlcuding going back into the Old Testament and talking through scriptures about prophesying the birth and death of Christ, then the life of Jesus, His death and resurrection. It was the first time I had heard something like that, shared in that type of manner, and it was wonderful. We took communion together, and had a great time of worship. It was lovely.

Then we finished off the afternoon with decorating eggs. And let me tell you, I forgot how fun it is! I haven’t done that in years. One guy, Hunter, because his wife was in the states, he was off the hook for cooking in the potluck-but he was in charge of candy and egg stuff. And he sure came through! We had tons of candy-which we all fought over the chocolate of course-and he even brought egg decorating stuff. We had so much fun!

Baking in the kitchen together! Wearing the aprons I got for my birthday! Aren't we so cute?? Terry made a yummy sweet carrot dish, Kristen made a family corn recipe, and Leticia made mashed potatoes...YUM.

That's right, blackberry pie (blackberries shipped in!!) What is a holiday gathering without pie?? And when grandma isn't around-nothing beats grandma pie- you have to improvise! That top you see there was my fourth attempt to get it right, and it worked out in the end.

Eating dip. Five seconds before this photo Brandon dropped of scoop of dip (laden with precious cheese and cream cheese) on his sandal and foot and much to everyone's shock and surprise he just scooped it right back up and into his mouth! No wasting cheese in this house!

Hunter even brought plastic eggs filled with candy-Kristen and I were loving it. We debated having a hunt, but seemed silly since it was just us adults, so we just ate the candy instead.

The cute table-I just can't help myself, I have to decorate the table too! From top to bottom-My mom's amazing recipe for yogurt chicken, Terri's yummy sweet carrots, and Kristen's tasty corn dish.

Game faces. Who can make the cutest egg??

Look at our cute eggs!! (No, Leticia didn't pee on herself, we got a little excited and one of the bowls of dye spilled all over her!!

Mississippi team-Crossgates Church

That’s right. That team we had almost a year ago came back to visit us!! Of course not everyone could come back to Haiti again, but two of them did. And it was so fun to see them again!! One man, David, brought his wife this time, which was super fun to meet the other half. She was so sweet, and brought us tons and tons of goodies too. She already knew Crossgates had a special place in our hearts, but she really wanted to make sure it stayed that way! The cool part was also meeting more people from that church-who had the same fun loving attitudes, and hearts that loved the Lord. The church (many of the people from the team that came a year ago, who sadly couldn’t come this time) sent us down fun things they knew we would enjoy. I’m talking chocolate, snacks, clorox wipes, photos from their last trip, cards, more chocolate-you know, all the essentials. It was so thoughtful and sweet! We had a great week with them, drilling in Milot. God once again provided the clean water, and we found it in the week that they were here-only the second time that has happened! It was beautiful.

Here are some photos that highlight the week. Of course, this is supposed to be the “Recap” version-so I tried to narrow it down to the best ones, it was hard!!

Let me start by reminding you (and it's good for me to have the reminder too!)why we love helping people/communities get clean water. This is where this community was getting water, at this river, about a half mile away.

I feel like it's the picture on the back of those old Highlights magazines-can you find all the things wrong in this photo??

One woman and her booth of "goods". This lady is selling a lot of what most people sell- spaghetti noodles, broth cubes, flour, garlic, pepper, onions, butter, tomato paste. All on the convince of the side of the road! Sure I don't have a real grocery store, but how many of you can walk down your neighborhood and find groceries you need right on the side of the road??

Ivenor showing Carly how to use the drill rig

The kids all gather around at recess to check out what is going on. Pretty fascinating stuff, and they were so excited to have a well right at their school!

The team prepared a Bible story and we spent one day going around to each class room and sharing the the story of the Living Water (Jesus!!) with them.

One of the many ways we are now having the community help with their wells-buliding the base/pad where the pump will sit. That in addition to many other things-including starting a water committee to make sure the well is taken care of and protected so it will last.

At the well dedication. This was the man who built the pad-he was very proud of his work, as he should be because he did a great job, and loved that he was honored and respected by coming up and pumping the brand new well.

At the well dedication- I love this photo. I can't take credit for it, it's Nathan's photo!!

The whole team from Mississippi- such a sweet group!

We took the team to the church right next to the school. We don't let anyone take photos in the church, only after everything is done. If people are real sneaky then that is okay. So this person kept the camera in her bag and caught a good shot. A very typical Haitian church-don't mind the odd angle!

A new well for Kids Alive

Here are the photos, like promised, from the well that we drilled for Kids Alive. This was done by the team from Austin Texas, a very sweet group who did such a great job drilling, interacting with the kids and community, and loving on those around them. The ladies who led some Bible stories were so prepared, which made my life so much easier, not to mention all the fun we had together!