Just landed in Haiti

Thank goodness for movies for the girls!

it took me 3/4 of the flight to figure out how to talk in this microphone right so the pilot could actually hear all of what I was saying!

Co-pilot Colton

Tundra with her Mutt Muffs (to block the noise) fighting the sleep her medication was insisting, she refused to lay down until her 3rd dose

Sunrise over Maryland

Georgia

Ft. Lauderdale

Carribean Sea

Cuban territory

Haiti from the sky

Welcome to Haiti!

Mission complete!

6 months ago we had a very tearful goodbye with our dog, Tundra at the airport in Washington. We had planned to bring her to Haiti, but after finding out an employee we had spoken to about airline regulation for pets had misinformed us, The one thing we promised our children they wouldn't have to give up, had to stay behind. We all sobbed our way to security, to the gate, and onto the plane. We were stuck with knowing we wouldn't ever be able to meet the tempertature regulations of 45-85 degrees F between Washington and Haiti. There would never be a time temps would be warm enough in the states while being cool enough here.

We were able to get in touch with a pilot friend of my dad's who offered to fly us to Haiti after the quake to see if this was a possibility in February. After a lot of back and forth, we settled on flying back to PA April 20th, as previously scheduled because we are still here under our passports which means we can only be in Haiti for 90 days at a time. This would also give us another opportunity to visit family and friends over Easter.
Still having to redo all of Tundra's medical forms and APHIS health certificate for approval exportation(which could have been complicated because Haiti has no written regulation, no website, no proof of their regulation, which APHIS requires). This time, however, no questions were asked, papers were signed and we were ready.

So after a lot of family and friend time and a few ministry meetings, 3 a.m. Friday morning, we loaded into a single engine plane with Tundra. We had 10 hours in the air scheduled...Me, Jack (our pilot) 2 girls, a nervous dog and teenage co-pilot. All 6 seats taken.
First leg...4 hours 20 minutes, took me almost 2 hours to get used to feeling like I was on the top of a roller coaster ride. We watched the sun rise, saw Camp David, and many other beautiful sights til landing for fuel in Georgia. My first two hours felt like I did running my marathons..."what in the world was I thinking?", "this is never going to end", "I think I might die before this is over", how am I ever going to get through this?"... on and on.
Second leg...from Georgia to Ft Lauderdale, 2 hours 20 minutes, seemed like the longest. I couldn't wait to get out and move. Jack had to deal with all kinds of flying around areas to avoid the space shuttle launch sight all so it could be cancelled later in the day. Listening to all the air traffic control talk over my headset made me decide sleep was the best option, still felt like the longest leg. The stop in Ft. Lauderdale was a nice break for fuel and moving around.

Third and final leg...Ft. Lauderdale to Haiti, 4 hours. Wow, so many beautiful sights. I was afraid to fall asleep and miss something really cool. The Carribean Sea is so beautiful. Haiti is even more beautiful flying in. This was the best leg by far.

The kids did a fabulous job all day, what troopers!
So here we are...Mission complete! Into Haiti, through customs, dog out, no problem.

One thing I realized after I gave the dog her 3rd dose of doggie downers and she finally went to sleep, God knew what He was doing. She would not have come out of a commercial flight well. As nervous as she was with us right beside her, on her bed and with medication, who knows what it would have been like for her on a commercial flight, in a kennel, with no medication, and without her family. Really such a minor detail in all that we've done in the past few years, but sometimes God allows us to go through some really hard things so he can do better things. Sometimes, God tells us no and we don't understand it at the time, but it's for our own good for a better way.
We're glad to have our family complete here in Haiti. Now we just have to get Tundra used to having a pesty little puppy sister around:)

So sometimes when I try to write, the words I have in my head don't end up on the screen the way I want and sometimes when I am processing things, I have to wait a day before writing so I can write clearly. This time, I didn't follow that process and my last post was confusing, unclear, and I think misunderstood. Here's what I was trying to say, but couldn't find the right words at the time: I learned Stephanie's mom had died when she was younger when I sat and talked with her two years ago. What I didn't know was the personal details that went with that death. Details that could only be talked about as we've spent more time with Stephanie. Through the course of our conversation, I found out Stephanie's mom was killed by some people that knew her. Stephanie was six years old. Old enough to remember what happened. Old enough to remember what her mother was like. When I asked her if she remembered her mom, it brought a smile to her face...a great big Stephanie smile! I'm thankful she has a memory of her mom. Her younger brother probably doesn't and her younger sister definitely doesn't they were only 3 and 1 at the time. Stephanie still lives at her home with her 83 year old father who needs care like a young child. She also takes care of the cooking and cleaning for her three brothers who are old enough to do it themselves. She's a 20 year old who doesn't get to live like a 20 year old...except when she comes to our house on Saturdays and Sundays. Those are now her days to be a kid. We love her like our own child. We tell her to go play instead of washing dishes (sometimes). Our kids love having her here to play with as a sister. Even Colton has taken on the role of annoying brother, picking at her just to get her going! And we take her to church as part of teaching her to do things as a family. When I made the comment, about things being worse, it's the personal stuff. It's the stories of those we now love who have suffered so much. It's bad enough this country has so many struggles, but as we establish relationships here, the layers are being peeled off, the front people put up to cover hurt tears down. Sometimes I don't know what to do with that hurt. Last night, I was angry and hurt for a little girl. I think God is just asking us to love, love, love. Go and love. As we love on Stephanie, we hope she is blessed by it. But as I wrote last night...WE are so blessed by her strength, courage, and determination.

