Home Sweet Home

It is so good to be in our house again. Sleeping in our bed, walking around our campus, being with our friends, teaching classes again - it is comforting to return home from the concrete and destruction of PAP to the green beauty of Fauche. Our trip here and arriving home wasn't the smoothest day in Haiti. It is a blessing that God doesn't give us more than we can handle.
We got up around 5:30 am on Saturday morning in the guesthouse in PAP to get coffee brewing and to get packed before our flight at 8. We wanted to make sure the team that was there would have breakfast all set up before we left. Our ride got to the house at 6:45 and we packed the 355 lbs of supplies that Cory and Kris Thede has left with us to bring. We said our goodbyes to the missionaries and friends in the south (Dan, Joy, Carl, and our driver) and headed off to the airport. The drive to the airport wasn't bad and we were soon checking in to MAF (Missionary Aviation Fellowship) in the PAP airport. We were flying in the smaller Cessna class plane rather than the 9 passenger that we had flown in coming. Now you must understand that my wife is not the biggest "flier". If she is in a plane she doesn't want to feel each air current and turbulence - not easy with a Cessna (a 5 seater plus the pilot). Once all the gear is strapped down and we are buckled in the pilot gets in and starts up the plane. All is normal. Then he starts his taxi out onto the runway, turns left, floors it for 10 seconds to get us down the strip a little, slows (a little) wheels it around and, to Kathleen's dismay, doesn't take a second to line up or take a moment but pulls the throttle out and off we go. The flight wasn't much to speak of until the landing where it was a little shaky. The pilot was great and he knew what he was doing but it is always hard when your life is out of your hands! Nice to be back on the ground.
Cory, Jean Pierre, and Anna came to pick us up. It was great to see them all again. Anna especially was glad to see my wife. For the rest of the day Kathleen had someone other than me to hold her hand.
The rest of the morning was spent shopping and getting some cheeseburgers. Shopping in Haiti always takes more than the average Wal-mart run because you have to go to several different stores to get what you need. When we were on our way home in the early afternoon we started to see Tap Taps pulled off to the side of the road. Then we saw a huge mass of people in the road a 1/2 mile ahead. We wondered what was going on. We saw a police car with a shattered back window drive past and a UN unit passed us roaring ahead. Jean-Pierre got out and quickly found out that there was an incident in which a truck carrying a bunch of rice was getting looted and a young man had been shot by the police. We don't know any other details except that people were mad. This happened at 11 am and was still going on in the early afternoon and didn't end until about 4 pm. The crowd had cut down trees and blocked the road. There wasn't much to do other than sit and wait it out. It was a strange experience sitting there watching people walk back and forth with no sign of agitation a half mile from where there had been a shooting and a mob was blocking the road. Not something you hear of very often in the states. We never really felt unsafe, but it was a little tense. We waited for several hours just sitting, talking, trying to keep Anna busy, and being bored. (Anna on the side of the road)
So we finally get back on the road and drive through the scene where I saw some fallen branches pushed off the side of the road. Not much to see.
We stopped by the Baptist University for a minute to drop off some bananas and had a chance to see Nancy James for a little bit. Then we were on our way to Fauche. When we got to the top of a hill a couple of minutes from Fauche Jean-Pierre said he wanted to check the luggage and supplies that were all tied onto the back. He did and we found out that a big black bag of medications was missing! We were shocked. We had no idea how this could have happened because we never stopped for someone to just pull it out. Then a guy on a motorcycle flagged us down and said he saw a man jump off a moving motorcycle, get the bag and take off with it! We got home tired and sad that someone had stolen great antibiotics and meds meant for the people of Fauche. We pray that they will still be used in the correct way and not just sold in the markets like candy.
The Thedes fed us dinner and we got back to our house around 7. We opened the door and Kathleen made a little gasp. There were two cockroaches in the kitchen! I told her to just go in the bedroom cause I saw three. Fifteen minutes later I had killed 11 cockroaches and found a couple of dead bodies! I would flush them out with bug spray and then stomp or swap them with my shoe. This is what was left.
We didn't see anymore that night and were thankful for it. Church the next day was good. Kath and I had to sit apart from the rest of the group and so we didn't have a translator. I did pretty well at understanding for about 15 minutes and then it was as if my brain powered down. I didn't comprehend two words after that haha. The singing was good though. They have some very gifted singing groups that sing songs with a lot of truth. In the afternoon Kath and I went to help with the Children's program. It was a full house. They do a lot of singing and bible memorization and games and then they show a movie. The movie is not necessarily christian but it is a great way to get kids involved. As you can see from the picture as many parents and adults line the outside of the building watching through the windows as those inside.
Our first class was tonight (monday) and it went really well. The two hours is a little longer but between the two of us we can do it. We are really looking forward to our last 5 weeks here. It seems so short compared to 8 months, but we know that is a lot of time to make a difference. We hope you have a great week!