Haiti Trip ~ Day 14 ~ Saturday, March 19

 Prayer Partners of the Day - Emily Ronis & Jon Yingst

There are many opportunities for thanksgiving today. Thankfully I am feeling much better; yesterday was a bit crummy, but by early evening, my stomach perked back up! This morning I crawled into a 300-gallon tank to clean it out with chlorine, and thankfully Bob & Chuck did not roll me off the top of the water building! Good thing I've stayed on their good sides! Be sure to check the pictures out on Facebook!

Following this fun activity, the system was shocked and clean water began flowing! All of this before lunchtime! When Bertone called for us to pick him up, we left our worksite to find much turmoil on the streets of Leogane. Tires were burning, and many people were out on the streets. We can only imagine this is due to the upcoming election.

Nothing better than a fresh coconut!

We found a different route to get Bertone and then went thru the dirt roads to get back to our worksite. On this route I was amazed. Every single house was destroyed from the earthquake. Every house flattened, just a pile of rubble. I remember them saying that Leogane was destroyed almost completely, but to see it was astounding. We thankfully arrived safely back at our worksite...

Now we sit while Bertone trains the operators, and we hope the turmoil clears from the streets so we can make it back safely to the monastery. The UN has many helicopters out, so with any luck it will be clear for our return. Let us pray that this is not a sign of things to come with the election tomorrow...

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Every night when we return home, Lucy awaits me!

Our dedication ceremony today of System #4 was beautiful. We sang, the sisters sang to us, and we signed the water board. By 5, it was safe to return back to the monastery. The tires were ashes and the streets were clear. The UN helicopters have gone and the people seem back to normal, relaxed and smiling.

Thank you to all those who said extra prayers, and thank you to our prayer partners who again sustained us through the day. It is amazing to me how a few corrupt Haitians can take over a city...especially a city full of beautiful, giving, wonderful people, so full of love and hospitality. Let us hope that these wonderful Haitians will prevail, and the evildoers will vanish!

Tomorrow we will be off work, and after worship, we will hunker down and pray that elections will happen peacefully.

One final note... How about my Tar Heels last night?! Good game! Thanks again to Tim & Sally for their great analyses and to Jay for the bracket! What would I do without you?!

Grace & peace!