"I Saw What I Saw" by Sara Groves

Just when you think it can't get any worse here... I have heard some horrific stories here. I have seen some pretty bad things. I have loved some really hurting children. Not that I am numb to any of it because while some things may become normal, I don't think I could ever become numb to the majority of life here. Today our family went to a beach resort for the day. We needed some time away for us to just be a family (which has grown from 5 to 7, sometimes 8...no, no babies, no adoptions like many would think, but an additional 26 year old, 30 year old, and sometimes a 20 year old). We were celebrating Colton's 13th birthday and getting everyone out of the walled in yard we can sometimes feel trapped in. The day was great, relaxing, fun, and not to mention, sun and sand! We came home to find our Stephanie here waiting for us. She always comes on Saturday, but not normally until dinner time. We had been looking forward to a family movie night also with the new Narnia movie Colton had just gotten for his birthday. Needless to say, we were all pretty chipper, Stephanie, however was not her usual bubbly self and I thought maybe it was that she was upset that we hadn't taken her to the beach (which I will not neglect to do again), but turns out she just needed a mom today. For some reason, I began asking questions about Steph's mom...how she died, and so on. Stephanie was 6 years old when her mother died. She remembers her. She remembers her mom singing to her and to those who know Stephanie can imagine that's where she got her beautiful voice. She knows if her mother were alive today, she would be taking care of her elderly father and Stephanie wouldn't have to. Stephanie wouldn't have to be a wife and mother at age 20. It's just not right. Just when I thought...I want to just go in my room and shut the door and cry for a while. No child should have to live this. Just when I thought it couldn't get any harder, the things we see people dealing with. She's personal, her story is personal, her struggles are personal. So while I sometimes question my role here, my gifts here...today God gave me another gentle reminder of how he has a purpose, and a plan. We may not save this country. We may not save every person. But God has brought certain people into our lives here to help, guide, walk with, but most of all, be blessed by. There's a song "I saw what I saw" by Sara Groves that has always made me think of Stephanie and the more I get to know her, the more it reminds me of her. Stephanie may need a mom at times and be blessed by the sense of family she has when she is here with us. But she blesses me...her strength, her courage, her determination.

Thank you Team April!

What an incredible team from Canada we had last week! AWAKENHAITI was blessed to have a group of people so willing to serve in whatever capacity was needed, willing to not only get the necessary work done, but also to reach out to people just spending time, caring, loving! This is what it is all about... coming here to change lives, and to allow God to work in and through yourself. Time at Jacques' home was so very productive. This house would have taken years to build. Now it is well under way. But it not only is going to give Jacques a new place to live, it is going to give him a future, possibility for a family. This house is more than putting a roof over Jacques head, it is a new beginning for him!

At Freedom House Bethesda Orphanage, the ladies ran a very small medical day in order to begin doing regular check-ups on all the girls. Our plan is to do this at Good Samaritan Orphanage as well as Freedom Grace Orphanage within the next six months. We will then follow up with a check up for each child twice a year. This was a great start to being more involved with the children, and furthering our process of building families and homes as opposed to just orphanages, as well as being proactive for possible medical issues.

One last project was done in Canaan. We have been looking forward to this for a while now. Haitians were hired to build the foundation, then Team April came and built some walls and a roof over this building that will serve as an office for pastor Nathan as well as storage for the church and school. While the construction work was going on, we had a team painting existing shelters as well as a small medical pair doing some home visits for a few people/children with some medical conditions. Great work everyone!

THANK YOU!

We Must Go (God of Justice) - Tim Hughes HD

Team April

We've had 3 days of fun with the group of Canadians better known as Team April. We've heard a lot of "eh" and "right", hunting talk, tool talk, and a lot of laughs. And boy can these people EAT!!! It's interesting to see the different dynamics that come with each team. This team has been a huge blessing to us. They have come here with a desire to serve, no specific agenda, totally flexible which is good esp right now with so many unknowns about the presidential election results announcement. Not to mention the many roadblocks we run into on a regular basis. Saturday, the team split. The ladies went to Freedom House Bethesda Orphanage . Our two medical personnel did check ups on all the girls while the rest of us took height and weight measurements and did vision screening, and played with them. It was really nice to spend some time with the girls. They are all doing great. They are all very healthy! The guys worked at Jacques' home putting on the floor boards to begin preparations for the roof. It was very cool to see his excitement with the progress on his home. Sunday was an awesome time of worship at Port-au-Prince Fellowship as usual. We then headed off to tour downtown PAP to see the Presidential Palace, the National Cathedral, and just to take in more of the city culture. The guys then sadly lost many many times in a dodgeball tournament to the girls at the Good Samaritan Home. These girls have been practicing for a few weeks now. Monday was planned for a work day and the team did work. But, as I mentioned in my previous post, things can change, our plans aren't always God's plans, and God has things to show us in ways that don't fit into our perfectly planned out itinerary...There were some frustrations with supplies not being able to be purchased(but we have skilled builders here, they can be very creative), trouble with some welding on the new truck (also have some skilled welders), not having the right key to get into the work area for an hour, electricity problems at the guest house making it difficult to prepare a meal for half an army (or at least a group of guys that eat like one). God however, reminded some to be patient, others to see the blessing of physically being here to watch the money raised being spent on material to build a house that will change a person's life, still some what it means to sacrifice and help where there is need even if they have greater skills. Others he showed that sometimes it is good to not "do", but just spend time with people. God uses all kinds of situations and people to reach us, teach us and change us into the person HE wants us to be. Jeff and I are so excited to already see God working and moving in this place, in this team. When we open ourselves up to whatever God wants for us, He blesses that and He moves mountains. I'm anxiously waiting to see what mountain or mountains are moved this week in and through this team!!! ~Deb