The medical team

The team has had one clinic and then a trip to the Citadel.  Today they are out at a Haitian church celebrating with Pastor Marc.  Then this afternoon they head out to Caracol and Pastor Payot's church.  They will do three days of clinic there, head home Wednesday afternoon and leave Haiti on Thursday.  They are doing a whirlwind trip.  

I was able to get out to the clinic at IDADEE and was amazed at how quickly they were set up and working.  They saw well over 200 patients in that one day.  Awesome work.  You can see they started the day with prayer.  One man had to be carried in, his legs and lower arms were paralyzed.  The doctors and nurses consulted and saw so many in need.  And we praise God for the person who donated almost all of the medicines to distribute.  God is doing a great work through so many who have made this team possible.  He brought the right people at the right time to get things accomplished.   

Haiti is still calm and in the "waiting" mode. (At least here in the north, not sure how Port is doing).  I assume most have heard that Jean Claude Duvalier has returned to Haiti.  This has also put the situation on hold.  Many waiting to see what this will bring about.  But we are thankful for the peace we have at this time.

Just wanted to post a few pictures and let you see what the team has been doing.  Remember to keep the Lord at the front and center of all you do.  When you put Him in charge, you'll stay on the right road.

Our teams have changed

Our first team has left and the medical team has arrived.  After they had a quick lunch, some went out to where they are going to do clinic tomorrow, the rest stayed at the dorm and packaged meds.  LOTS of work to do there and they did it.  Good to have some "old friends" and new faces here.  We know a lot will be accomplished and many helped while they are here.  Here are a couple of pictures of the "sorting team".

 Temperatures are warming up here.  Glad to be out of the cold snap we had.  I realize that upper 50's isn't near cold for most of you, but for here it's really cold.  

Lots of work to do, can't seem to catch up on things for some reason.  Maybe it's because a lot keeps coming in....hummm....how to curtail that?  Not sure, but am working furiously to get caught up on things.  

We had one of the pilots daughters come in for a VERY short visit.  She is doing her thesis on schools...not sure if it is centered on Haiti, but she was able to visit 4 schools here, ask some questions and get some photos.  She was a sweet gal and we sure enjoyed the short time with her.  

Abbie?  Well, Abbie is Abbie.  She still thinks the world revolves around her and everything was created for her.  She LOVES to pray.  And she practices being a preacher.  She does pretty good, but we won't tell her that.  I really think she believes Jesus is her best friend.  Listening to her pray, you know she knows God has His hands on her.  To be so young and have such faith is fantastic.  


Have a wonderful day and remember to keep walking with the Lord.  He will help keep you on the right path!!!

The gate and the team

We have a team in and they are doing great.  They spent 3 days at a small town called Caracol.  They built desks for Pastor Payot for the school.  They were also able to hand out some Christmas Bags.  I loved two of the photos Carolyn took.  They have a ton of photos, but those two really said it all.  Notice the first one....those three boys are so excited to see what is in that one bag.  Then the next one shows the girls and such sweet faces...aren't they precious?

 

 And the gate.  Well, it's hung.  But is just a bit too wide to close.  But it IS up there.  Needs some paint and a bit more work, but thanks to Bob, Larry (who is not in this picture), Ray and Don, the work progressed a LONG way.  Sure did wear the guys out though.  But we are thankful it is as far as it is.  Praise God for all the work that went into it by others.  And thanks to MFI for sending Bob back down to work some more on it.

I've been getting a lot of catch up work done here on the computer.  Plus doing the accounting for the team.  It's the kind of work I enjoy, so can't claim it as work, really.  

We've had some rain, which we needed, but the down side to that is that the dorm gets a lot of it inside, too.  Team is doing great walking around buckets, though.  We hope to get the tarps we ordered for the roof on the next flight.  Pray with us on that one.

So far it's still quiet here in country.  We ARE enjoying that, for sure.  Hear a lot of rumors, but they are just that...and we know the Person who is in charge of it all....THE LORD!!  Even if the problems erupt, we'll still depend on HIM to see us through it all.  He is in charge of our lives and we yield it all to Him.

