We have arrived safely! Thanks for all the prayers so that we could make it here safely.
The first trip from Chicago was on time, and our trip out of Miami to Port-au-Prince was 1 1/2 hours late. We arrived in Haiti a little unsure of what we could expect, but we still had smiles!
We were through customs fairly easily (Use pen next time Jenna and Catherine!). Howard and Alexis were there to meet us and we were off to Sous Espwa ministry center. We were introduced to a our cook and ate a wonderful meal of rice, chicken, potatoes and fresh pineapple. After a little money changing and debriefing, we were off to bed.Tomorrow morning we took our showers. The ministry center has sinks and toilets, but no running water. The bathroom is stocked with 5 gallon buckets by our guard Wilcox. The showers were interesting and we are still learning how to dump water on ourselves and also how to successfully flush the toilet. We also have to learn to use the "culligan water" which is used for drinking and brushing teeth. Here we are eating breakfast of baked oatmeal. Yum
Then we were off for a trip to God's littlest angels. This is where the real culture shock came in. The roads in Port-au-Prince are very different from the US. People walk right by you, you pass when you need to, there are no stop signs or street signs at intersections, and there are huge potholes everywhere. Vendors are all along all of the roads selling almost anything. I will try to get some really good pictures of this. It is amazing! The road up to GLA was very steep. You keep thinking you are coming to a dead end or you are going to drop off a cliff, but you still keep on driving. The orphanage is in the mountains overlooking Port-au-Prince. It is very beautiful. We went right to playing with the kids on the 3rd floor volunteer balcony. We all brought up one or two kids to play with. We took them away from the nannies on the 2nd floor. Here are some pictures from the orphanage.
After lunch, we visited a lookout over Port-au-Prince. It was a little hazy but what a view. We could see the entire city.
We then visited the CRECH which produced cirriculum for all the Christian schools in Haiti. There are more Christian schools in Haiti than in the US! We ended our informative meeting with praying with the staff for the wonderful work they do in Haiti.
We then stopped off at the Sous Espwa headquarters and learned about their ministry. They have internet access so this is where I am typing.
We need to go now to Howard and Ruth Vandam's house for dinner. Their kids are enjoying some youth here.
Take care. More to follow later. This is definitely an experience.
6 comments:
Hi Jenna!!
I miss you already...I look at your picture and walk around saying your name really loudly. "NENNA NENNA NENNA". It's really fun and not at all annoying for my mom. :) I will keep looking each day to see if you have new stories for my mom to read. Mom and I pray for you when I go to bed at night. (And yes, Uncle Tim...I miss you too!)
Love, Grace
Hello Team!
Oh how we miss Daddy! Annelise and I were taking a walk in the "back 40" this evening and her legs got tired so I was carrying her and made the comment that my muscles were not big enough and she chipped right in "but Daddy's are!" Yesterday Mommy was still in a haze and quite miserable so Annelise and Grandma played a lot. They did water plants, but they also played Connect Four to the extent that a 3 year old can, and we all picked wild strawberries. Yum! The Oriole feeder was filled, we watched the shed get finished, played with Rawley, Uncle Joe's dog and took a thrilling bath with her new Squeezy rabbit and duck. This morning we slept 'til about 8 had a nice breakfast and went into town. We went to Meijer for bread and a Red Wings Championship shirt for Grandpa for Father's day. Then we went and strolled around downtown and found a shirt with a butterfly on it for Grandma for Mother's day and Annelise found a Beanie Baby fawn that she just had to have...Grandma. The deer's name is Moosey. We stopped by a bookstore and found a great book of The Nutcracker on sale and then to The Sweet Shop. The air conditioning was broken and all of the "poor-sweet-beautiful" chocolate was sweating...so we HAD to help them out and lighten their inventory. One chocolate heart, one piece of seafoam and a sliver of peanut butter fudge and we were off again. I can tell that Annelise is looking better Daddy because her appetite is back in full effect. You would think that the child became hollow over the last two weeks. I pray for you often and am concerned about your health. I hope that you are not suffering the same misery as Annelise and I. I love you...
Team, the scenery looks fabulous. I hope that you are all adjusting to the EXTREME heat and humidity. Keep plugging along, you are a bright light in many peoples lives right now. It may not be comfortable for you, but you are making a huge difference in many lives. You are all missed and are in our prayers.
qscvnm, zaaaaaaaaaaa (per Annelise)
Derrin, Annelise says that she loves you, she wanted to type it but...
i love you (per Annelise)
Good Night and God Bless,
A @ A
Hi, Derrin!
We are having soooo much fun! Went shopping toe day; Annelise rode the pony at Meijer five times -- grandpa gave her pennies for it. He is really enjoying her, too. We miss you, too. Hope you can find time to visit when you are done with the trips. Rest when you can. We pray for you all and that you will stay safe and healthy. The scenery is great from the pictures. I am sure this will be quite an experience and blessing for all.
Love you much, Mom
WOW! WOW! WOW! God is SOOOO AWESOME!!!! WE are here in Lucas and just had the pleasure of witnessing a DOUBLE rainbow! Not that that in itself is not awesome enough...we were able to see the END of the rainbow end in the field across the street! I have never witnessed anything like it before! The colors were SO vibrant and it was SO CLOSE! I asked Annelise who's promise it was and she told me "God's promise never to flood the whole world again". What an incredible event!
It was a lazy day today here. I'm feeling much better, not completely, but better. We played a little golf outside and used a new bubble gun until it ran out of "ammo". Uncle Joe was here with the dog again and he and Annelise played for a bit. We had french toast for breakfast (Derrin don't worry, she wouldn't stuff it without you here), and prok chops for dinner. Yummy. We took naps and after dinner Annelise and I "turned" the living room into a jungle. We pretended to be giraffe's, elephants and monkeys. We are having pump-pa-king pie now and then I have to throw the child into the tub. We obviously are having some rain up here, it is accompanied by some storms. The temp. has really cooled down though. We send cool thoughts to you all in Haiti? I have been wondering what the weather is like though. I know that it is hot and humid, but does it rain everyday, like in mountainous areas, or is it a everyother day thing? I'm sure I will hear at some point. We love you Daddy and miss you. We continue to pray for everyone's safety and health. We look forward to another update, whenever possible.
Much love,
A @ A
bdaddy,,,, iiiiiiiiiii love yyou
annelise
Hey Mom and Dad! Glad to hear you made it okay without any major issues! Thanks the the blog update! Scenery looks beautiful! All those little kids in the orphanage break my little heart though! They sure were beautiful too!
Sounds like you are having a great time so far though. I wish you many more adventures :) Even though it sounds like showering, bathing, and using the bathroom in general is an adventure all in itself! :)
We keep praying for you!! Love you!
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