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Haiti Update 2-20-2010
Today was the beginning of the large-scale civil distribution on the island. About 8,000 pounds of food was distributed through various community centers throughout the island today. The church distribution also continued today. Caleb and I got to accompany a few of the pastors as they brought rice and beans to distribute to their congregation in the mountains on La Gonave. The drive took about 1 hour and we were told that half the food had been sent ahead yesterday on two donkeys. It takes the donkeys about 3 hours up the mountain to make the journey. The people in the mountains live a slower-paced, simpler life and raise a lot of community crops for themselves. There are not enough crops to sustain the amount of people that live in the mountains especially after taking in new refugees from the mainland. The people were so appreciative of the food, and so thankful to us and the people who helped to send it. I have been invited to preach at the morning service at Pastor Keno's church tomorrow. Please pray that I
can share the gospel clearly with the many people who will be coming to the service.
-Josh Nerren
Haiti Update 2-19-2010
Good news. The major food distribution began today. We started off by joining the local pastor in charge of distribution to the churches for a meeting of 24 area pastors from the island. Pastor Keno (the guy in charge) talked to the other pastors about the logistics of the distribution and we had an opportunity to speak to the pastors and encourage them that many people in the U.S. helped to send the food and are praying for the churches and the people on the island and in other parts of Haiti. The pastors came from all sorts of backgrounds and denominations and were very thankful for the help they were receiving. They ended the meeting with a hymn. After the meeting, the pastor divided the rice and beans he had been given amongst the 24 pastors and they all took their portions back to their churches to do distribution amongst their congregation. Once the pastors left, Pastor Keno invited members of the community from the streets who had been gathering to see the food to come into the church and receive one scoop of rice per person. People scrambled to find something to put the rice in – an old garbage bag or plastic bag in the piles of trash in the street, a purse or backpack, some couldn’t find anything and opted to use their shirt to transport the rice home. The people were anxious and there was a small amount of pushing and yelling, but for the most part they were patient and waited their turn, often letting the small children go in front of them. Hundreds of pounds of rice were carefully divided up amongst the people who came. Watching these people get so excited about a few cups of rice has a way of making those who have plenty appreciate so much more what God has blessed us with.
Thanks to all who have given and have prayed for the food distribution. Praise God that He has seen it through to this point and that the people are coming to the churches to be fed and that God has given the churches the privilege of being the conduit of these blessings to the people. May God show the people of Haiti that He is their ultimate provider. More distribution will be happening tomorrow, and the next day, and so on for as long as God provides. Please continue to pray. New pictures of the people and of the distribution are posted on FaceBook, and video of the distribution will be available on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/user/HandsAndFeetForHaiti
Haiti Update 2-18-2010
Another crazy day in Haiti. One thing we have learned since being here is that no day goes as planned. This morning I woke up early and left La Gonave on the “BreezySea” (the Wesleyan lobster boat), headed for Kwalili (the Wesleyan warf on the mainland near St. Marc). While I was heading across the rough morning seas, some of the guys at YWAM were working hard transferring a load of food from our CONEX container to the truck that would take it to the warf. Thank you YWAM!
At the same time, Caleb was stuffed atop a few mattresses and a load of medical supplies in the back of another truck coming from Petit Guave, where he stayed last night to Kwalili (about a 5 hour drive). We docked the boat, and since the truck from YWAM was not there we went to town to buy meals for the Haitian workers. When we got back to the dock, the food truck showed up and the Haitian W.I.S.H workers went to starting transferring the food to the boats (there was also a Haitian hired sailboat there). Just when we got started with the food transfer it started to downpour. The workers kicked it in to high gear to get the food to the boat as fast as possible so we could cover it before the beans, rice, pasta, and oats got soaked with rain. We quickly covered the loads and then waited for Caleb. When he arrived, the truck was also carrying two other missionaries to go to La Gonave. We headed back toward La Gonave with the thought we would return to Kwalili later for the truck load of medical supplies and to pick up a team of surgeons coming to the island to work at the hospital.
