The sun is shining in Bonne Fin this AM. We continue to Praise the Lord in the aftermath of Hurricane Matthew.
The above picture was taken by Kurt Plattner from just outside Rick's office in the hospital. It shows our house that is now visible. Last week, you might have been able to catch a glimpse of our red trim through trees, but you had to be looking for it. Now, we have a straight shot view of the hospital. The positives that I see in this picture is the tin that is still on the walkway in hospital, the new palm trees that were recently put in are still intact, some of the old growth trees are still standing and will be able to fill in and grow again.
Our entire family and Jamie Rokey (Joan's sister) were able to fly out of Haiti yesterday on one of only two commercial flights that left from PAP. We are very thankful for Delta airlines and their flights to Atlanta!! Currently, (Friday AM) we are in Sabetha, KS. We plan to have our children stay here with family for now as Rick and I return to Haiti on Sunday with a small team to assess damage, needs, and continue with those on the ground with clean-up. We will take some critical medical supplies in with us as the hospital needs to prepare for a possible influx of patients as well as the possibility of a Cholera outbreak.
The information from the missionaries at the hospital is that electricity and water have been restored to the hospital. It will be some time before the rest of the campus (staff housing, missionary housing, guest house and missionary school) will have these restored. The campus is completely covered by fallen trees and debris as well. Lots of work will be available to Haitian men with their machetes.
We are hearing reports that roads from PAP to the southern peninsula can be navigated with 4 wheel drive vehicles and such a vehicle was able to reach the hospital yesterday. It will be slow going, but we are hearing that it should be possible for us to drive back to the hospital on Monday. More rains could change these plans so we will proceed as God wills and directs.
As the needs are assessed, we may send out a request for additional teams or individuals to help. For now, we are not cancelling our teams that are already scheduled, but may be changing the scope and focus of their work. Overall, it is too early to make these decisions.
For those that want to help, please keep checking our blog for updates and requests for help. Other resources include Facebook, the HarvestCall website and blogs of our other missionaries.
On a different topic, today is our 15th wedding anniversary. While we planned to be celebrating in Florida with our family, we are very thankful to not be there as the hurricane is bearing down on the Florida coast today. We would be stuck in our hotel room if we were in Orlando. Interestingly, Rick and I celebrated each of our 5 year milestone years with another significant event. At 5 years, we brought our new baby son, Krae, home from the hospital. At 10 years, we were 12 days from having our baby daughter, Selah. And now, at 15 years, we are living in Haiti and dealing with the aftermath of a CAT 4 hurricane. It could be interesting to see what happens at 20 years. I am thankful for the last 15 years with Rick and how God has grown and stretched us together. It's not always easy and blissful, but our marriage is full of the love, joy and peace of God.
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