We've run the course, kept our minds on the new road laid before us. There have been great obstacles along the way, changes to be made, bumps to smooth out, lessons to be learned, but we are stronger and smarter now because of it.
We're as ready as we'll ever be to get back to Haiti. We never forgot anyone, never stopped loving them all and always knew that if God wanted us there, He would show us how. He didn't just show us,,, He laid out the red carpet, lined up the guards and is now waiting to see if we will carry out the tasks He has set before us.
It's been alot of work getting all the 800 pounds of medicines collected, donated and purchased. I have to make sure we have a qualified team, which is better than we could ever ask for. I have a wonderful friend in Judi who is my right arm and leg and together we get the job done somehow! I couldn't ask for a more wonderful church staff team who have been there to support us and prayed with me and for me. It truly takes a team of people who put their minds and talents together to make all this possible and I can't thank them enough.
So, Paul and I leave at 2:30am on Tuesday morning. Drive with our team of 8 plus the church's other team of 5 to JFK and fly direct to Port au Prince. We 8 will make up the LifeClinic team and head to Carrefour, Haiti. A badly impoverished and overcrowded area. Our other team of 5 will head in the other direction to Fond Parisien which is almost due east toward the DR border. They will be building a beautiful new playground and basketball court for the earthquake's refugee children out at Love A Child. All because our head pastor Randy Landis knew this was something that had to be done.
Our team will stay in a compound in Carrefour where field workers commonly stay. We will be only 2 miles from Pastor Eddy who we will now work beside and with in his community. He alone has started 15 churches in Carrefour and knows his people and what they need. We will learn from him and listen. We will respect the people, value them and treat them as equal to us and nothing less as they deserve.
We have very full days planned, whether they all work as scheduled is another story as things in Haiti usually change all day long. Here are just a few of the many things we will be doing;
-Pick up extra medicines at a pharmacy behind the downed palace.
-We will be meeting up with another wonderful non-profit organization who has offered to help install a clean water system at no charge to Pastor Eddy's community no matter what it takes!
-Attend a huge church service with many local pastors and thousands in the stadium in Carrefour on the 12th to remember the quake. At 4:52pm, when the quake hit, there will be loud celebration and praise that God spared their lives. Can't wait!
-We will run 2 full days of clinics with 3 docs, a nurse, and the rest of us to treat 600 patients.
-We will look at possible vehicles for our new mobile clinic.
-We will go out to Love A Child and see all the hurricane and earthquake proof houses being built for 380 refugee families, a huge Cholera tent just put up, another area of homes being built for the village of Le Tant who have lost their homes from flooding in the lake and look at Love A Child's mobile units to get ideas.
-We will run another very special clinic day to begin our work treating 100 Restavek (slave) children. They will be brought to one location for us to treat them and the pain will be hard but our message of hope and love is what we must focus on. There are over 300,000 child slaves in Haiti right now as I write this in the year 2011 and this must end...
I will try my best, if connections do not fail me, to update this blog every so often as I have time and or energy. I want to thank every single church member in LifeChurch Allentown for making this a reality. I also want to thank all my family and friends for their love and support as Paul and I go back to do this work. It means more to me than you will ever know.
I am so happy to once again go serve God in this way by trying to do our little part in helping the precious Haitian people. God bless!
