In Country!

We are finally in Haiti!

Our experience has already been incredible!

Flying over the island and on our approach, we could see collapsed buildings and tent cities. We landed in Port-Au-Prince right in between two military transport planes. The devastation was apparent. The main airport building was still intact, but unsafe. We deboarded put plane and took a shuttle down the Tarmac to a former warehouse that was converted to an immigration, baggage check, and customs center. It was organized chaos in there.

Going through customs was a little bit of a snag, but we got almost everything through. After that, we had to leave the airport to load all our stuff into vehicles. There were hundreds of people just outside the airport gates. Pastor Julio and some of his friend met us there to help. In the midst of military, police, aid workers, and Haitians, we were able to load all our stuff into a flatbed delivery truck. The rest of our team piled in a couple vehicles and got driving. I sat in the bed of a pickup for the fifteen minute drive from the airport to pastor Julio's house. (Did I mention that it is HOT and HUMID here? 'Cause it is!)

While driving through the city and suburbs, we saw tent communities, U.N. compounds, and lots of severely damaged and/or completely leveled. The news doesn't do it justice.

Once we got to the house (gated compound actually), we unloaded all our stuff, got a tour, and hydrated! Then we got to work: we set up our tents and sorted through massive amounts of medical supplies and hand out stuff (bibles, coloring books, school supplies, blankets, toiletries, candy, toys and more).

Okay... Enough about the tasks for a minute. I'd like to tell you about the Haitian people. I can't really put it into words, but I'll try. They're amazing. Some people just seem broken and beaten, but the majority of the people seem... Joyful! They are helpful and friendly. I've only been able to spend a few moments with Haitians, but I can't wait to get out tomorrow morning and be with them again!

How about our team? Our medical team is Kathy(mom to me), Janie and Maryann. They have been tirelessly sorting medical supplies and discussing what the clinic(s) will look like. Chandra, our logistics leader, is on top of everything! The rest of our team (Vicki, Butch, Billy, Sean, Stuart, Neil, Lance, Steve, Dan, Rob, myself) have been doing manual labor most of the day. As a team we work hard and work well together. We have fun an laugh and joke and kid each other. We're all excited about what God is doing through our team.

It's now 7:15 pm (should be 8:15, but they don't do daylight savings time) and we're hanging out and talking. Our trip leaders (Chandra, Steve, Dan, and Julio) are making and confirming plans for the week.

That's it for now. Too many thoughts going through this head. Thanks for praying and supporting me and this team. I love you guys!

Making an immediate and eternal impact on the people of Haiti!

Evan
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Posted via email from evan's adventures