Wow, what a day it was (last Saturday). We knew the boys (Remy and Daniel) had left Port au Prince with the Eagle, but we were not sure if there would be problems on the road or not. The turmoil in the country had calmed down a bit, but there were still "hot spots" in many places. So, we simply prayed the fellows would not have any problems. They left Port at about 7 AM. That 150 trip takes about 5 to 6 hours to complete. Well, by 1 PM, I was trying to call them and had no response to the call. That could mean they were in a "non cell" area, or just about anything. I was finally able to reach them about 2:45 and they said, "We'll be there in 15 minutes." So, the gals on the team and I stood out in the yard and waited. Below is our first view of "The Eagle".
Then, two hours later, Don came home from the work site and saw his truck for the first time. Yes, that is a HUGE smile on his face. Of course, being a man, he had to check it all out, even under the truck. Today is Wednesday and he is ready to go out and deliver the rest of the food we have here. Sunday, the team traveled to church in the new truck, and they felt honored that Don let them in it. 
We have had rain since right after the plane yesterday, so the roads are pretty bad. But Don will be going to the easier to reach places today. He will be mounting the bumper from the Dove on the Eagle when he has the time. And he will be making a new cage for it, too. It's all pretty exciting.
Our other news, which you have pictures of from before, is what this last team accomplished. They finished that huge roof. It was great to be in church Sunday and see all the happy faces as people sat and looked at the wonderful roof they were under. It was a HUGE undertaking and they accomplished it all. What an awesome testimony to the Lord. The Americans and the Haitians worked so well together, even with the language barrier. So, we are praising the Lord for all He did through this team!! After 3 years of just having four walls, the church now has a fantastic roof!!!
This is a short post, for sure, but we wanted to share the wonderful news with you all. Have a super, wonderful, Jesus filled day!!! And Thank the Lord with us for the Eagle. And pray with us that the finances come in to cover that cost!!! A letter will be going out very soon to let everyone know how they can help with this.
In His Name, Love, and Service,
Karen (and Don, too)
Hello from problem riddled Haiti!!
So many things have come up and we were anxious to share them with you. So, I will start at the top and share all of our news.
I did share with you that our home church is going to raise the money for a new truck for Don. Well, they are still going to raise the money, but they (with the help of someone else) took a step of faith and sent the money ahead. They knew the desperate situation with the Dove and knew it was dangerous to haul teams in it. We praise God for that. The money arrived and our "kids" in Port, went to the dealer and purchased the new "EAGLE". I had hoped that by this time, I could write "The Eagle Has Landed", but that is not the case.
The day Remy, Daniel and Vero were going to bring the Eagle home, Haiti erupted in chaos. Our last week has been a bit unsettled with the situation here. We had one team leave and another arrive during this time.
Let me tell you about the teams, first. The first one stayed here and did a tremendous amount of repairs on the dorm and surrounding buildings. It was one thing after another and they accomplished so much. We had thought it would take the whole time to repair the two roofs they set out to do. Those were accomplished the first two days!! We are so thankful for all the work they did. It's amazing to think of what was done. A great team!!! The following pictures show just two of the mountains of work accomplished.
This is the roof on the containers. By mid day the first full day.
The security door on the dorm was a needed item, too. It's all welded in place and ready to go.
And then our present team came in... wow, I think we have had two of the hardest working teams back to back. This group came in on Tuesday and went right out to the work site. They are putting a huge roof on a church. The first day they accomplished so much, it was unbelievable. Yesterday, their first full day on the job they already had four of the rafters up, and another on the ground ready to go up. This church will have 21 rafters, and I believe they will get the roof done, with no problem. The team has become one, in the fact that everyone has their job and it's like a well oiled machine. Things are flowing so smoothly. Our constant prayer is that the turmoil in the country will not stop them from completing the whole job. This is a great team and we love having them here.
Here they are, working like a well oiled machine!
And this was putting up the rafters yesterday (Wednesday, April 9th).
Today we had to make a very difficult decision. We had to write and cancel our next team. Things seem to be escalating here and we do not want to put them in danger. We have our present team on alert, and they realize that if things become tense, they cannot go to the job site. So, we are asking for a LOT OF PRAYER for Haiti, it's people and the turmoil here.
