God is AMAZING!! That just sums up Day 1. We knew we were in for an adventure, but it has been that and a bag of chips. The plane ride to Miami was smooth. Our only slight scare there was Andrew almost losing his iPod. Glad we escaped that near disaster 🙂 The flight to Port Au Prince was great.
Once we landed, we got through Customs without any issues and made our walk to the bus. At this point, we proceeded to sit on the bus for over an hour while our luggage was loaded on top. So, after an hour passed, we rode about a mile (interesting ride, considering the drivers always have the right away – BEEEEEEEEEP).
We came to an abrupt stop, where we became confused. At this point, a man hopped on the bus and told us to all get off. Um…what? My shoes are off and I’m in the middle of a bag of Cheez-Its trying to mentally prep for the impending 8-9 hour bumpy bus ride. Sooooo, we were booted off the bus at another small airport where we proceeded to watch all of our luggage be pulled off the bus and pulled inside. It is at the point we are informed that there has been some sort of local protest due to electrity being shut off and the road we would be on was shut down. As a result of this (long story short), we ended up on a puddle jumper that brought us straight to the Mole, and it was AWESOME. Even Tammie and I can say that.
It was beautiful to fly in and see where we are going to be and what a gorgeous place it is. Once we landed (on a dirt airstrip) we all loaded up on a bus (with Jose) and were taken through the Mole to the men’s dorm. The guys unloaded their stuff, we hopped back on the bus, and were dropped at the girls dorm where we unloaded our stuff.
I guess this blog will go on forever if I share every detail, but I’ll sum up with the highlights. We ate a great spaghetti dinner, the girls took a quick swim in the stunning ocean, met our interpreters and were able to turn in fairly early to catch up on sleep. Some of us got good sleep, and some of us didn’t, but that’s to be expected. The sounds of the night are “interesting”, to say the least. Certainly not the same sounds you hear in the McDonough night air.
This morning, we were up bright and early for a very cool church service where the gals got to work with the kids (sharing songs, coloring, reading books) and the men got to hear an interpreted sermon and share in communion with the locals (Whoa!That’s NOT grape juice!).
After lunch, we got a heavy orientation from Jodi on how we can minister to this community and also an explanation on voodoo. I think I can speak for everyone and already say that my “heart is breaking for what breaks yours”. Some of Jodi’s stories leave you speechless and they are so real because we’re talking about children and families that surround us. On the outside we see some smiles and nice clothes, but it’s unbelievable to know what goes on behind these closed doors.
Right now, we’re heading the beach and will probably take some kiddos with us so we can just love on them. The guys will probably play some basketball after that. Dinner is at 6 (we are an hour behind McDonough here) and then we will have a devotion.
Tomorrow we will all head to Preskul (fishing village) and we will get there by a boat that (you’ll love this mom) “hopefully will float”.
Thank you for all of your prayers! We feel so showered in God’s love and protection here and we’re excited to move forward as his hands, feet and face.
MCC Africa Team – Thank you for your Day 1 card! Your words of encouragement and prayers mean the world to us and we felt your hug. Mom: I’m wearing my sunscreen and bug spray.
***PLEASE NOTE SAVANNAH IS IN LA BAIE AND WILL BE HEADED THIS WAY TOMORROW!
