The day dawns gray, chilly and raining. Undaunted by the weather all team members arrive at church with smiles. The lessons are read in Creole, Spanish and Nuer to celebrate the cultures of our faith and the creations of our Lord. We relax through the rest of the day. Those who have been to Haiti before know what Monday's departure will be like and hope the newcomers won't be too excited to sleep. We know already that we'll be up all night in anticipation.

-Sandy J

We arrive at Pastor ST & Angie's house to collect the South Dakota crew and Enid around 12:30 am. By 1:30 we are waiting in the church parking lot for the rest of the crew to roll out and hop to. We load vans and trucks with boxes of supplies and luggage - the "new kids" have done well at packing light - much better than I did my first year! Loading done, we have devotions, prayers and sing the doxology quietly. Hugs for those who will be left behind this year or coming along next week and we're off! Trip to Omaha is a hairy one. Ruby (our van) is loaded over her rating making steering on rain-struck roads a bit tricky. All five vehicles pull into Eppley field safely and together. God does say his yoke is light and burden easy, but 70# boxes is still 70# boxes. Somehow they feel lighter than they did last year. Unloading goes smoothly as does check in. Due to bad storms in St. Louis we find ourselves sitting in the plane for over 4 hours before taking off. Two hours later: we have just made what appears to be our fourth attempt at the runway. Storm has made turbulence bad for entire hour that we've been circling and attempting to land. We know we've missed the last flight into Port Au Prince. What we don't know is if all 25 of us are going to make a later flight to Miami or if some will be left behind. Which airport will we sleep in tonight? God is not asleep - we all make the flight to Miami and the layover was only 3 hours. Many thanks to Jim S for the beds to sleep in at the Quality Inn. We are eternally grateful and WILL get even with you later! The group ate dinner at a near by Denny's (within walking distance). After dinner tried to relax. For such a tense and demanding day, spirits are high. Devotions and prayers are moving and inspirational. We will rest well for a few short hours in His loving arms.

Miami - PAP

Up early - have to be at the airport by 6 am for light 1291 to PAP on an airbus 300. There seems to be a small bug going around. Alyssa felt poorly on Monday's leg and Sandy has it today. Everyone sympathetic - we've all been there! Thanks be to God - the bug is very short lived and we pray no one else has to deal with it. Coffee and breakfast in the airport then it's time to check in. for some crazy reason none of us are in the computer. Whaddaya mean the flights not full but we can't get on it!?! It leaves without us and so we wait another 3 1/2 hours for the next flight. Ken thinks God has plans for us in all these layovers. Who knows how many hearts we have touched or interest we piqued in Him? Only God in His wisdom know how we've worked for Him. We just relax, let Him drive and enjoy the ride.

Hey! We're landing! We're finally in PAP! Hallelujah! - thank you Lord!

After rainy days the air in Haiti is hot. We enter the airport and pass slowly through customs, the customs agents want to split up, we were told you stay in a group, so we split up. The group gathered at the luggage claim area to see if 57 pieces of luggage actually made it. They did! Next step w as to get the luggage through customs. Pastor ST was asked for a sample box, we provided, they opened and everything was fine. So far so good. From smooth to chaotic, we moved outdoors to the confusion of Haiti. There were HUNDREDS of people gathered outside the gates all interested in making some money from the visitors. Aggressive "porters" wanted to move our luggage for one dollar each. If they touch it they want the dollar. Boy did they reach!

We were met at the airport with trucks and vans for the trip to Pastor Thomas B's church. Transporting the boxes from inside the airport to the vans was quite the ordeal. We're hot, tired and smelly. On the Hotel Kinam for showers, a light dinner and much needed sleep. Air conditioning is a real luxury and we are in the lap of it here.

We learn tonight of yet another of His miracles. Had we arrived on time to PAP there would have been no vehicles available to transport us and we would have been stuck at the airport while Jay would have taken a few boxes at a time (57 pieces of boxes and luggage total). Okay, God, we're listening. Thank you for your plans in your way and in your time. You are indeed glorious and while your ways don't surprise me, they certainly always amaze me. A hearty "Amen" will end this day.

-Sandy J

Greetings to you, our brothers and sisters in Christ,

After a series of delays, changes and opportunities for adaptation, we finally had our first full day of VBS and construction of the new high School at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Port au Prince. The Lord has provided for His servants an opportunity to see His hand at work in this precious world. The trip to the site allowed us to see the Haitian landscape come alive. People scurried about, many oblivious to our presence, some aware that something was different, but for the most part we knew that we were in a place where we knew that something was different. We were about to start work on that which we had planned for months. It would be soon! God was with us and was to guide His children to service as we had never planned.

The children greeted our vans and trucks, as if celebrities had entered their school! This is new for us, most of us are only hounded like that when there is no coffee at the potluck. Well, the children made the long wait all worth while. If we had done nothing else that day, we had felt the love of Christ in the hearts of these little children. I cannot place words on the page to describe this feeling. Jesus loves the little children, and they were willing to share.

The builders headed off to the site, trowels, tapes and levels in hand. Our Haitian crew was off to a good start and were ready for the "rookies". We were blessed with a Haitian crew of masons eager to share the work with the missionaries. As usual though, they were also careful to show us where we could improve our technique. (I am now entering this information into the laptop in complete darkness, the power has failed, again ... this is Haiti!) We were willing to adapt and enjoy the work, we were serving our Lord. The time flew by, and at the end of the day, we had nine courses set in a 6 room High School in one day. This team came together and really worked. We will be complete with the block work tomorrow and should be able to pour columns on Friday.

VBS was our real chance to share the gospel. There were 100 children attending today. They were dressed in their school uniforms and seemed to want to learn from their new friends. Our team served as teachers in the morning and refined the planning in the afternoon. There is a great deal of work involved in teaching the gospel in another language. Interpreters and teachers worked together to share the love of our Savior. God's plan is His children to know Him, we can only learn of this gift through His word. I guess in that sense, we are all interpreters.

Good evening to you all, may God bless you as He has blessed us. Continue to keep us and our families in your prayers.

In Christ,

Jim N

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