Haiti Trip ~ Day 9 ~ Monday, March 14

Prayer Partners of the Day - Rebecca McMahan & Kathy Miller

There are almost too many thanksgivings to count today. It has been a beautiful, cool, mountain day, and everything has gone perfectly, with several good surprises thrown in! My prayer partners, Rebecca & Kathy, must have been working overtime!

First and foremost, system #3 has been installed! The board is up, the electricity is connected, and all seems to be good. Though we were supposed to spend the night in Cafe Lompre, we finished so early that we returned to Palmiste Au Vin. Tomorrow we will return to Cafe Lompre to train the operators & educate the community, and Wednesday we will head back to the orphanage/school to see if system #2 has water.

The most biggest thanksgiving of the day was meeting Ancy's mother. This was Ancy's hometown and his mother lives right down the road from our worksite. Ancy & I drove over, hiked through a field and over a wall ... And there we were in his mother's backyard! She is a sweet lady, and Ancy showed me around to his old school and community. I was able to meet many members of his family, all of whom were as wonderful as Ancy.

With Ancy & Mannes

Also just down the road is Mannes' school! I first met Mannes in Arcahaie in 2009. He is a school principle, and master electrician on the side! He helped us on the 2009 system and also in 2010 at Father Racine's. Since then, he's sent his apprentice, Salien, to help out. It was so good to see Mannes today! Speaking of Salien, he teaches at that same school on Wednesdays. I was sad that he wasn't there, but it turned out he was just down the road in Trouin. So we took off there, and sure enough, there he was! It really is like a family reunion...have I said that?!! While there, we also met Father Fruitho Michaud, who is the Episcopal priest in charge of Trouin. He was a fabulous man, and I can see is building a system at one of his churches.

Ancy, man, Salien, me & Pere Fruitho

Also, on this adventure of Ancy & Ashley, we went by the clinic where Valdes installed a system after the earthquake. (This system was in another building, which was destroyed, and Valdes moved it...) We also stopped by the building Chris McRae just built two weeks ago! Very nice!

A big highlight for me, personally, was drilling thru concrete! (Insert a Tim "the toolman" Taylor grunt here...)

So, as you can see, today was a very happy day. I feel more than blessed by each passing moment, and the smile on my face will not leave! God is certainly good, and I am so thankful to be here.