Now, back to the Eagle. The morning the kids were to leave and didn't, they left the truck at the dealers. They have no place to put it and felt it was safer there. After a couple days of burning tires, businesses ransacked and total chaos in Port, they let us know what was going on. The dealer where the truck is sitting was broken into. They smashed windows in the building and there was major vandalism. But the truck was not touched. Praise the Lord! Vero flew home yesterday because she had to get back to work, but Daniel and Remy are still waiting to get the Eagle home to us. Keep them in prayer.
Again, we ask for prayer.... for the country of Haiti, for the people of Haiti, for out team's safety, and for the arrival of the Eagle!!! Until next time, Keep your eyes and hearts focused on Jesus, our Lord and Savior!!!
HAPPY EASTER!!! HE IS RISEN!
It's still early on Easter morning, but we have come home from Sunrise (SON-rise) service and it's a beautiful day. We had an excellent service and a lot of people attended. Our breakfast following it was really nice, too.
I thought today I'd share some photos with you and let you see what we have been doing lately. It will give you a little insight into Haiti, too. Some of these are our photos, some are from the teams. But I hope you enjoy them all.
This first one is a boat at the docks. It just shows how they use everything and anything they can find for their purposes. Patchwork sails are very common.
This one is a load of clothing bales. Most of these sell for about $1,000 Haitian (or $120 American). A lot of money on that cart. And a LOT of weight. Would you like that job, which pays very little? These carts are all around, carrying things from clothes, to furniture, to cement, to blocks and whatever else anyone needs. 
Now this one is heart tearing. Abbie wanted to help grandpa fix the truck. He made her put the tools down and she just laid there and said, "But Grandpa, I just want to help!"
Here is a bit of our town. This is in the driveway for the gas station. There is a car wash, a cell phone store and our bread store, "Croissant D'or, Boulancerie Patissorie". That is the pink building. Anywhere that you deal with money has a guard. But they are usually friendly.
This is Abbie and Tammy, one of our team members. Abbie loves to have teams come. They are her "playmates". She doesn't get to see children often, so attaches herself to teams. And they love to spoil her. One of the teams taught her something. I asked her if she was a spoiled brat, and her response was, "NO, I'm precious!" 
Abbie loves to read. She sat her "babies" down and was reading them a book. She told me they liked it, too.
Well, this was just a quick "catch-up" for you all. I think you can see we're a bit prejudiced when it comes to Abbie. Sorry if it bores you.
On this wonderful, Christ centered day, rejoice in what He has done for you, and all of us. God turned something that looks horrible (the beating, the blood, the cross and death) into THE MOST PRECIOUS gift of all time. A part of one of the songs this morning was about when Jesus hung on that cross, He didn't see the pain and suffering He went through, He saw ME... He did this for ME (and for you, and for ALL who will accept Him.) And then He triumphantly arose and was still doing it for ME. Praise God He thought about all of us!!
Enjoy your day and keep Christ centered in all you do. He is also the reason for THIS season.
I didn't realize I had not written in so long. I guess living in the "fast" lane has kept me pretty busy. So much has gone on in the last few weeks, I'm not sure where to start.
We had two weeks of teams. I guess that's where I'll start. The first team spent most of their time in another town, doing medical work. And then one day here at a church doing a clinic. Our involvement with that was minimal. They sure did accomplish a lot in the week they were here, though. They helped so many. We are thankful for that. The second team was a construction team, who came to work with the new orphanage (IDADEE). These guys we WERE involved with. They are a group who have been here before, with a few added new recruits. We had a GREAT time with them. The team included some of our strong prayer warriors, too. And while here, they were put to the test on praying.
Everyone knows our truck, The Dove, is getting OLD and having a lot of problems. Don is spending more time fixing it, than using it for ministry. On Saturday, Don took the team to the Citadel. On the way up the mountain, the truck overheated, really bad. They limped into "parking place", where Don normally waits for the teams while they make the trip the rest of the way up the mountain. With the help of some old friends from Milot, that we have known since living there, Don was able to work on the radiator and get water in it and clean it up again. On the way down from there (with the team on the truck), he lost some of his brakes. This is so dangerous! He kept it in first gear and did a lot of praying. A stop at the tourist market was next on the list. I met him there with a team member who had not gone to the Citadel. The team had just started "shopping" when a hole in the gas tank was discovered. Draining fuel meant "get home quick". So we loaded up and went directly home. Don, with the help of the team, worked on the Dove the rest of Saturday and most of Sunday. They missed a Haitian service, but were able to attend English Bible Fellowship (next door to us). They also didn't get to go to the hotel for swimming and a meal out. I went and got the meal and brought it back. We had even tried to borrow a truck (from the IDADEE group) to take them to the hotel. The truck arrived, and while sitting here, the starter burned up. Guess we were not meant to go to the Mont Joli!! The team was GREAT through this whole episode!! They were much calmer than Don. They did get the truck going again (but it still needs so much work). They flew out on Tuesday and Don started working on the truck again.