The storm that brought the rain also made some serious waves (like 10’ rollers). There were quite a few times between waves when the water on both sides was higher than the boat. It made our voyage slower and quite a bit more interesting (most of us were having fun,comparing it to an amusement ride). A few of the Haitians who were used to the boat even got sick. Butch made the call that he would not return to Kwalili today, especially not without a load (the weight helps stabilize the boat). The two boatloads of food we brought today went to a pastor on the island who is in charge of distributing the food we give him to the various churches on the island. There will be another food distribution arm responsible for getting food to other areas of the island where the churches will not reach.
I’m excited to report that while we coming over on the Breezy Sea and then taking care of some business at the base, the food distribution began with 9 churches received food today. 5 Wesleyan churches and 4 other evangelical churches. Here’s a list of the food distributed today: 2,680 pounds of rice 650 pounds of beans 275 pounds of rolled oats 57 boxes of macaroni This is just the small tip of the iceburg, but it’s a start. Tomorrow the pastor in charge of the church distribution (Pastor Keno) will be meeting with pastors from 24 churches on the island to talk about logistics and distribution and then he will be distributing food to each of them who have means to take the food back to their churches. Caleb and I hope to join him in the distribution, but we may have to go back to Kwalili to help with another load. We spent some time with Pastor Keno today and he told us the church is growing on the island. In one church, 120 people have received Christ since the earthquake. Another church used to have 300 people in attendance and has grown to 500 since the quake. God can truly use anything for good. He told us to let the American people who helped to send this food that he and the people on the island were “truly thankful from our head…” (while motioning to his heart) “…for all the help you are giving to us, and we pray that God will bless everyone who has helped us”.
One more thought: I was told that it’s very uncommon for it to rain in Haiti in February. At first I was very thankful for the rain this morning since it made the day much cooler and the cloud cover blocked the sun that scorched my skin yesterday, but as we made our way back to La Gonave I remembered the thousands of “tents” I’ve seen down here made of sheets. I think it’s safe to assume the people living in those homes were not thankful for the rain today. Now their normally dusty dirt floors would be mucky mud, and with the mud comes mosquitoes, disease, cold & wet nights, and other problems. The suffering of these people has not stopped, the circumstances and challenges have just changed. Please continue to pray for them. -Josh Nerren
Haiti – Update 02-16-2010 pm We'll be taking the first load of food to the island Wednesday morning. By the time the inspection was done this morning, the wind had gotten pretty strong on the ocean so the missionary was nervous about trying to rush over, load, and rush back on the rough seas before dark. Also, the driver who will be taking our container to the dock for loading had already taken another job for the day. The good news is, everything is thus far lined up for first thing in the morning so we might even be able to take two loads over tomorrow. Caleb and I got to try our hand at slinging rice bags in the scorching heat inside a metal shipping container today. We needed to collect six pallets to put on the floor of the boat in case we take on any water. It wouldn't be good to soak the bottom layer of rice bags in salt water on the way over. The only pallets available here were underneath pallet loads of 50 pound rice bags, so we moved six pallet loads full to get the wooden pallets out. It didn't take too long, but I was exhausted. Good practice I suppose. The YWAM base has been overwhelmed with teams coming in from around the world. People from Canada, Australia, the UK, Singapore, Finland, Brazil, Belgium, the U.S., and others. Met some UN agents this morning from the U.S., Africa, and Columbia. We might have a harder time finding a place to sleep tonight since the dorm is full and we were never supposed to stay here, but we're told there's an empty tent somewhere. Please continue to pray for God's will in His timing. Thanks, -Josh Nerren
