Dec 24,2010

Another suddenly in our lives. Thursday morning at 2:30 am Judy's brother called to tell us that their mother had a heart attack and wasn't expected to live through the day. We immediately started putting things in order, packing and calling the airlines to find out how quick we could make it to KY. We said our goodbyes to all our staff and headed toward the PAP airport around 7am. We flew to Fort Lauderdale....PTL! there were 3 seats left on the plane. As we cleared customs and immigration there we received another phone call that she had experienced another heart attack. We switched airlines....Ft Lauderdale to Tampa, Tampa to Nashville. As we landed in Tampa we received word that she had taken her final flight to be with her Heavenly Father...Sad that we didn't get to see her one more time but rejoiciing that she was no longer in pain.
Our week before had been calm as the political factions decided to wait until after Christmas to do their manifesting. The mission team from New Work Fellowship in Hopkinsville, Ky voted to come on down any way knowing that they might spend Christmas in Haiti. Great group. They worked pouring well pump bases, repairing and installing pumps, cleaning out containers on the property, ministering in the Burn Clinic and packing over 500 back packs and sacks for Christmas. What fun to see the faces of the children as they received these backpacks filled with hygiene items, toys and candy.
David Jr. and Betsy arrived on Dec 15th. We had meetings with Samaritan's Purse leadership to map out the direction for both ministries in the coming year. It was great to have them there for a few days not knowing that only 4 days after they left we would be returning to KY.
Please pray for our entire family....the ones we left behind in Haiti and the ones here as we say our last goodbyes to my Mom.

Tuesday Dec 14, 2010

The airport has been closed since last Wednesday. Prayerfully it will open today. Eileen Brenize has been here with us for a week and flies out today....God willing. She continues to oversee a program called "Hope for Tomorrow" that she and Dave started when they lived in Haiti. It is a wonderful outreach with Flannelgraph.
Much of the country was shutdown Wed, Thurs. and Fri of last week. People began to move out and get supplies on Saturday. Some of our staff went to the grocery and stood in line to check out for and hour and fifteen minutes. By days end the shelves were empty....just like announcing a snowstorm in the US.
Saturday Franklin Graham, his daughter, Sarah Palin and family and Greta VanSusteran and husband all arrived on the GO compound. They immediately took vehicles and headed north to see the cholera clinic and pass out Christmas boxes at an orphanage. On Sunday morning they arrived back on compound for breakfast and a service with all the ex-pats on the property. Had at least a 100 or more in the service.
Monday we were told that more manifestations would occur in town but the Lord sent RAIN...it is rare to have rain in Dec. Praise the Lord traffic was able to move again and David and I were able to go into the bank. It is amazing how we take for granted things like shopping until it isn't possible.
Today American Airlines is flying again. David and Eileen are on their way to the airport. Going in a couple of hours early. We know there is a tremendous backlog of people who want to get out but people who are ticketed for today get first chance.
I know it is COLD where most of you live but this morning it was 73 degrees on our galleria. BURR...that is cold for here especially with the dampness from the rains yesterday. Everyone has on long sleeves this morning.

Thursday Dec 9, 2010

Monday the team gave out food to the "old people" before going over to paint the last permanent home in the village. David and I took Mark to the airport before going to pick up supplies for the next couple of weeks. Tuesday the team was able to get to airport to fly back to WI and David spent the next several hours looking for parts needed to hook up a new fuel tanker that we purchased a couple of weeks ago. We have to have more fuel storage on the property and a tanker seemed the easiest way to do this. The results for the presidential elections were announced Tuesday evening late. Most of the people were not happy with the results so since Tuesday evening very few vehicles have moved in the country. Lots of manifestations, burning tires, burning vehilces and road blocks in the most of the country. We are fine where we are and can move about 5 or 6 miles north and south if needed but NO public transportation is moving. Five of our staff can't get to work as they live in closer to town. The president announced last night that there had been an error in the count but don't know what that will mean to the people or the difference it will make. This is the second day of total shutdown for the country. Pray that rational minds will prevail and soon people can get back to work, the stores can open, the banks can open, schools can open and the airport can function again. No one is moving in or out of the country. PTL! our team was able to leave on Tuesday. We hear that over 700 people are stuck in Miami because AA can't fly in here.

