Haiti Experience Days One & Two

"And the Lord, he it is that doth go before thee; he will be with thee, he will not fail thee, neither forsake thee: fear not, neither be dismayed." Deuteronomy 31:8

We safely arrived at Port-Au-Prince as scheduled and after some confusion at the airport collecting our bags, we boarded a bus to head to Cayes and then on to Bonne Fin, the hospital where we plan to work for the week. Going through PAP was an experience like none I've ever had. The emptiness in people's faces, the devastation and destruction all around was like nothing we have ever experienced before. After a while, all 26 occupants on the bus just got quiet, internalizing what we were seeing.

As we travelled toward Cayes, it started to rain - and it poured! and poured! again like nothing we have ever seen. We came pretty close to spending the night on the bus because there were so many vehicles stuck in the mud and water over the road. U.N. trucks were at a place where we didn't think that we would get through and they used their heavy equipment to get us through. We had so many close calls and were it not for God's protection and His almighty hand guiding us, we never would have made it through.

Because of the flood, we have been unable to go up to Bonne Fin as planned, but instead spent the night at the guesthouse at the complex where the Reinhards and the Gutweins live. We went this morning to a Haitian church, where the service was interpreted for us. A service which focused on serving God with sincerity, beautiful singing - you could certainly feel God's spirit among the people, who were praising God for all that they have - which is almost nothing.

After church, we visited a foster home operated by Loving Shepard Ministries, 12 or 14 beautiful little girls, ranging in age from 4 to 14. We all ate lunch together at a Chinese restaurant in downtown Cayes. Then we went to visit and sing at a nursing home. That was a wonderful experience, blending our voices in hymns that we know, sung both in Creole and English. In the evening, we had a short exhortation and sang hymns together up on Tim & Joan's rooftop. The moon was full and the stars were fabulous.