This past Christmas Eve, Stones Crossing Church contributed over $27,000 to provide access to clean water for the people of Chadirac in the mountains of Haiti. I want to give you an update on the progress of this project.
Background: Stones Crossing Church has entered into a strategic partnership with 410 Bridge united in the common vision of seeing communities in Haiti transformed through connecting churches to communities so that we can serve one another in the context of sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ. We sensed God’s hand clearly guiding us to make a 5 year commitment to the community of Chadirac.
Priority 1: The vast majority of sickness the people of Chadirac experience is directly connected to unclean drinking water. It is estimated the population of Chadirac is 13,700 people with approximately 60% children. Providing a consistent source of clean water would significantly alter the quality of life for this community. Potable water was identified by the Leadership Council of Chadirac as the first priority.
Project Details: Through the strategic partnerships of 410 Bridge and Water Missions International, the water project will tap a spring centrally located within the community. Below is a picture of the spring as it is currently.
The project includes the construction of two 50,000 liter cisterns that will collect the water and have three outflows. The first outflow will be for a non-potable water, coffee washing station. The second outflow will fill a wash basin for clothes washing and watering for livestock. The third outflow will source a 15×15 building, housing a solar-powered(chlorinated) water treatment and storage system. The structure, once completed, will require minimal maintenance.
Once the specific site of land for the water treatment station has been officially deeded to the community of Chadirac, funds will be released and construction will officially begin in April.
Vision for the Future: Our vision as a church is to partner with the Chadirac Leadership Council to continue to develop access to clean water, quality education for the children on the mountain and provide pastoral training for the churches in Chadirac. Our ultimate vision is simply to build relationships with the people of Chadirac for the sake of eternity.
How You Can Help:
- Pray for the people of Chadirac! We believe we can have a great impact, but it will only be facilitated by the grace of God. Pray that God will grant us success with the water project, so that our spiritual influence with the people will grow.
- Go to Chadirac! We are in the process of planning a Fall trip to Haiti. We would love to send a team of 10-12 people. The goals of this trip will be to build relationships, provide pastor/church leader training, possible construction, agricultural labor and a Bible school for the children of Chadirac. We have scheduled a Haiti Mission trip meeting for April 29th. For more information, contact Tim at tsutton2@iupui.edu.
Posted 1 month, 2 weeks ago at 3:29 pm. Add a comment
I just received word that Matt Richardson has officially accepted an offer to become our Pastor of Student Ministries! We are so excited about Matt joining our ministry team at Stones!
Matt is a graduate of Center Grove High School and will graduate in May from Cincinnati Christian University with a B.S. degree in Youth Ministry. Matt has completed several internships at various churches including Vineyard Community Church in Cincinnati, Ohio in 2009, Stones Crossing Church in 2010, as well as Northside Christian Church in New Albany, Indiana in 2011. Called into ministry soon after graduating from high school, Matt has a real passion for helping students experience the life-changing work of the Gospel. Matt is a gifted communicator and a solid leader.
Matt’s start date is May 21st. We are thrilled about having him on our staff!
Posted 1 month, 4 weeks ago at 5:15 pm. Add a comment
If you are like me, you probably started your day with a cup of coffee. If you are really like me, you drank two cups of coffee! You might be thinking, what does our Haiti mission trip have to do with coffee? The answer is a lot. We spent most of the morning planting coffee beans today.
Have you ever even considered the process of growing coffee beans? I never did until today. It is a real lesson in patience and the people of Chadirac have more patience than I do.
Let me summarize the process for you and share with you what we did today.
1) Preparing the Ground. This involves getting the soil ready. We had to til the soil with very basic tools(breaking up clumps of dirt) and create rows of planting trenches.
2)Mulching and Planting. With small amounts of mulch placed in the trench, we planted coffee bean seeds end to end down an entire row and then we covered the seeds and mulch with dirt.
3)Watering and Covering. The water had to be brought in from a local spring in small buckets. Kids from the community were doing this. Then we covered the rows, once they were watered, with palm branches. It really did make us think of Palm Sunday! The palm branches covering the seed beds helps to hold in moisture.
Our team with the help of some of the people from Chadirac, completed steps 1-3 today. We had so much fun. We saw an empty field completely transformed in 2 hours. When we finished, they sang a song to us in Haitian Creole. The words of the song were “Two heads working together bring about good things.” It sure did today. Then they asked me to pray. I prayed for our work to produce a great crop and that every person on the mountain would know it was from the hand of God. They were smiling ear to ear at a job well done!
But the process does not end here. Get this.
4)Watering and More Watering. These seed beds will have to be watered by hand every day for the next two months! They will have to remove the palm branches and replace them as they bring water in the from the spring every day. Every tender shoot has to be protected and nurtured for 2 months.
5)Removing and Replanting. These plants after two months will be transferred to a new location where they can grow into full coffee trees all over the mountain.
It will take two whole years before the people of Chadirac will see a crop. Think about it…two years. To me, that is a long time to wait. Once the coffee cherries are harvested, they will have to be peeled and then washed at a coffee washing station. The coffee washing station will be located at the site of the water project our church helped fund and build. That was a huge reason why the water project is such a big deal.
The beans will be sold to Land of a Thousand Hills for coffee production. The money will go into a community fund to help cultivate more coffee beans as well as to help the orphans and widows of the community.
They are so hopeful for a prosperous future for their community, but they will have to wait a long time.
And if you start purchasing your coffee from Land of a Thousand Hills, you will be helping the people of Chadirac develop a “Micro-Industry.” Perhaps when you enjoy that next cup of coffee, you will think and pray for the people of Chadirac.
Posted 2 months, 2 weeks ago at 11:48 pm. Add a comment
