This is Mark writing our update for the 1st REAL day of the trip. It is 9 pm and I am sitting in the home of Don and Karen, our mission base hosts. They have been here in Haiti for 22 years!
We woke up at 5 this morning, had a light breakfast at the Sleep Inn, and then headed to the MFI headquarters to board the DC3. This 50-year old prop plane flies at just 11,000 feet, and is not pressurized, so it was quite a loud and fun trip! We flew for 2 hours or so and then stopped in Exuma, Bahamas for some fuel. We all departed and waited in the small indoor "rest station", and then back on board for another 2 hours. At the altitude we flew you could look out the window at the beautiful blue-green water of the ocean scattered with islands. A few of us also got the chance to sit in the seat behind the pilot in the cockpit for our 4 take-offs/landings. Up until that point when we touched down at the Cap Haitian airport, we were all pretty relaxed...
We de-planed and waited in a "holding room" at the airport for about 1 hour. Then we loaded up our luggage and ourselves onto the back of Don and Karen's flatbed truck for our road trip through Cap Haitian to their ministry compound on the outskirts of the area. This ride was unlike anything that most of us have ever experienced, including those of us who have visited places like Honduras and Mexico. Those places have poverty that is indeed shocking to the 5 senses, but this country gives you a picture of human existence that is found in very few places in the world. It looks like a city that has been destroyed by years of war. People everywhere (doing not much), dirt covering just about everything and everyone, sewage flowing in side-street ditches, garbage, burned-out cars on the side of the pothole-laden half-paved road. And this went on literally for miles. And there we were, the 'very' white Americans standing on the back of a flat-bed truck. needless to say, it was a shock to the system. To hear about it, to read about it (like you are doing right now), to see pictures or video images...it does little to prepare someone for the reality of a country that ranks 178 out of 179 in the world on a poverty index. We were all glad to arrive to the WOMI compound. No one said anything, but we had a lot to process...
A light lunch of ham and cheese sandwiches was followed by some R and R, and then we headed down the street to the EBAC orphanage run by Kathy and Alice. There we were greeted by 70+ kids, ready for soccer, basketball, and lots of hand-holding. While Mindy and Anna chatted with the girls that they have been corresponding with by mail for the last 4 years, the guys got plenty of exercise taking on the youngters in soccer and basketball. We tried hard to communicate, did our best to give each kid as much attention as possible, and looked a little silly playing "futbol" in the dirt with kids half our size. After a 1+ hour visit, it was back to the base for a spaghetti and salad dinner, with brownies for dessert.
Jon and Tony had cleanup duty, and then we had our team meeting. I (Mark) asked everyone to write a 200-word letter home to articulate what each person had experienced in the last 12 hours. We shared our writings and had some good discussion about it - - the poverty, the kids, the country, the needs, the love of Christ, and of course our part over the next 5 days.
Now everyone (besides me) is probably asleep or close to it. It's been about as smooth as possible so far, so thanks for your prayers! Please pray:
1. for continued safety
2. for our 'work' plans to go smoothly
3. for our hearts to continue to be touched by all that we are experiencing
4. for our strong team unity to continue
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