Day 1- Dave's blog

          Well it has been an exhausting day and a half with our travel and a full day of worship and preparation. After we arrived at the airport we got on a small bus and traveled to our base camp. It was an eye opening experience to drive through the streets of Port au Prince. We got to see and smell that we were in a very different place. The driving is pretty orderly, but it doesn’t seem that way to us. There are lots of horns being blown to communicate as cars and motorcycles pass you on the left and on the right. It is quite the experience.

           We had some sickness for two students on our team (motion sickness from flying and upset stomach). Everyone is fine now and we all are healthy, but please be praying for our health as that can really complicate things. Sleeping has been rough for some and good for some as we adapt to the heat  and the sounds of the night here in Haiti.  Electric has been off for most of the time so we are feeling the heat with limited fans and high temperatures.

         As Noel mentioned, we had the blessing of getting to worship in a different kind of service. We had a great time at the church singing along the best we could. They were introducing a song for the first time (No longer slaves) so we were singing it for 30 minites (mostly in Creole). Tim was asked to share after pastor Robbie had already preached so there were 2 messages. Tim ended with an object lesson which the Haitian’s loved. Most of the church came to give each of us a hug at the end of the service. They really expressed tremendous gratitude for our presence and what we have to offer. We also look forward to learning a great deal from them (culturally and spiritually). I have had some very good discussions with our translators and have enjoyed learning about the culture. We have gotten some time out in the community where we met a few children. We watched and participated in a few games and for some reason they really liked to rub my head/hair.

        It is now 8:05 PM and we just got electric back for the second time tonight. We really appreciate that as the team enjoys playing some games with the fan blowing on us. The team chemistry is great and we are working well together as we enjoy a little free time. We have spent quite a bit of time in preparation and feel pretty well prepared for the start of the ministry to the children tomorrow.

         It has been a great start with a few bumps in the road. Please pray that we will make an impact on the children tomorrow and that God will make an impact on us throughout the week by using the people we are here to minister to. For all that are following along and who have supported us, we really appreciate it. Thanks for joining us in the journey. Keep in touch by sending us encouragement if you can. We appreciate that too. If not, please keep us in your prayers as we will face adversity from the spiritual battles and the natural differences we are not use to.

        Many blessings from Haiti, Dave