Slight Change of Plans

We had nearly given up hope and only whispered prayers of still being able to see my dad when he emailed us on Friday saying that Dan wanted us in Port-au-Prince to help run the guest house and he needed to know if we were willing to come. We only found out because Kris came down and told us that we had an email (my dad sent it to her too) and that we better consider quickly. The thing was we had English class fifteen minutes after we found out. The email was asking us to come ASAP, even Saturday morning. Back and forth we emailed each other after English Class trying to find out if Dan Irvine (area director for our mission) could get us a plane ride from O'Cap to PAP Sat morning. The last email we got from my dad sounded like it wasn't likely, so we went to bed thinking it wouldn't be till Monday that we would go and we hadn't packed a thing. I set the alarm for 5:00 to get up and check the email to make sure that we weren't supposed to leave at seven or something, but there was no email. We went back to sleep and then got up a few hours later. We had a nice little breakfast and devos and then we checked the email again. It said get to the airport by ten, you have a flight. It was already 8:30 and it takes at least an hour and fifteen minutes to drive there. That was pretty much it! So we packed for 2-3 weeks in two carry-ons, asked Cory to drive us to the airport, and began our journey to PAP. Cory did a great job of getting us to the airport in just over an hour (AMAZING for our roads) by 10:16 am. He waited with us until our plane landed and we talked to the pilot. At this point the hope I would get to see my dad was coming back, and we were more than willing to come to PAP to help in any way we could. Then John our missionary pilot told us we were going to wait around for a medical team that was coming in to make sure they weren't overweight for their flight. We ended up waiting in the Cap Haitian airport for a few hours with the hope of seeing pops dissipating and Kathleen's apprehension of flying in a small aircraft was growing.
Finally, we took off at 12:30 p.m. The flight was pretty uneventful with a couple of sudden drops and shakes that come with flying in a sesna. I loved it and my wife endured it! We came into PAP from the east and saw the bay filled with huge ships. The farther east you go the less damage that is visible. But as we approached the airport I could see more and more fallen walls and then houses. We caught this picture of a small tent city which I am sure you have heard about. These people need tents! President Preval has put out an international plea for 200,000 tents. No one is sleeping indoors as their is still a 3% chance of a 7.0 quake, and a 90% chance of a 5.0 quake in the next thirty days. Even here we are sleeping on mattresses pulled from bunk beds under mosquito nets. The last two nights that moon has been bright and clear casting shadows on our tiny camp.
When we landed we were met by Dan Irvine. We just knew that by this late in the day my dad was on his way home in the Amway Jet, but Dan told us that we would be able to see him. So we walked drove out onto the tarmac with our truck and parked. Then we proceeded to walk by 3-4 huge C-13's (so I am told like the one in the picture). We walked with a purpose like we were supposed to be there, walking around all the men and women with M-16s and people waiting in line we started looking at those waiting for my dad in the crowd. While we were searching their was a C-13 (prop, not jet engine) preparing for take off and its engines were so loud they were drowning out all other noise. We spread out a little and after a minute or two my dad found us! It was great to see him! It was also surreal. I mean here I am seeing my dad for the first time in 6 months and in Haiti and not being able to hear him over the four roaring engines of the C-13! It was just weird. I felt like I had just seen him last week. While we were shouting at each other a huge wind of dust and gravel was thrown at us as the plane backed up, but we were more than happy for the to leave. We got a few minutes to chat before we had to go, but Kath and I were so thankful to be able to spend some time with him. What a blessing and answer to a prayer that we had given up on at least 10 times...God is faithful. We spent the remainder of the afternoon searching for our pallet of supplies in an area much like the one in the picture. The amount of aid here is amazing! Dan told us that all the stuff we see today won't be here in 48 hours. While loading nearly 2000 pounds of rice, medical supplies, and other stuff another Organization "OneXone" came and got two semis worth of pallets. It was awesome to see all the stuff coming and going in order to help Haiti. I had a chance to speak to some Canadian soldiers who asked what we were doing and where we were working. They encouraged us to go to Laogone and hard hit areas. They were friendly guys with a thick Canadian accent. We left the airport and arrived at the guest house at about 5 ready for dinner and to see our friends Matt and Justine who have been working the guest house until now. They are usually on LaGonave and have just come over to help. So we are relieving them of their post :D It has been so great to hang out with them and to spend some time with others in their 20's. Now we are here and waiting to see what God has for us now. Matt and I have been repairing the plumbing and cistern that were messed up in the quake that my dad started to fix. Funny to have him come before me and to be in the places that he has been that I was before him. We will try to keep you updated!