Praise Report from Josh Nerren 2-16-10 So this morning we got up early. Caleb and I spent sometime discussing the obstacles we have faced especially in the waiting for thecontainers to be cleared. We both agree that it seems God even usedthe time of waiting to accomplish many things. We would not have gotten the chance to spend so much time examining the bigger picture needs down here, nor met all the contacts we have that might prove to be long-term partners. Many people have also made comments to me about the impact the photos and videos we've been sending back have made in their lives. We would not have had the chance to do any of that if our containers had been cleared last week. So we recognized God's sovereignty and control of all that is happening. We then spent some time in prayer. The inspector was supposed to come to the YWAM base to inspect the containers which are here but hadn't been released yet. The guy was supposed to come at 9am. At about 10am, we had had enough. About 6 of us went down to the customs office to stand in front of the guy all day if we had to. As many of you know the containers have been waiting to be cleared for nearly a week. We arrived at the customs office to find it closed. No one was there. I prayed again,standing at the locked door that if anything was hindering this process God would remove the obstacles. Just then, the YWAM guy got a call on his phone.It was the inspector. He said he would meet us at the base in 10 minutes. We hurried back, and what do you know, after numerous no-shows he finally came. We fed him some breakfast. It took him about 2 minutes per container to quickly look inside and say OK.Both CONEX #1 and#2 have been cleared! Praise God! The customs officer told Caleb we can start taking stuff out of either box any time, and he cleared the fuel as well. God is never early, and He's never late. We have a call into the guys on the island and hope they will send the boat today so we can get a load over there before dark. That said, we'll be following the Lord's lead even if it means going slower than we want to. Thanks to all who have been praying. That's one more hurdle that we've finally gotten over. There are likely many more that we'll have to jump over. We know and are so blessed that so many people are praying for this mission. Blessings -Josh Nerren (Tuesday February 16th, 11:00am in St. Marc, Haiti)
Straight from Haiti 2-14-10
Since the churches in Haiti have declared 3 days of fasting and prayer we're kind of stuck. Nothing is open, and we can't get our food out yet. Spent some more time driving in Port-au-Prince yesterday and did some small scale food distribution to a Wesleyan church taking them some excess food that we had at the guest house.They were grateful for what we gave. We got to the church right as they were wrapping up their service. The building they were meeting in consisted of a few block pillars with a small covered area finished. I've posted lots of new photos and videos of the destruction on Facebook and YouTube. After a while one pile of rubble starts to look like every other one. We were asking ourselves yesterday how the people must feel about walking by all of the destroyed buildings. How they seemed not to even care about the buildings as they walked on by. We reasoned they must just get used to it. I suppose they have to in someways. People are even seen sitting under the eves or doorways of buildings that are half holding on - ready to come down at any moment. I think they must just get used to it. I realized I was even getting used to it at some level. I started out taking a picture of every pile and after a while found myself not lifting the camera thinking, "nah, there's nothing new about that pile, just looks like the last one, no one's going to want to see a picture of that one", and then immediately remembering that these aren't piles of concrete. They were people's homes, and in many cases the final resting place of hundreds of thousands of human beings - image-bearers of God. This morning we'll attend church here in Port-au-Prince. Tomorrow Caleb and I should be getting to La Gonave and working on a food distribution plan. Andy has been at it for over three weeks and is making plans to head home today or tomorrow if he can get a flight out. Please continue to pray for us,and for the
people of Haiti.
