One of the team members from Texas, Jimmy Sitton, had some contacts at an organization called Kids Against Hunger. They make a special food which has been used to feed malnourished children around the world. It consists of rice, soy, dehydrated vegetables, and a vitamin and mineral powder. It contains all of the amino acids required by the human body and is highly nutritious. All that has to be added to the mixture is boiling water, so the meals are very easy to prepare. The website says:
According to the food scientists developing the food, it supplies the optimum amount of nutrition for a malnourished child. It provides not just a meal, but better health to starving children. Additionally, our bags are specifically made from moisture-proof and odor-proof material to prevent spoilage and insect or rodent problems. The food bags are also three-ply for strength. Kids Against Hunger's life-saving meals have a shelf life of at least three years.
The organization donated the food for our team to distribute and/or prepare for the citizens of Haiti who desperately need food, and it was shipped to the port of St. Marc where it has been awaiting the team's arrival for a couple of days. There are 50,000 meals on board the boat, just waiting to be distributed. It is difficult to imagine why the customs officials in St. Marc are making it so difficult to obtain these life saving meals.
I will do my best to update you on what happened this morning in St. Marc.
Jeremy's team, which consists of Jim Shaw, Josh Moody, Mark Faulkner, Mark Turner, Alex Sisson, Mark Fisher, Roy Gilbert, Richard Bradley, and Dickens, awaited the arrival of Elise, the pastor of one of the churches they are working with in Haiti. They thought that since he was a local pastor, he would be able to get the customs officials to let them have the food. He arrived and they began the process of trying to get the food off of the boat. One official told them that he could get it unloaded for them without delay. Then another one found out about it and decided to let them know that they were required to complete some paperwork, which would cost $150. Alex's bargaining skills came in handy, and they were allowed to get the paperwork done for free. They were all set to get the food again, then found out that more paperwork had to be completed by the Minister of Finance in Port-au-Prince. They tried to get customs to fax the paperwork to Port-au-Prince, but they refused. It had to be done in person. Unfortunately St. Marc is three hours from Port-au-Prince, but they had no choice but to head that direction. Jeremy, Alex and Dickens will go directly to the Minister of Finance, which is beside the palace in Port-au-Prince. The others are going back to the base camp in Petionville to help prepare the food they bought yesterday in the Dominican Republic. The last thing I heard was that they were planning to pick up some more rice, beans and water on the way back to Petionville so there would be more to prepare and distribute.
Although it seems as if the situation is bad, we know that God still has a plan and He is working it out. Our guys are extremely blessed to be a part of that plan!
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. Romans 8:28
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