People who help along the way

Back to Haiti again.  The Associate General Secretary for the Committee on Foreign Missions of the OPC and I flew to Santo Domingo on Monday.  Tuesday we picked up the truck and drove back into Haiti.  We are very thankful to the Lord that it was a relatively easy and uneventful trip.  We left Santo Domingo at 8:30AM and were back home in Kaliko by 3:30PM after a stop in Port-au-Prince.

We are very thankful for the hospitality of the Geer family who live in Santo Domingo.  They are members of an OPC congregation back in the US.  They contacted our head office shortly after the quake to let us know they had a place in the DR.  If needed they were happy to open their home for trips back and forth to Haiti.  Though I didn’t think we would have to use it, because of the difficulty in finding flights out of Port-au-Prince we were delighted to make their acquaintance and enjoy Scott and Ann’s wonderful hospitality.  (Scott is second from the left)

Is it Haiti or the Dominican Republic.  The drier areas in the west make it harder to tell.  The giveaway is the highway with painted lines.  The acacia trees are a little bigger than you usually see in Haiti too.  The hills are the same brown and it is dry like Haiti.  But it is the Dominican Republic.

The drive was much easier during the day.  It only took about 30 minutes to get all our papers in order and passports stamped.  Traffic was very light for most of the trip.  As usual, only once we arrived in the outskirts of Port-au-Prince did things back up.

We stopped by the airport in Port-au-Prince to check on return flights.  We do have tickets on American Airlines for Feb 22, but we are not too hopeful.  They claim flights will resume Friday but know we need other options.  We were delighted to meet Randy and Peggy Hausler, who are working for MFI coordinating outgoing passengers.  Randy is the brother of OPC pastor Eric Hausler who has also volunteered his time and interpreting skills here in Haiti.  The ramp is a busy place with lots of folks wanting to get out.

Though the airport is not as busy as it was a few weeks ago, there are still lots of flights in and out.  The aid continues to pour in.  Private companies, missions and various militaries fly into the airport to unload.  Here you can see Arrow Cargo alongside a Canadian Air Force C-17.  It is noisy.  And the folks waiting for flights are on the ramp right behind me as I take the picture.  You get a front row seat to how the world is helping Haiti eat.

Keep praying for Douglas and I as we travel both to Lagonav and Port-au-Prince.  We are grateful for the privilege of bringing the comfort of the Word of God to the people in our churches.  Pray for wisdom as we continue to figure out our long term plans.  Heather and the kids are settled into our new temporary home in Florida.  Pray for us as we are many miles apart.