Greetings to you all. It was another crazy week in Haiti, but we finally got a break over the weekend and were able to get our Bluffton team out on small planes from the Bahamas Habitat group, who helped us so much during the earthquake time, with the last of them leaving yesterday at 5 PM. They ended up overnight in the Bahamas, but hopefully they should all be in the states by about 11 this morning. They ended up getting a ton of work done on the 3 bedroom unit of our house, and it was a very productive time in spite of being stuck here, so Tim didn’t mind at all having the extra help. So many times during the thick of everything there is just no time to write, so I am thankful for any info that you forward to each other when you get news. Here are some pictures from Rod & Debbie Wray who are missionaries here and our neighbors.
Rumor was that the unrest was going to start up again this morning, but it just poured down rain in the night and it is still raining, so there is nothing going on right now. I told the girls we are closing the doors and concentrating on school from here on out through the end of the year.
May you each one have a blessed day.
Love,
Joan
It has been an interesting week for us and it seems that our city of Les Cayes in Southern Haiti has been one of the hottest spots for the violence and destruction that has occurred since the election results were released this past Tuesday. All roads in and around Cayes were totally blocked until yesterday when the road blocks started being dismantled. The people block the roads with trees, rocks, burning tires and heavy metal.
On Friday, we had the opportunity for Dr. Bill Tenhaaf and Duane Verkaik from Grand Rapids to get out of Haiti as the people from the Bahamas Methodist Mission had a pilot who was ready to fly his plane to the Cayes airport to take 5 passengers back to the Bahamas. I made an early morning trip through the back trails to the airport to see if it was possible to get to the airport, as the roads were impassible. Even some of the back trails were blocked, but as I explained the situation, the people said that they would let us pass. At about 10:30 am we headed to the airport on motorcycle taxis. The trip through the trails was good, but when we arrived near the airport, we were surrounded by many people, some holding rocks and we quickly stopped and got off the motorbikes. While I spoke with the crowd of angry Haitians, Joan Reinhard ( who was responsible for 3 of the men) led the 5 men, who were leaving, on foot the rest of the way to the airport. It was perfect timing as the Bahamas plane landed at the same moment that Joan and the men entered the airport yard. They quickly boarded the plane and were on their way, and Joan and I were able to ride back to Cite Lumiere without incident. We are very thankful for the Lord's help as at one point I was surrounded by about 100 people, some of who were insistent that no white people should be allowed to leave the country during the demonstrations.
Love Rod and Debbie, Kara and Katie
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