 

It's the WEEK that was...

It seems the fun never ends.  I had really been concerned that we were so many Christmas bags short from what we were told.  I had asked everyone if they had seen boxes that were not counted or anything.  Nope, no one did.  Well, yesterday, while trying to straighten out the depot, to get things organized, I asked what were in all the plastic bags in the depot.  It was all things they let them bring home from when they had the inspection.  Things that were loose.  So, I said, okay, hygiene products, right?  Don said, I think there are Christmas bags in there too...  SOOOO, my next project is to go through those 40 or so bags and find out just WHAT is there.  And probably come up with a LOT of the Christmas bags we were missing.  I wanted to put a couple more photos here.  I was running in too many circles to get many pictures.  But did manage a few.   

 The distribution has gone pretty well....although some of the people came late, when we needed to get things out of the dorm to prepare for the team.  Frustration level was VERY high...  add to that they were trying to get the gate hung... it seems satan is constantly on our case lately, and doing a good job.  

The latest on the gate...Bob got it all welded up and ready to be put up.  But there seemed no way to weld the hinges onto the posts.  I think (but not sure) that they found out the hinges are stainless steel... and they can't weld them to the iron work they have.  I'm not sure where it all stands this morning, but another frustration.  

 

 

We really are still depending on the Lord to get all things situated and straightened out.  I think HE is the only one who can do it.  And we have to keep remembering, "Greater is He who is in you than he who is in the world!"  

The work goes on

Another of "one of those days".  We sorted and divided a LOT of the Christmas Bags, and then many of those who were to receive them came and got them.  We received a total of 8641 Christmas Bags, and today we sorted and distributed 6190.  We have a bit more to get out, but it will go quickly.  I've put two photos of two of those who picked them up.  Both of them were from out in the countryside.  Everyone who showed up was really happy to get the bag so they can be given out.

 

While we worked on that, Larry and Bob were busy working on the gate.  When Bob finished the welding on the one side of the doors, he had to have help turning that VERY HEAVY door over, so he can finish up the welding on the other side.  Prayerfully it will be hung on Monday.  What a blessing today was for everyone.  

Not a long post, but wanted to share some of our joy with everyone.  God is working mightily in so many ways here.  Keep praying, God is at work.

The Friday that was...

Wow, what a day.  I woke up and was really pretty sick.  In the back of my mind, Cholera came up.  I firmly put that behind me and said, nope, just flu or something.  I was NOT giving in to feeling like crud.  I got up, dressed and ended up in the bathroom again.  My mind said, maybe we can wait on the container until tomorrow.  Just as I finished, Vero called out.  "MOM, YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!!"  My mind went many directions...then she said, "The container is HERE, NOW!"  So, what do you do?  I grabbed all my paperwork, all my junk and headed out to get things moving.  We didn't even have the guys here to unload...no one knew it was coming this early.  (Oh yes, 10:30 IS early for a container to get here.)  Everyone went into action and moved quickly.  Had a great driver, for a change.  A young fellow who knew what he was doing.  And very pleasant, too.  In a little over 2 1/2 hours, we had it unloaded.  (We is a collective word.)  Don directed things, Vero cooked, Shannon worked with the girls, on the Christmas bags.    I did what I could, but concentrated on getting everyone else in line and doing things.  Then I started calling people to come and get their things, and set up for people to come for their Christmas Bags.  Got a LOT accomplished, too, much to my surprise.  The two pictures below show just a bit of the work, and some of the Christmas Bags being sorted and counted.  After all the work was done, and the gang fed, I went to look at the gate!!

 

What a wonderful surprise.  Bob and Larry had gotten the second door almost done.  Yes, hinges, wheels and locks still need to go on, but the hardest part was almost done.  A bit of welding tomorrow will accomplish that.  The first picture below is Bob showing Don what they had finished yesterday.  Then the second one is both of the doors, when work was done for today.  That's a LOT of welding and cutting and work!! 

