Engagement Photos

BEN and JESSICA are GETTING MARRIED!!!!!!
It's official! On Sunday September 2, 2007, Ben Gustafson nervously got down on his knee at Longwood Gardens after a amazing display of fireworks (Jessica's favorite thing) requesting that Jessica Barone would take his hand in marriage! She responded in surprise by giggling excitedly. Thankfully he knows her well enough to know that her laughter is a good thing. She could hardly contain her excitement and it took several minutes before she could even look at the ring. While Ben had been planning the engagement for weeks, he certainly caught his bride-to-be off guard, she was completely clueless until he was on his knee! He had to ask a second time before his surprised fiance shouted "of course!"

We are ecstatic! Our families are ecstatic! The details are starting to get underway, but we are trying to drink it all in and enjoy this exciting time together.

We hope this announcement finds you well. For some it has been awhile since we have talked. Of the many things Ben and I have in common, our diligence, or lack thereof, with keeping in touch is one of them! We would love to hear what new with you. Please do not hesitate to give a call to catch up or hear more of the details; we like to share them.

All our love,
Jessica and Ben
aka the future mr. and mrs. gustafson...ooo thats weird ;)



Moments after Ben proposed!


Another couple nearby saw our special moment and offered to take a picture


The fountain in the conservatory where Ben proposed


Picture of us earlier in the day as we walked around the gardens


The fireworks


In Rittenhouse Square the day after our engagement


Another pict (thanks Christina for putting up with our "just engagedness"!)


The ring

Haiti: Chapter 4

It is an odd point in life when you realize that going to a place like Haiti has become a normal part of life. In the past, as I’ve ventured off on mission trips, there has been a sense of “I’m off to do the work of God,” as though I was leaving the normal pace of my life to serve the Lord. This year it seems that serving the Lord has become the normal pace of my life, and going to Haiti felt like a normal extension of that everyday life. Over this last year, I have started to break down the barrier in my mind between doing the things of God and living my everyday life. Serving Jesus is not a two-week trip once a year, or a Saturday morning outreach event, but it is an integral part of what it means for me to be a Christian. Every moment of every day is in honor of God. There is no distinction between holy work and normal work, no difference between the sacred realm of life and the secular realm of life. For Christ is Lord over all! This attitude in my heart as I traveled to Haiti was a fresh reminder of the work of the Holy Spirit in my life. Like watching grass grow, it never seems to move an inch until you come back a week or two later and the whole lawn is over grown, so it seems is the progressive sanctification, which God is working out in my life.

The purpose of the trip to Haiti this year was two-fold. First, I went to help prepare design documents for a gravity concrete dam. Second and more important, I went to encourage and journey alongside two engineering students from the University of Virginia, who are staying in Haiti for two months in order to begin to get their hands around what is this thing called “engineering missions.” John, Jonathan, and I stayed and worked with Bruce and Deb Robinson, the same two missionaries I have visited many times over the last three years, in the northwest sector of Haiti.


John (on the left) and Jonathan (on the right)


Deb, Bruce, Jonathan, John, and myself

It is quite an adventure to arrive in this part of Haiti. On Thursday, May 24th, I flew to Miami, where I met up with John and Jonathan. We spent the night in Miami getting to know each other and doing some last minute packing. Then early the next morning we flew from Miami to Port-au-Prince. After a short taxi ride to another airport, we took a small 21 seater plane Port-de-Paix in the north of the country. Unfortunately, our luggage did not make the voyage with us, but it did eventually arrive three days later! Bruce met us in Port-de-Paix, where we walked to the river, took a small boat across, and then hopped into the truck for the 1.5 hour drive to Passe Catabois, where we would be staying.


The beautiful lady who took me to the airport in Philly and then drove all the way to NYC to pick me up when i came back!


A view from the small plane we took from Port-au-Prince to Port-de-Paix

We arrived in Passe Catabois in the early afternoon. So after a quick bite for lunch, we set off to see the location where we would be designing the dam. Before going to the new dam site, we stopped by a dam which I designed a few years ago and was just built this last year. It was quite cool to see in real concrete what was once only existed as a picture in my mind and lines on paper. This dam was about 9 feet tall and was designed to reclaim farming land and to provide an emergency water source in times of drought. The Haitian construction crews had done a marvelous job building the dam, and it was functioning very well especially in reclaiming farming land. The man whose land was flooded had been able to plant a different crop which was going to yield him 4 to 5 times the profit of what he was farming before.


The 9' Dam


Another view


The resevoir behind the dam which will eventually fill up with dirt and sand and can be farmed on.