-Josh Nerren
Update 2-12-10 Straight from Josh Nerren Hey guys. Just wanted to take a minute to give you an update. Got into Port-au-Prince yesterday via airplane. Spent some time with the area director for the Wesleyan churches Dan Irvine and his wife Joyyesterday. Also met and talked with a young missionary couple fromfurther north in Haiti- Chris and Kathleen who are staying in PAP tohelp run the guest house. Spent the night outside under a mosquito netlast night. The mission house is a great house that withstood the firstearthquake with no visible damage, but there have been 40 aftershocksand some seismologists have been predicting another large earthquakesomewhere near the last one, so most people are not sleeping insidehouses with concrete roofs. This morning we drove back to thePort-au-Prince airport to pick up Caleb and Andy who flew in a smallairplane from La Gonave this morning. Dan wanted us to get a biggerpicture of the need here, not just on the island. Today he wanted us toaccompany two doctors who also just flew in to work in the Wesleyanmission hospital in Petit Goave which they have set up since the quake.The 2 hour ride there was intense. We drove through the epicenter ofthe quake and got to see the small towns and villages along the roadthat were hardest hit. I was so focused on getting pictures and videosthat I barely let the stuff sink in for the first hour. After a whilemy heart caught up with mind and shut off the cameras and just staredat the hundreds of houses I saw destroyed and the thousands of peoplewalking around and going about their life (not much of one by ourstandards). Then we finally arrived at the hospital which was more likea campground with doctors. It was pretty slow today I was told. Therewas still a line of people waiting to be seen by a doctor. When we gotout we were met by a fire-fighter crew from Portland,OR. They went towork unloading our truck which was not only carrying us in the back butalso a pallet load of bottled water for the hospital. I went back intofilm mode and starting shooting video of patients and doctors. Timedoesn't exist down here. You don't look at your watch. 2 hours went byin about 5 minutes. Not a lot of major medical stuff going on today,but there was a 9 year old boy with wounds on his chest and back.Apparently some older boy was beating him. He was bleeding through hisshirt. I never did see the wounds. The boy was a trooper but wasnervous about my camera so I left him alone. An elderly woman in herlate 60's had a wound on her hand. At first glance it just looked likea good patch of skin that was damaged and had been treated and cleanedpretty well, but then I noticed she couldn't bend her wrist. When thedoctor tried she cringed and then the doctor turned her hand over andpushed on her palm. It wasn't soft like a palm should be but was rockhard like she had major bone damage and swelling inside. The doctorfigured she had multiple breaks due to a crushing wound in her wrist.Turns out she was trapped under her house for half an hour while herson dug her out and freed her wrist from the rubble. There were variousother patients, but I noticed a newborn baby and wanted to get somevideo. The baby was very cute. I asked the woman holding the baby if itwould be okay and she motioned that the mother was inside the makeshifthouse and we should ask her. The mom was on the cot inside. She was 14,and had just given birth a few hours earlier. The doctors give newmothers a few hours to rest, and then send them on their way so theycan have the bed for the next person. At first I didn't think shewanted me to videotape the baby but then another sick patienttranslated for me. I had been asking what the baby's name was, and ayoung boy who must have been the mother's brother was trying to tell mesomething.The translator said the boy was telling me that the baby doesnot have a name and that I should give him a name. Okay, so that wasthe moment I just about lost it. I said I did not know any good Creolenames and I left after taking some footage of the beautiful newbornwithout a name who would growup with a worse than poor 14 year old mom(if she even kept him). The mood changed on the ride home. Caleb andAndy and I had been talking a lot on the way there, but now I sat inthe cab to get some better video and I looked back periodically. Theytoo seemed to be staring off as if even focusing on what we saw wasjust too much to take for very long. On the positive side, theevangelical churches in Haiti declared a national day of prayer andfasting today. There was a "church" meeting about every 10 blocks incity and many along the rural road. Most of the buildings consisted offour brick walls with tarps or sheets for a roof and there were so manypeople at each church that they were crowded outside around theentrance. They