To get a license for the truck, ALL lights have to work. So, he was making sure everything was in order. One of our "kids" took the truck for inspection. That's the FIRST step in a LONG line of things to get the license plate. (NOTHING is easy in Haiti!) When he got there, only one set of headlights was working. AND one of the backup lights was not working... and FINALLY, the light on the back license plate was not working. Now this is in a country where tap-taps run without any tail lights, maybe ONE headlight and definitely NO license plate light. This was SO frustrating. But Don and Daniel worked and worked and got everything working. By the time Daniel got the truck back to town, some were not working again. Somehow he got it inspected. The first step in a long line of things was done. Daniel went in again to get the paperwork done and pay the fees. His longest wait, for that part, was waiting for someone at the bank to write him a certified check for payment. He has to go back again on Monday to finish up and prayerfully get the plates. This is 4 full days of work to get license plates.
Okay, back to the Dove and it's problems... A few on the team asked if anyone had considered raising money for a new truck. We said it had been mentioned, but we had no idea if anything had been done. Knowing this was an urgent need, they asked me to contact someone and see if it had been set in motion. When our home church was here in January, they saw the need for a new truck. So, I called our son and asked if the situation had been brought up or forgotten. He said, well, they had wanted to surprise us, but now knew the need was urgent. The board had approved the request for them to raise money for a new truck. I won't go into all the details, but it is now in the works. Don has had Remy (our contact in Port, and the president of IDADEE) go to the dealer and get prices on different models. We will have that in hand tomorrow, so we can start the process of getting the information to our church, so they in turn can share the need with others. So our HUGE rejoicing is that a new vehicle is on the horizon. Please pray with us on this, and that the Lord would provide all the needed funds to get this quickly. What makes this even more exciting is that Don will be able to spend all his time in ministry, not fixing the truck 70% of the time and only 30% doing the work God sent him to do.
We are now regrouping and catching up on things left undone while we had teams. We are trying to work ahead on some things, since in two weeks have will have the start of three weeks of teams, back to back. We are looking forward to the teams, but want to keep our other ministries going too.
For now, pray for us. The Lord is guiding and directing, so pray we are open to what HE wants us to do and when we are to do it. Till next time, keep your eyes focused on the Lord and your ears open to His leading. That is our prayer for you, but for us, also!!!
Hello again,
We live in a whirlwind here. About the time we think we might be able to sit down and take a deep breath something else comes up. And yet, through it all, we have to keep our focus on the fact that GOD KNOWS what is going on and where we are.
Don has delivered most of the food that came on the first container, praise the Lord! And the Christmas Bags have finally been taken care of. Now we have to start praying about getting this second container released at a reasonable rate. The cost is staggering, and the Lord is the only one who can change that. A real need for prayer is the whole situation with customs here. Food and materials are becoming scarce. With nothing being released, many are suffering now. It won't be long and it will become a very critical situation.
We have another team here now. It's a medical team. They have gone quite a ways out to spend a few days doing a clinic. Praise God for good weather and safe roads for the trip. They will return here, today, and have a clinic at another church on Monday. So many needs in this country and we praise God for the people He has called to help out. The team has some of our "old" friends and some new ones, too. We are so happy when people return to serve again, but also when new people feel the call to come and help. It's great how the Lord works it all out.
The frustration of our son and daughter-in-law's adoption process is continuing. Please keep this in prayer. We realize they are not the only ones in this situation, but they are the ones close to our hearts and we want to see our new grandson come home before he gets any older. He was seven when they started and he is now ten. Pray that hearts and minds will be changed and that this, and other adoptions, will be facilitated quickly.
