Monday, February 8th (PM)

What a day our team has had on the little island of Hispaniola! They were up bright and early this morning to begin their journey from Santo Domingo to Petionville, Haiti, and what a journey it turned out to be. The five SUVs were loaded down with equipment, supplies and food. The five drivers were: Alex Sisson, Jeff Kuespert, Mark Faulkner, Mark Turner and Jesse Prater. By 6:00 AM Central time, they were halfway to the border. The road, which had been decent, became narrower and narrower. By 7 Am they were in Vincente Noble, and by 9:45 they were in Jimani. At this point they had already been plagued by three flat tires. Yes, THREE flat tires! Fortunately they were able to fix them and continue on their way. By 10:45 they were at the border crossing, which was the craziest driving experience Jeremy had ever been through. In his words "Vehicle 1 across border, others somewhere behind, crossing is single lane rock culvert, crazy traffic". He told me later that there were thousands of people going back and forth across the border, with no discernable traffic laws to govern the flow of cars. There was a UN vehicle there with a huge gun on it (I think he said a 50 cal if that makes sense). Armed guards were stationed at the border, acting as "traffic cops" apparently. Praise God, the team was waved right across the border. No taxes, tariffs, searches, nothing!



At about 1:30, after a long, arduous journey, they finally arrived at the church in Petionville which will be the base camp for the week. They unloaded everything from the vehicles then began to set up camp. One group stayed behind and the other group began the drive to the port at St. Marc to pick up the seven pallets of food donated by Kids Against Hunger. The drive is supposedly two hours, but I think it took them closer to three. The group that went to the port includes: Dickens, Mark Faulkner, Josh Moody, Jim Shaw, Alex Sisson, Mark Fisher, Mark Turner, Roy Gilbert, Richard Bradley and Jeremy Sanders. The group that stayed behind to set up camp includes: Ronnie Sanders, David Jarrett, Heath Kyle, Brian Bacola, Jeff Kuespert, Jesse Prater, Jimmy Sitton, Scott Ronyak, Brett Simmons and Jim Beard.



The road to the port was quite interesting in its own way. One text I received read, "cows on road @ 70 mph". That can't be good.

One vehicle suffered another flat tire (#4 for the day). Jeremy and Richard stayed with that vehicle and sent the other three ahead to attempt to get to the port before it closed for the evening. I received a text from Jeremy at 4:18 telling me to call Alex and see if he made it to the dock. When I was able to get in touch with Alex, he said that they were unable to get the food. I found out later that customs was not allowing them to get the food off of the boat, citing some outlandish rule about needing a local sponsor to approve it. I am not sure what that is all about, but the group was forced to spend the night in St. Marc. Initially they planned to sleep in the cars, which did not sound like a great idea to me, but I guess you have to do what you have to do. However, through God's providential timing, they were able to get connected with some American mission workers who have been in Haiti for nearly twenty years. The guys will be staying in a compound tonight, which is owned by a group called Youth on Mission. I think they will even have beds to sleep in. Who would have thought that something like that would happen? Jeremy said that he has had to exercise more faith on this trip than he ever has. I am sure that probably goes for most of the others as well.



As far as the situation back in Petionville, I do not have nearly as many details since I have mainly been communication with Jeremy, who is in St. Marc. As far as I know, everything is going well and they are in a very safe situation. I have not heard of any incidents of anyone feeling threatened at all. The sleeping arrangements are somewhat humorous, as they are practically sleeping on top of one another in the church. Of course most of us know that the kind of church we are talking about is not the typical American church, but a church in a third world country. Brett sent a picture that he took with his phone. It is a little hard to see, but I think you can make out enough details to see what is going on.

Tomorrow morning in Petionville the medical clinic will begin to operate, with Dr. Jarrett leading the way, and the two EMTs, Jesse and Brian, helping out. Hopefully they will be able to demonstrate the love of Christ as they care for the physical needs of the people in Petionville. Please pray for wisdom and patience for those treating and those being treated.

Also pray for those who will be preparing food. I do not have details on that yet, but hopefully they will be forthcoming. Food was purchased in the Dominican Republic, so if something happens and the food does not make it off of the boat, there will be some food to go around.

I almost forgot one thing. You will never guess who was at the hotel in Santo Domingo last night. Harrison Ford! Yes, THE Harrison Ford. As in Indiana Jones, Jack Ryan, Han Solo, etc. You know, HARRISON FORD. Ok, maybe not everyone will be as excited as me about that. I mean, it's not like I got to see him or anything. But it's still pretty cool, don't you think?

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. "As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts." Isaiah 55:8-9