The dam we came to design is just upstream from the 9 foot dam, and is going to be quite a bit larger, around 40 feet tall at its highest point. The purpose of this dam is a different from the one previously built. Currently, when it rains in this region of Haiti, the rain rushes very fast down the slopes of the mountains and into the river, eventually dumping into the ocean miles away. In a place where water is scarce, this rain water dumping into the ocean is waste of an amazing resource. In order to take advantage of this resource, irrigation structures and canals have been built all along the river. Unfortunately when it rains, the water rushes so quickly and violently down the river that the canals are unable to capture as much water as is needed. So, this dam is designed to capture a large volume of rain water and release it slowly so that the canals have an opportunity to divert more of the water into the farm gardens over a longer period of time.


The location of the proposed 40 foot dam

The first week of my trip was spent surveying the proposed dam location. Over the course of three to four days, we collected hundreds of points of data which were used in order to create a model of the current conditions of the dam site. Sadrak, a new Haitian Engineer working with Bruce, also worked with us in this process (from survey to the design). He was a great engineer, a hard worker, and by the end of the couple weeks a good friend. Sadrak and I took time while surveying to train John, Jonathan, and Niva (another Haitian), how to use the survey instrumentation to collect data. They all learned quite quickly and were off surveying another location for a separate project a few days later.


Training Niva on the survey equipment.


Niva setting up the equipment and taking survey data


The survey team taking a break.


Sadrak (on the left) and Niva


John after taking an accidental plunge while trying to collect some points in the river. Looking good John!!

After completing the survey, we spent the second week inside the office processing the data and designing the proposed dam. Some of this time was also spent further training Sadrak, John, and Jonathan on an engineering program called AutoCAD. We were able to complete about 75% of the dam design, which is enough to send the drawings to other engineers for their advice and suggestions and to apply for grants in order to construct the dam structure. I will complete the design plans from the US when we have worked out the remaining details of the design with the help of some other engineers. From a both a technical and a teaching standpoint, the week was great success. I was able transfer some of my engineering skills, and as a team we were able to get some of the main design issues of the dam worked out.


Exciting office work with Sadrak, John, and Dustin (the guy on the far left who is another missionary in the area who we worked with)


Sadrak busting out his AutoCAD skilz

The two weeks was not all engineering work. We also had a few adventures and got out to meet and talk with people in the community. Each Sunday, we traveled to church at Poste Metier and after the worship service, we were treated to an amazing buffet of Haitian fare by the Pastor’s wife. Many afternoons when work was finished we joined a group of Haitian kids playing soccer. Jonathan also performed feats of strength for our entertainment such as eating a can of “Jack Mackeral in tomato sauce”, which is possibly the most disgusting thing I have ever seen. One morning, John got us out of bed at 4:30 in the morning to climb on top of the construction depots to watch the sunrise. And of course, the trip would not be complete with out a journey to the gorgeous beach. It was awesome to get to know John and Jonathan through our daily interaction and our Bible studies. The honesty, openness, optimism, and adventurous spirit of these two guys were a great encouragement and source of joy to me. And wow did they learn Creole fast!! I was blessed to share with them the first two weeks of their journey in Haiti. It was also great to see good friends that I had met on my previous journeys, both Haitian (Aletude, Chrisbon, Niva, August, Jan Walter, and many others) and missionaries (Bruce and Deb, Rob and Anne Marie).


John and I in our Sunday best


At the afternoon soccer games


Another pict from the soccer field


The Famous Jack Mackerel, which Jonathan devoured, earning himself the name "Panama Jack"


The sunrise from the top of the depot


John and Jonathan's smiling faces at 5:00 am after watching the sun rise


Our precarious method of getting up and down from the depot. And no mom, it's not as dangerous as it looks, really ;)


Jonathan at the beach


John hanging out with some of the guys in the neighborhood


Panama Jack



This fourth trip to Haiti was bittersweet for me, as it will most likely be my last for some time. God brought me to Haiti for a time to teach me to use my engineering gifts for others and to benefit His Kingdom. And now, I look forward to where He leads me next in order to use the invaluable things that I learned from Bruce and Deb and from my times in Haiti. This chapter in my life is coming to a close, but it is not yet finished. I have two or three projects which I began over the last few years that I need to complete this summer. It will be good to finish strong and well for both the Haitian people and for the glory of God. Please pray for my focus and determination this summer to wrap up these projects. Also, pray for John and Jonathan as they stay in Haiti until the end of July and for Bruce and Deb as they continue to allow God to use them to bring physical and Living water to the people of Haiti.


Boss Aletude, one of my close Haitian friends

Thank you all so much for your prayers and support over these last few years. It has been a crazy and amazing journey. Thank you Jesus for your constant guiding hand, your unending love, and stretching me in ways I never knew possible. And now for next chapter...