Uh oh!

Well, as things often do when you are doing God's work, we have received a bit of what is meant for discouragement.  Not for us, but for you that faithfully monitor this blog.  :'(  Last night before we left for church the people from the team on the porch watched as a neighbor was hooking an electric line into the main line that runs up/down the street.  Haitians often do this to "pirate" (steal) electricity and not have to pay for it.  The city determines if/when you get power so when it is off, people go out and tap lines into the main one and run them for various things.  Anyway, as soon as the line got enough things drawing electricity we got a bit of a fireworks show as it melted and burned, then our lights got REALLY bright because they all melted together so we got too much electricity.  I think we looked quite funny yelling - "UNPLUG EVERYTHING" and ran around the house unplugging fans, turning off lights, etc. to save them from the extra current they are not meant to withstand.  Then,........ yep!  The power went out as we completely lost it.  Today is a holiday as it is Haiti's independence day so I know the company will not work to fix the situation.  MAYBE we will get it fixed by Thursday, but the last time this happened it was out for a week.  It is part of living in Haiti.  Electricity is a luxury- so is water and the city has complete control of both.

So... what does this mean for you?  We will be saving the computer battery for a few updates but photos take a LONG time to load so they may not be available.  Sorry.  We will still check our e-mail if you need to get us (morning and night).  Sorry for any inconvenience!

For now:  highlights from yesterday/last night

-the medical group got to go to the maternity hospital but it closed at noon (except emergency deliveries and such) so they couldn't stay long.  They will return on Friday to experience more, but they did get to witness a birth which was awesome.  Things are done very differently than we do in the states so they also got a tour of the hospital and got to see a lot of differences but they were encouraged because such a place exists and it was better than the general hospital

-the other group went to the orphanage.  Some painted.  All played with the orphans for at least a little.  Much hair (and a beard) were "styled" or braided by the children.  Games were taught.

-in the afternoon we went to the local orphanage by our base and made friendship bracelets with the children.  We are hoping to sell some (soon) so we can help raise a little support for them financially.

-church in the evening was fun!  Worship was VERY lively with much singing and dancing and just rejoicing.  It was a great way to end the old year and begin a new one.  We were there from about 8 to 10:30 pm.  Mike spoke and gave an excellent message!!

-after returning to the house many of us stayed up to welcome 2014 literally with a BANG!  There were gunshots in the air, screaming, music, etc... all at midnight as well as beautiful fireworks all over the city in different places.  It was a clear starlight night and we all just hung out together talking and praising God (I even had Jean Bernard come for a little to visit- he is a 14 year old little boy who lives on the streets but knows we are his friends.  So, we gave him some food and drink and let him just be hugged and loved for a bit.  Though the group is away from family, they do have families that love them so I am glad we could be his family for the night and he didn't have to welcome 2014 alone!)

Today we plan to sort donations and get organized for the rest of the trip.  In the afternoon since everything is closed we will drive to the countryside to enjoy time at the beach.  Pray for safe travels and for all we are doing and do not worry if updates are less frequent.  No news is GOOD news and this just confirms that when we do good work for the Lord, the enemy is NOT HAPPY!  Amen!  -Crystal