were singing and shouting so loud we could hear themover the sound of traffic and they had no microphones. Dan says thatone positive thing about the quake is that the churches are swelling.Many people are turning to God for comfort and hope. We're back at thehouse now. Took a cold shower (that's the only kind you get here) towash off the mix of sweat, sunscreen, bug spray, dust, and whateverelse I picked up today, and am about to eat a nice dinner prepared byJoy. A far cry from the food of the people I saw in one of the tentcities today who were rummaging through the foulest smelling bags ofrotted vegetables and fruits I had ever smelled. You know the smellthat hits you when you go to the dump? That was lunch for them today.Piles of rotting lettuce. What does a person do with all this? I knewthe need was great here, I just had no idea of the hopelessness of it.It's been a month and other than the roads being somewhat cleared ofdebris, I didn't see a single piece of equipment in 4 hours of drivingactually cleaning up after the damage. Who's going to tear all thosehouses down? Who's going to rebuild them? Even the house we're stayingin was worth $250,000 before the quake. Now they cannot sell it toanyone. No one will buy a house made of concrete. Even those with moneyhave lost everything and what will sustain them in a year? 5 years?It's too much to think about. Thank you all so much for praying for me.God is taking good care of us, and I know He's brought us here for areason. I hope He uses us to bless others, but perhaps He had anotherreason - something to show us to teach us something. Please continue topray for wisdom and strength. I'm getting a taste of the reason so manyaid workers can't stick around long. I think seeing this day in and dayout does things to your mind. I've posted pictures on facebook. http://www.facebook.com/pages/Hands-Feet-For-Haiti/269636253137?ref=mf Internethere is probably too slow to post video, but I will try. Blessings -JoshNerren Subject: An Incredible Day in the History of Haiti Jerry Miel is aformer missionaryradio engineer with Radio Lumiere in Haiti. He is visiting Haiti andhelping fix radio equipment so that the radio network canfunctionsmoothly as the earthquake did some damage to transmitters, etc. Hehasbeen there now for about 10 days. I think that I will remember this day as one of the mostsignificant in my life, not because of what I did, but for it'smeaning. In fact, what I did today was insignificant, and may have evendistracted from me fully engaging in the day. Today was the one-monthanniversary of the great Haitian earthquake. About 3 days ago theHaitian president announced that there would be 3 days of holiday fromwork for the purpose of fasting and prayer. This is absolutelyhistoric. If you have ever been in Haiti as a visitor or missionary,could you ever have imagined such a pronouncement?Could you image suchan announcement from the U.S. President? This morning I saw a youngHaitian-American woman, the leader of a work team, crying because theAmericans could not understand the incredible importance of this dayand wanted to go about business as usual. Remember, it was only about6 years ago that a former Haitian president called the nation to cometogether to rededicate the nation to Satan. This was not "a minute ofsilence for the deceased" or something as equally insignificant.Whatever the president might have originally intended, this because areal commitment for the Haitian people. As I sit here this evening, Ican hear the preaching coming from a nearby church. Services have beengoing on all day. I just read a news story that Bob D. forwarded to us. Itwas about an official service with the President outside of thepalace. The author may have accurately reported the little story ofwhat he saw, but his highly biased hatch job piece totally missed thesignificant story of what was happening in Haiti today. Not that Ioften have strong opinions, but the author was a bigoted idiot. Let metell you what I saw and felt today. Peniel and I had planned an inspection trip up to theArtibonite Valley today. Right or Wrong, I don't really know, but sinceit was the only opportunity, we went ahead with the trip. As we leftthe guesthouse about 7:30 am, we were met by throngs of well dressedpeople headed to various churches. The sounds of Christian music andworship filled the air everywhere. The next observation was that therewas NO traffic. Port-au-Prince streets are always clogged andoverflowing with bumper-to-bumper traffic. This morning there were onlya few vehicles on the roads, a few small buses (tap taps), some UN andmilitary vehicles, and a few private cars. We had clear sailing throughtown. The same was true of foot traffic. Usually the streets areclogged also with people walking. Today there were only a few and