We are back to the "maybe tomorrow" point with the second container. This last week we were told that we could get the inspection done. So, each day we get ready to go down to the wharf and do it. Each day something new comes up and we are put off. It was supposed to happen again this morning, but now they say, Monday. If God is teaching us patience, we are VERY slow at learning. I keep thinking of the scripture where it says through trials we will be perfected.... I know we aren't perfect, but with all of this, we must be coming close!!! (No, I really know we aren't, it just feels that way!)
Our good friend, Roy, sent a devotional on being salt. It was so good! What good is salt that is left in the salt shaker, and what good is salt that has lost it's flavor? Neither is doing it's job. It's the same with us. Is our "salt" (the love of Jesus) left inside of us, or are we using it to "flavor" others? Or has it become useless, with no flavor left? Tip your shaker and start "flavoring" others, or replace the useless stuff and become "new in Christ". If we become stagnant in our zeal for Christ, we, as well as others, are missing out on the blessings the Lord has for us. Salt the earth with your love for the Lord. Let others see your "flavor". I remember a commercial, from a long time ago, that said, "reach out and touch someone". That's what, as Christians, we are to be doing. Wow... was that a sermon or what? Guess I'd better get the salt shaker moving!! And all thanks to Roy!!!
Okay, for now I have to get moving and back to work. I just wanted to come on and let you all know we are still here and working... if going in circles constitutes work!! But we are also still depending on the Lord and following His directions!
Blessings... and remember to shake up your salt shaker and get it working!!
Greetings again...
This time it's with great joy and rejoicing. We are SO excited and pleased that the elusive container is now in our hands. The following is just a few pictures of our day, yesterday, February 14th, Valentines day in Haiti! We had a team here at the time. It was MFI's president, Dick Snook, and his group. They didn't get to deliver any bags, like they had hoped, since it came the last day they were here, but they really got to experience "unloading a 40 foot container".
This is our moment of rejoicing. The container finally being pulled into our yard. It's quite a job to get a 40 foot semi into our yard with the sharp turn they have to make. 
The driver was really good. We have had some deliver 20 foot containers that had to make 5 or 6 turns to get it right. This fellow made two swings and backed it up to right where we wanted it. He was GOOD. 
Everyone was amazed watching him drive. (He must have trained in the US!) It took just a few minutes for him to get it in the right place for us to get to work on it.
We had another missionary couple here at the time. Ray works at the airport with us and Bonnie watches Abbie for me. We had just gotten back from the airport when the container came, so they stayed to help out. What a blessing!! Bonnie was up on the container bagging socks and Ray helped haul boxes.
We had so much to unload. Well, consider it had 39,645 pounds of items!! You KNOW it was a lot of heavy work to get it done. The fellows (all 25 that we hired) did not complain once. And when it was all done, they had a meal of hotdogs, mac & cheese, chips and cokes. They were happy campers. These are almost all older boys from the orphanage. They work hard and really earn their pay!
The problem was, where to go with all the Christmas Bags when there is a team here? Well, you can see, looking in the door of the dorm, it went into the living room and dining room areas. A few paths were left to get to the bedrooms, but that's about all. Good thing it was the teams last night here... no place to sit or eat, except the bedrooms!!
God brought this to us in His time, not ours. Not it's our job to get these things sorted out and delivered. Don is right now on the road with some of the food. (The containers on our property have their share of the load, too!) We will start on the Christmas Bags tomorrow!!
So, please, keep praying. We have another container ready to be inspected, but need to get this one delivered quickly to make room.
Our love to everyone who has helped make this a reality, both through prayers and finances.
In His Grace...
Karen, for the whole group here.
Then, two hours later, Don came home from the work site and saw his truck for the first time. Yes, that is a HUGE smile on his face. Of course, being a man, he had to check it all out, even under the truck. Today is Wednesday and he is ready to go out and deliver the rest of the food we have here. Sunday, the team traveled to church in the new truck, and they felt honored that Don let them in it. 
We have had rain since right after the plane yesterday, so the roads are pretty bad. But Don will be going to the easier to reach places today. He will be mounting the bumper from the Dove on the Eagle when he has the time. And he will be making a new cage for it, too. It's all pretty exciting.
This is a short post, for sure, but we wanted to share the wonderful news with you all. Have a super, wonderful, Jesus filled day!!! And Thank the Lord with us for the Eagle. And pray with us that the finances come in to cover that cost!!! A letter will be going out very soon to let everyone know how they can help with this.