Sunday Dec. 5, 2010

Tuesday our team arrived from Wisconsin. The plane was 1 1/2 hrs late so it was a pitch black dark when they arrived at the compound. Wednesday and a half of a day on Thursday they bagged over 400 "family" bags of clothes to give out. God willing we will give most of these out on Monday afternoon in Grand Chemin. Thursday afternoon and Friday they painted two of the permanent houses inside and out that we have built in TiTanyen. Saturday was their day out and they visited an orphanage about 50 miles up the road. On Thursday a gentleman from Tampa arrived to spend a few days here so he has joined their team. One man on the team and his 17 year old son have done a lot of mechanic work. Always a blessing.
Today David preached at Shekina Church... had 4 people saved. Tonight he preached at Second Baptist in town and 10 people accepted Jesus as their personal savior. PTL! This is why we are here. ...to share the Gospel.

Nov. 30, 2010

Elections went as expected. Lots of confusion, lots of fraud reported. Many unable to get to the polling stations. Ballots found out in the alleys and streets. The government report that all went well. 12 of the 19 candidates called to the elections to be nullified. Very little traffic on the roads yesterday and no schools were in session. This is Haiti.
Today David went into town to purchase much needed supplies and he said traffic was off at least 50%. This is good when you are having to drive. We have a team of 14 arriving today. They will be painting, sorting and sacking clothes for give away, etc. Friendships left and gave us a lot more clothes to give away.
Our son...David Jr....turned 46 today. Happy Birthday !!!!

Nov. 27, 2010

I'm sure many of you know of the cholera outbreak here in Haiti. Samaritan's Purse...located on our property...along with many other organizations have been battling this outbreak for over a month. Lots of medical teams are arriving in the country but the main problem is getting the meds they need out to the areas where the worse outbreaks are. Customs and the government are holding thousands of cases of the needed IV's. One distributor said they couldn't sell to organizations working in the province because they needed to keep the IV's in reserve in case there is a major flare up in PAP. Our nurses have been doing education in the schools, churches, etc. Some of our staff have been involved in helping other clinics keep their doors open around the clock. As of this weekend many of the clinics are seeing fewer new cases. As you can imagine there will always be an ebb and flow consistent with the living conditions here.
Always busy getting caught up after being gone for a few weeks. The schools are functioning well. This year with the help of Blessings in a Backpack and an NBA basketball star's foundation we have added lots of new items to our school feeding program. The teachers and students are thrilled. We started the new menus this week. The morning and afternoon schools are having meat four days each week and one day a boiled egg along with the rice/beans, corn/ spaghetti, etc. The Kindergarten has added eggs, hot dogs, chocolate milk and fresh juice to their usual snack time of bread, peanut butter, milk, juice and cookies.
Thanksgiving Day all our American staff gathered at our house for a lovely dinner. Everyone brought in goodies and we have a wonderful day of food, fellowship and sharing of the Word.
David and crew have spent hours and hours trying to get caught up with the breakdowns of vehicles. We've ordered parts from everywhere and had them shipped to teams coming in.
The Runk's with their two children have joined us for 90 days....he has mechanical and maintenance skills and they are being put to good use. They are seeking the Lord's will as to whether this is where He would have them serve full time. Please pray for them.
We have national elections tomorrow for Deputy Senate and President. Please pray for calm to reign. Travel will be limited tomorrow for the entire country.

Tuesday Nov 16, 2010

Another busy week getting items purchased and packed to come back to Haiti. We arrived back here last Saturday. We left KY Thursday morning early and headed to Nashville to prepare to load a 40 ft container on Friday. PTL! we had 42 people show up to help us sort, sack and load. Teams of people came from Bells Run Church , Walnut Memorial Church, Bellvue Church in Owensboro, KY, Paul Scott team from Orleans, IN, people from Louisville and Nashville. It looked impossible to sort all the clothes in Tommy Scott's warehouse but this crew "got it done." The container arrived about 2 hrs late so many of the team members who drove so far sacrificed their time and returned home very late. THANKS TO ALL WHO GAVE ITEMS FOR THIS CONTAINER AND THANKS TO ALL WHO CAME AND LOADED THE CONTAINER.
We arrived back to a country that is being ravaged by cholera. So many new cases and many dying for lack of knowledge on how to treat and reduce the spread of the disease. Our plane coming back to Haiti had at least 95% medical people coming to serve. Pray for the release of a plane load of IV's that is being held in customs ???? Why????. These are needed in the treatment of the cholera cases. Our nursing staff is doing education in the schools and churches here in our area and helping others man their clinics. It is 24 hr round the clock at all clinics and hospitals. PRAY PRAY PRAY