manyof them dressed for church. The only place that there were trafficblocks was in front of several churches where the congregations hadoverflowed the buildings, and the yards and had moved out into thestreets as well. The next observation was that EVERYTHING was closed! Wecould not find even one business or gas station open. There were nointercity buses running. Whereas the sidewalks are usually overflowingwith millions of street venders, we only saw a few here and there. Thehuge outdoor market near the wharf where thousands work each day andspread out to cover most of the street, was EMPTY. Where were all the people? They were in churches andmake shift meeting sites. Every church (except a JW church) hadservices going on, almost always overflowing into the streets. Besidebroken down churches, services were taking place outside. In homelesscamps, there were services. Everywhere the nation was gathered toworship and pray. No, I did not see any voodoo, Islamic, orBuddaist services. This scene was repeated in every town and hamletthat we passed during the day. Tonight, Pastor Ignace, who is sharing the room with me,asked this question: "Can people still say that Haiti is a voodoocountry?" What has been happening and is continuing to happen in Haitidid not happen because of the earthquake. It has been happening becausethe Haitian people know how to pray. This is a tremendous outpouring ofGod's power as the result of prayer. Twenty years ago I startedpraying for the Gospel to change the Haitian culture. I think that I amseeing God do that work. The only sadness that I feel today is for our nation.While a nation that has long been under Satan's domination is turningto God with total commitment, our nation, founded on Godly values hasrejected God and rapidly trying to forget that his name even exists. Let us pray for revival. Jerry
Update 2-11-10
"I just landed in Port-au-Prince. Hanging out at the MAF hangar
until someone picks me up. Chris says Caleb and Andy are in
Port-au-Prince. I'm sure they won't leave without picking me up.
Everything is fine so far. More later"
-Josh N
Update 2-10-10
As with any major disaster, the initial shock and attention it produceswanes quickly. And just like in every disaster in the third world, theinitial outpouring of aid and support begins to fade as well. Themainstream media have begun to accurately highlight the gaps and seamsof the authorities' efforts to meet the need. And we all to some degreeare becoming jaded by the whole thing - even those who are staunchsupporters of UN efforts. But the suffering is real, and it continuesand will not relent without compassion that brings a lasting convictionto act. Please continue to pray for the people in Haiti.Conditions as desperate as before, particularly for the people on LaGonave. They receive little attention due to the island's isolationfrom food warehouses and relatively small population. We will continueto make pleas for substantial food distribution to the WFP and otherorganizations, but expect little response - the crisis on themainland garners their attention and focus. We are seeing a decrease in funding for food containersbut a sustained need into the next couple of months. If you haven'tdonated to this effort, please give it your consideration. Pass this onto your pastor or elders, let your neighbors and coworkers know, andencourage them to visit the Hands and Feet for Haiti Blog and Facebooksite. The Lord has given us a 100% accountable and effectiveway to provide food and medical aid to these people, and it is taxdeductible even on your 2009 tax return. Below I've provided a quick synopsis of conditions in Haiti today. In Anse a Galets on the Island of La Gonave: - Marines conducted a second, lengthy assessment on the 8th
- No news regarding food distribution or medical aid by UN or US Military
- Gaps in medical staff chronic, hampered by airlift limitations into Haiti
- No shelter exists for the ~30K refugees on the island, refugees arrive by hundreds daily
- Water continues to flow through municipal system, generators functioning
- In Anse a Galets alone there are approximately 60,000 people without food
- MAF providing some food and medical supplies (1K lbs 4x week - <8% of daily need)
- Bahamas Methodist Habitat has delivered 1.4K lbs medical supplies since 25 Jan
- Our shipment of 88K lbs food to be released by St. Marc customs tomorrow, 11 Feb
- Second shipment of 45K lbs food to depart Palm Beach ~12 Feb, arrive ~ 15 Feb
- Airlift of Medical supplies through Bahamas Habitat planned 2x week (800 lbs)
From the UN (OCHA) daily report: - 1.1M fed with 2 week supply of rice in PAP area last two weeks "surge"
- Over 880K have recieved 5 day supply of rice since 12 Jan
- Water distribution to 300 centers, up to 5 ltr per day, only on mainland