And tomorrow I have quite a few ministries coming for their boxes.  It's really hard to believe that so much was done in such a short time.  Oh, I left out that Don had to take the cable holding our electric pole and mount it on the gate pillar.  God was there, too.  Just as Larry came down the ladder from finishing that, the container pulled in.  

It all goes to show that God didn't need me to be there to get it all done, HE had it all worked out.  So, tonight, we are ALL simply resting and rejoicing that it is done.  Tomorrow will take care of itself.  So, no worries tonight just rejoicing and praising God for how wonderful He is!!  

The gate(s)

I'm happy to send some photos of how quickly the gate is moving along now.  Don is still working on the smaller gate.  He did a pretty involved job on that, that's why the time frame was so long.  But it WILL be strong, for sure!!  He is now sanding it and getting ready to paint it. 

Bob and Larry are working hard on the big gate. They spent some time this AM popping ideas back and forth with Don on just what he wanted.  Bob came up with an idea that Don really liked, and then the work started.  Cutting metal, welding, grinding...all leads to a great gate.  I can't believe how much they accomplished today.

 

I spent the time taking down Christmas decorations.  Now Vero is finishing up cleaning the mess left behind.

Abbie?  Well, she is just Abbie.  Running at full speed and not stopping.  She should sleep well tonight.
  
I hope your day was a great one.  And I hope the Lord was an important part of it.  

Container inspected

A fun day....said with a lopsided smile!!!  Don took 12 kids to the docks today to inspect the container.  Vero and I headed to the airport...with Ray's vehicle since I can't drive mine.  Ray was coming in.  This was all neat except we didn't know how we'd get home.  Had me, Bob, Larry, Vero and their luggage.  And Ray had him, Paul, Belle and 400 pounds of their things.  Ended up we all rode with Ray (except Vero) and had thing packed tight all over the place.  Vero came home when Cequer got to the airport to get EBAC's things.  

Hope to find out tomorrow how much we will have to pay on the container.  Pray with us that it will be minor.  Then they said we'd get it on Friday.  We'll see if that happens or not.  

Pray for Belle...last night before they got ready to come home, she dropped a chair on her foot.  Not sure WHAT chair...but today her foot looked really bad.  After they left here, they stopped at the x-ray place.  Her foot is broken.  She needs a LOT of prayer.

Well, just wanted to update you all on the happenings here.  Hope you have a super day and that the Lord blesses you abundantly.  Keep your hand in His and you will be doing great.

Happy New Year

I know it's a few days late, but I pray your New Year will be super great and that the Lord will be the center of it.  


Our temperatures have warmed up a little, not much, but some.  Today was pretty nice during the day.  Tomorrow we have two fellows coming in to help Don with the gate.  Bob works at MFI and Larry is a volunteer there.  Thanks MFI for giving up a couple of your guys to help us out!!

You know Murphy (of Murphy's Laws) lives with us.  He's active again.  This afternoon our broker called and said, I will call in about an hour, have your guys ready and come for the inspection.  We said no way.  The inspection would go way after dark and customs would want some major overtime pay then.  We called and told them tomorrow.  They would not wait until Wednesday when we don't have a plane, they want it done now.  So, tomorrow, Don will be going for the inspection and we (Vero and I) will be going for the plane.  Pray all goes well with the mail and cargo.  

It is still quiet here.  Many are saying the problems will start up soon. We just keep praying it won't.  But we are enjoying the non-conflict time we are having now.  Oh, prices are up, and people are nervous, but it's not bad.  

IDADEE is in preparation for having their grand opening soon.  I don't believe a date has been set, but not sure.  They have done so much work out there.  I'll try to post some more pictures soon.  

We had pumpkin soup for New Year's day.  We were given one pot from the EBAC kids and then one from Betty.  It is SO good.  A bit spicy, but that's okay.  We sure enjoyed the traditional meal.

For now we'll close and we do pray that your New Year will be filled with many blessings and that the Lord will walk with you in all you do.