And by the way, DonDon was just beautiful. It was so green and lush. We even found a huge waterfall! Oh, and it felt like home cause in the middle of nowhere, we turned a corner and you would never guess what we saw! A huge white sign in the mountains exactly like the Hollywood sign from LA! I laughed so hard and could hardly believe it! I’m talking exactly the same! A few people from the team took photos, I’ll have to post it when we get those from them. But it was so similar and thus so bizarre!

 

In addition, every day towards the bottom of the mountain there was an old man working away with wood. He was making several pilons, which are basically a pestol and mortar made out of wood. I have one at home, and use it pretty often. Haitians use one for almost everything they make. They mash up things like garlic, parsley, hot peppers, onions, etc, and add to just about everything. It make Haitian food Haitian, and it’s good good good. On the last day I told them what it was and asked if anyone wanted to buy one. They were so excited, especially cause they saw him working on them all week long!

One day we stopped to have lunch right by this beautiful river. It was so peaceful and quiet. We had a great time eating lunch, chatting, and enjoying God’s creation.

 

Here is another report from a community in DonDon. DonDon is an area way up in the mountains. We had to drive an hour and a half each way, every day, to get to them. But they sure needed some pumps repaired, and most of the communities were so thankful cause the only other source of water is the river, and it can be so far away in some places.  This particular little village was so wonderful, and we fell in love with the people and their hearts for the Lord and each other right away….

“This community was near and dear to our hearts from the beginning. We drove by on Monday to inspect and find out what was wrong with the well. Not only did it need all parts replaced, but it also needed a new pad. The old pad was worn down, chipped off and looked terrible. We told the community if they would repair the pad, we could come and fix the pump. And can you imagine our surprise when we drove back by that afternoon, and they had already started working on it! Brandon and Jessica were so amazed and proud of them that they had to stop and tell them that. The whole group from Crossgates got out and Jessica took a moment to pray with them and ask the Lord to pour out His blessings to the sweet old man and his son who fixed it.  The older man had holes in shoes and shirt and probably not a lot to his name-but he provided the cement and labor to fix the pad so his whole community could have clean water.  So, when we showed up Tuesday to repair that pump, we all felt like we were meeting with old friends. The whole community was there to see what was going on, and opened up the church for us to gather. Immediately men, women and children filed into the church and sat down.  Shannon, Anna and Jessica went through several hygiene lessons and Bible stories with them. Everyone was so quiet and listened intently to what they had to say. Since cholera had been to this small town, they all knew about washing hands and how important it was.  At the very end, Shannon asked if anyone wanted to give their lives to Jesus and two teenagers did. We were able to pray over them and with them- it was such a sweet time of fellowship.

The ladies, who talked about hygiene with those who had gathered in the church, were also able to share Bible stories as well. They did a few stories about Joshua and the city of Jericho. The kids loved it, and loved making the craft that went along with it. They listened very closely to the story about Jesus walking on water, many of them had never heard that one before. At the very end, Shannon asked if anyone wanted to give their lives to Jesus and two teenagers did. We were able to pray over them and with them- it was such a sweet time of fellowship. We were then able to have the pastor come up and pray over anyone and tell them if they had anymore questions about Jesus they could ask him.”

The ladies, who talked about hygiene with those who had gathered in the church, were also able to share Bible stories as well. They did a few stories about Joshua and the city of Jericho. The kids loved it, and loved making the craft that went along with it. They listened very closely to the story about Jesus walking on water, many of them had never heard that one before. At the very end, Shannon asked if anyone wanted to give their lives to Jesus and two teenagers did. We were able to pray over them and with them- it was such a sweet time of fellowship. We were then able to have the pastor come up and pray over anyone and tell them if they had anymore questions about Jesus they could ask him.

Every time we repair a pump with LWI, we write up a report. It’s three pages long, and it asks for lots of good information. We need to know all about the pump and specifics about every detail-things like how deep it is, where the water level is, when is the last time it was repaired, the GPS coordinates, all that stuff. But there are also many things on there that tell us about the community we are working in. We learn about how many people will be using the pump, where the previous water source was, what people do for a living in that community, what religions are there, how many schools, and other such things. In addition, we write down what was taught or shared at the pump. LWI used to just go in and repair a pump, pray with them afterwards, and head out. They are working on a whole different way of doing things- they want community involvement and buy in, a relevant and good way to share the gospel and involve the local pastors, figure out how to talk with people about health and hygiene habits. (All goals we are working towards in the near and distant future! ) Anyway, we  also interview a few people too, and take photos while we are there.

I am sharing this with you cause I would love for you to really get a grasp of what we are doing. It’s hard to explain sometimes, and especially when we are still figuring that out! (Thankfully, we are off to Texas soon -LWI headquarters- to get more questions answered!) But I wanted to share a few reports with you from this last week. It was the week while we had the Mississippi team here, and here are some of the things that happened…

This is two sections from the report, and this is about the community that we repaired the pump on Saturday-those photos I posted a few days back are from there. The community name is Paulette-

This particular community in Paulette was special. They only had two pumps for the entire community, and they were even sharing with the community next to theirs.  Living Water repaired this pump four years ago, and they have worked hard to take care of it and keep it working.  So, we wanted to reward this community by changing the whole pump and all the parts-even though it was still pumping out some water and not all the parts were broken yet. This was the first pump that Crossgates church was going to repair, and everyone was excited. Paulette is a village located way off the main road, so when we pulled in with ten white people, we were quite the spetical. Some of the team worked on repairing the pump while the rest of us played soccer with the kids and talked with women. We were able to talk with them about their hygiene habits and the importance of washing hands. They in turn walked us over to the local school to show us they had latrines and a special bucket thing to make sure the children washed their hands with soap. After the pump was repaired, our national LWI team member, Lafant, shared at the well too. He again emphasized the importance of keeping buckets clean and washing hands with soap. He didn’t have to talk too much about how to maintain the pump, because clearly this community valued clean water and took great care of their pumps.

Once Lafant was done talking about hygiene, Jim got up to share with the people from the community. He told them why this team from Mississippi, Crossgates church was here. He told them how people they don’t even know love them, and give so that their pump can be fixed and they can have clean water.  He talked about how important clean water is, but also how important it is to know Jesus who gives us Living Water. In addition, the pastor from the local church got up to share. He emphasized how we are all brothers and sisters in Jesus, and thanked Crossgates church for coming to visit their community. He prayed over the pump and those who were gathered and invited everyone there to his church on Sunday.

In addition, a report is usually sent to the person/church/organization who donated the funds to repair the pump. That way, they can know a little about what happened, what community they gave water to, and see a few photos. It helps to connect the people who give to those who receive clean water. The reports are lot of work, but they really are a great tool.