Thursday, March 6, 2008

Dave's almost home from Haiti...

Below is an email from one of the leader's on the Haiti trip. Dave gets home on late Friday/Early Saturday! Yeah! Thank you for your prayers while he's been gone serving and for your extra help at the Hansen home :-) We really appreciate it and are humbled by all of it... Thank you.


Report on Tuesday:
Flexible & Patient, that's our motto. Instead of a second work day,
as we originally planned, we started the morning by driving out to La
Belle Mer (Beautiful View) to deliver 10 goats to the Salt & Light
School. A wonderful drive... all 18 of us, plus a driver and
translator, jammed into a short bed compact truck. The saying goes
that there's always room for one more in a Haitian taxi. The School
is one of the newest schools, but in a fairly remote, poor part of the
country. At least a 30 minute drive, maybe 45 since we had to walk up
and down a few steep hills. The school is simply unfinished homemade
cement blocks, unfinished floors, the kids use cement blocks for
chairs, no desks. The 10 children that received goats were very
excited. After each child received their goats, Darrell Lindaman
offered a prayer.
The rest of the morning we put together gift bags for the 380 kids at
the Rocky School. Lunch was tuna surprise.
In the afternoon the guys headed down to Beadle's rice shop to pick up
our order. There was the typical mix up with amounts and prices, but
we expect that. Doug, Marla & Randy renegotiated while the rest of
the guys loaded the 180 bags of rice and 30 boxes of oil. We came
close to not picking up the beans we had ordered because the owner
wanted more money. We held firm and he caved at the end. Somehow, I
still think he's turning a profit. We did feel good about the big
pile of rice, beans and oil that we left in the hospital storeroom.
We're also leaving some money with the hospital to buy other supplies
that they need to prepare the meals for patients.
The ladies finished up the painting project while the guys moved the
rice & beans. After that we handed out sponsor packets to school
kids. That was a real highlight for us. Judy was able to meet the
little boy they have sponsored for the past 4 years.
Then it started to rain... hard... for a long time. Most made it back
to our houses before the dam burst. Randy, Marla, Doug, Deb L., Lisa
and Judy didn't. The water in the street was at least ankle deep.
But it was a warm rain. A few in our group decided to shower outside.
We have pictures.
Because of the rain it was a shorter night. We had dinner in the
guys' house. A little crammed and warm and humid, but we've become
good friends.
Report on Wednesday:
Lots of driving today. We took 2 trucks to the Rocky Mountain School
this morning to deliver gift bags and share the salvation message.
This trip is always a highlight.
Then we finished the morning at the Campbell's orphanage... observing
the mother's milk programs, baby vaccinations and playing with the
kids. We also had lunch with Bill & Jennifer and their son, Jesse.
Terrific people. We hope to continue our relationship with them.
After lunch we drove out to the Sonshine School to see how they were
coming with the school addition. The cement floors were finished, and
the girls were impressed with the hard work the guys did.
The group split... Half went to the hospital's farm program. The
other half to Anne's orphanage near the airport.
Tonight we are going to Dr. Guy's house for dinner. It'll be our last
night in Pignon. Hard to believe. We usually finish the night on the
roof of the Iowa House under the stars.
Please continue praying for us. Although we're still smiling, I can
tell the group is getting tired. It's been a powerful week. We've
all been deeply touched and challenged by what we've done and seen.
The level of poverty and incredible need is staggering. It's hard to
know how to respond in a way that honors and pleases God.
We love you all. See you soon. Thanks for your prayers.
For the team... Doug

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