This morning the team is traveling from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic to Petion-ville, Haiti. They planned to meet in the hotel lobby at 4 AM, make sure that all the supplies were loaded, and begin the journey across the island. Petion-ville is a few miles south of Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti.
According to our Haitian contacts, the trip normally takes about four hours. However, due to treacherous driving conditions since the earthquake, the trip now takes seven to eight hours. From what I can tell, the distance is about 234 miles, and the team will have to cross some mountains and will more than likely go through a few military checkpoints along the way. The last text I received from Jeremy was at about 7 AM Central and they were coming through Vincente Noble, which is in the Dominican Republic. A majority of the remainder of the trip will be along the coast (I think). If you have any updated information from anyone on the team, feel free to let me know. I am pretty sure that communications may not be as reliable during some of the trip as they have been, so I do not know how often I will receive updates.
Prayer requests for today:
- Safe travel across the island to Petion-ville
- Pray that the vehicles will not have any mechanical issues on the journey
- Pray for the men who are driving that they will have wisdom to handle an difficult driving conditions which arise
- Pray that they will be able to cross the border with no problems
- Pray for the people of Haiti who need God's peace today
- Pray for continued unity for the team
- Pray for the emotional well-being of the team as they begin to see earthquake damage in Haiti
That last prayer request is a very important one. A few days after Hurricane Katrina, Ronnie, Jeremy and I traveled with a group to Gulfport, Mississippi to do work not unlike what they are doing in Haiti this week. Although we had seen the images on television, no picture could portray the actual devastation of the coast. I was completely unprepared for the things I witnessed while in Gulfport and I carry those images with me even now. The things that our team to Haiti will see this week will be so terrible and heartbreaking that they may not even know how to react. They have seen the ongoing television coverage, but I am sure that can not fully comprehend what has happened until they see it. That will happen today and I know that they covet your prayers as they walk through the tragedy.
***Right before I submitted this I received a text from Jeremy and they are in Jimani, Dominican Republic as of 10:00 AM Central. They have had three flat tires already if that tells you anything about the driving conditions. Please pray!****
Kandy, I have been thinking the same thing today...I would imagine today, even the first few hours will be difficult to stomach. I pray that God will grant them a pair of His sunglasses to go with His armor...may He filter and give grace!
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
Even though I know they are probably already tired, it must be a little humorous to have three flat tires -- we'll have to remind the guys, if they complain, that they could choose flat tires or four legged vehicles that bray!!! :)
I didn't know you were down here after Katrina. I have friends from Gulfport that have relocated here because they lost everything. Thanks so much for the updates.
ReplyDeleteKandy thanks for posting updates. I didn't know if you had my blog site. It's where I'm putting any info Josh is sending me. Thought I would send it to you. http://moodygirls3.blogspot.com/
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