November 7, 2010

On the road for two weeks. No time for blog updates. THANK YOU for your prayers for Haiti during the hurricane. Our area was not hit hard and the devastation to the entire country was much less than expected. PRAYER WORKS!!! We need you to continue the prayers. We've heard from our staff in Haiti that there are more cases of cholera and that it is spreading closer to our compound. Several cases are being treated at the Haitian clinic next door to us and Susan... one of our nurses helped them through the night last night. All the missions in our area are meeting and working together to help educate the population and deal with this epedimic.
We had a team arrive in Haiti on Saturday from CO. Sheryl said it was a challenge to get to the airport. Lots of flooding on the roads. Praise the Lord they arrived back at the compound safely.
We were blessed to be in a 5 day Missions conference at Christ Church in Nashville. (Oct 27-31) This is an annual conference and it was great to see so many friends. It was exciting for us to see what a multi-culture church this has become.
Glen and Linda Erickson drove a rental truck from CO with their furniture and items to put on the container shipping out of Nashville. We will be loading the container this coming Friday. People are coming from KY and IN to help.
Global had their annual Missions conference and Fall Board meeting Nov. 4-6. We had 46 missionaries there for the conference. This is the most we've ever had at one time. What a joy to visit with them and hear how the Lord is working in countries around the world.

Saturday Oct 9, 2010

Another busy week. Trying to get the drs. appts. over with...demotology, dentist, drs. Then it was off to buying items needed to ship to Haiti on the next container. We purchased tractor tires, large truck tires, washer, lawn mower, weed eaters, parts, etc. On Thursday we rented a 26 ft U-Haul and went to Louisville to pick up items that had been left from the last load. On Friday David, Larry Heady and Tony Isbill gathered up all the other materials...Jerry Cotton had 75 padded folding chairs his church had given and also some window a/c units....and they headed for Nashville. They unloaded at Tommy Scott's warehouse and returned to Owensboro.
On Nov12th we will be loading a 40ft container for Haiti. David and I will stay in Nashville that night and fly back to Haiti on the morning of the 13th.
I'm sure everyone has heard about the cholera outbreak in Haiti. As of today they are saying 203 have died and over 2,000 stricken. Three or four have died near our compound but had been infected visiting the area north of TiTanyen. Our ministry and Samaritan's Purse are being very pro-active in fighting the disease. SP has shut down all their other work in order to put all their energies toward the cure and prevention of the spread of the cholera. No one is coming on to the compound without going directly to the Conference Center showers and washing in a disinfecting solution. We feel that everyone there is safe for now. We did have a team of 5 from TN there this week. SP had talked with the Embassy and there was talk of shutting down the airport. We didn't want this team to get stranded so ...with an opportunity from SP who had a plane in PAP the team flew from PAP to Cap Haitian (north capital of Haiti)
and from there would be flying on a DC3 Missionary Flights International plane to West Palm Beach, FL. PLEASE PRAY FOR ALL THE PEOPLE OF HAITI AND ESPECIALLY FOR OUR STAFF ON THE FIELD.

Oct 16, 2010

It has been a good week. Trying to get caught up on some dentist and doctors appts. Also met with some Samaritan's Purse leadership to work out arrangements for their future stay on the GO compound. Had a good visit from Bethany Johnson this week. (ministered with us in Haiti for 4 months in 2008) She just returned from 2 years in the Philippines with her Associates degree as a Midwife. She is now pursuing a RN degree. Many have asked about my Mom. She is doing very well but would love to be able to go back to her own home. She can only walk with a person on either side of her so right now going home is not an option. She will have her 93rd birthday on Oct 24th. God is good!!