- Food distribution to small population centers ineffective due to hoarding, misrepresentation
- Displaced population is migrating further, some to agricultural areas on mainland
- 22K shelters and 32K tarps have been distributed so far on the mainland
- US forces have medically treated over 4,300 Haitians since 12 Jan, most of them acute cases
- Major Outbreaks of tetanus, hemmoragic fever have not occurred as yet
Update 2-9-10 "VanGogh could not have painted a worse picture thanwhat we faced this morning. Despite every effort to resolve problemswe were owners of fuel that would not be released, and we owned foodcontainers destined for the customs yard owing to improperconsignment. Haitian customs people would issue a ruling, and I wascertain it would not be in our favor. Their tariffs are known to besevere. The port agent, in whose hand lay the power to help orhinder us, chose the latter course and was not physically available tospeak with. At 1 PM Caleb called and said it was all resolved. Theagent had a change of heart, and the ship's captain was similarlymoved, to release the fuel drums to our friend Terry Snow at YWAM whois well known in the area. The containers will still go to thecustoms yard, but Terry has assured us that he will have the paperworkcompleted in a few days and they will be released to us. This will becustoms free. For those of you who prayed with me for bettercommunication (Peg M.!), we now have crystal clear and inexpensiveconversations by cell phone! Yes, they seem to be working for themoment. The boys have access to email every night, so as my dad alwayssaid, "now we're cooking with gas". I know that thousands of you prayed, even during thenight, that our supplies can get to La Gonave. Prayer answered, andGod did that by changing men's hearts. The paperwork was neverrepaired, the agent simply decided to forego that. I am concerned, of course, by the delay in getting goodsto the island. Still, we have seen every step of this journey thatGod's timing is precise and that He is in control. I know the supplieswill get there when they are ordained to arrive, and that there areother purposes that may not concern us. I urge you to continue in prayer for the next step,which is getting the food across the bay and to the people. Pleasepray that the Haitian people are calm, and that we are able to deliverthe food safely to numerous pastors for distribution. Please pray alsothat the Haitians understand that a loving God came to their aid, andthat they come to accept the salvation freely offered them throughJesus Christ. Please pray for our next container, still delayed inFlorida, and that Josh can get the shipper to properly enter theconsignment information. Also that Josh can get on a plane to Haitirather than wait a week in Florida. There is work for him at base."
Update 2-17-10 I am happy to report that I am finally writing from theisland of La Gonave. This morning we loaded about 15,000 pounds of foodfrom our container at the YWAM base in St. Marc onto a big truck, rodethe truck to the Wesleyan dock about 30 minutes away, loaded the foodonto two boats, crossed the ocean (about a 1.5 hour ride) between themainland and the island, unloaded the food onto a trailer pulled by aJohn Deere tractor, and drove it to the Wesleyan guest house in Anse AGalets where it was unloaded into the guest house for temporarystorage. Tomorrow we will attempt to make the trip twice. In the meantime the Wesleyan mission director has hired an economist and they areworking out the details of the distribution plan which will beginshortly. Caleb and I had to split up for the night. He stayed on themainland to accompany the truck back to the YWAM base to load itwith some of the supplies in the container which are more needed inPort-au-Prince and Petit Guave. He will stay the night inPort-au-Prince and be at the docks to meet the boat in the morning.Other than a pretty good sunburn on my normally white skin, everythingwent great today. Caleb and I were so happy to see that the Wesleyanmissionary who hired our truck this morning also hired two moreHaitians to help. We lost about 5 pounds each sweating in thecontainer, but it was nice to have 3 other guys helping. Then when wegot to the docks we were met by about 20 Haitians who work for W.I.S.Hand came on the boat with Butch. As you can imagine, our work load wasmade light and the loading and unloading went extremely fast. PraiseGod! There are a lot of hungry people on the island who are havinga hard time buying food. We are very excited to see all this hard workand planning coming to fruition. I will send more updates and post morepictures as things progress. Blessings -Josh Nerren I just posted more pictures of the days events on our facebookpage: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?page=3&aid=140901&id=269636253137 |
