Hello,
We are planning to show photos and tell of our experiences on the trip this coming Sunday, February 7 at 10:00 AM and again at 1:00 PM at the New Danville Mennonite Church. Feel free to come to either time and we will be happy to answer questions about the trip.
Thank you all for your support and please continue to pray for the YWAM Staff, other emergency responders, and the people and leadership of Haiti.
Thank You!
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Monday, February 1, 2010
We are all safely home!
The group of 5 that stayed longer arrived at the church on Friday night around 10:00PM. A group of us greeted them at the church and visited for a short time. Their travel went smoothly, except at the Santo Domingo airport the officials wanted to see the credit card that the tickets were purchased with. The credit card was in Pennsylvania with someone else and after some conversation and explanation they were allowed to board the plane. Everyone was tired and very glad to be home.
Linford indicated that they talked with the group from ECC in Ephrata as they passed traveling in the opposite direction. I'm sure the people from YWAM were glad they were coming.
Photos that various people have taken are being exchanged and shown in various settings. Tentative plans are for our group to share about our experience on Sunday evening, February 21 at the New Danville Mennonite Church. All are welcome to join us.
Thanks for your prayers and support, and please continue to pray for the people of Haiti.
Linford indicated that they talked with the group from ECC in Ephrata as they passed traveling in the opposite direction. I'm sure the people from YWAM were glad they were coming.
Photos that various people have taken are being exchanged and shown in various settings. Tentative plans are for our group to share about our experience on Sunday evening, February 21 at the New Danville Mennonite Church. All are welcome to join us.
Thanks for your prayers and support, and please continue to pray for the people of Haiti.
Activity report for last Tuesday Jan 26
Linford wrote:
Today Darrin, Duane, John, me, Ezra (another volunteer) and Kevin set out from the base at 6am. We got to the fifth section about an hour and a half later. It was a bumpy and dusty ride out. It is a totally different world out there, much like our country side; wide open and peaceful. I rode out with Terry and he was telling me how the valley we drove through was the biggest and most fertile valley in the country. Lots of people were tilling up or tending to rice patties that are share cropped between the land owner and individual people or families. If I had to guess I would say a few hundred acres were broken up into 20 ft by 20 ft squares, most of which was under water and green. Housing is not as much of a pretty sight. Mud huts made from rice straw and clay smeared over stick frames with ratty tin for a roof. Quite a contrast to the concrete block walls with wood rafters in the houses we are building.
Once at the work sight Kevin, Ezra, and I worked on setting poles for our team's house and the rest of the guys redid a tin roof for a house another team did incorrectly. Shirley worked over in the sports arena again today. Please pray for her; this afternoon she wasn't feeling 100 %.
Tomorrow we plan to put the roof on our house.
(Sorry for the delay getting it on the blog, travel and returning to work has challenged me in keeping this up to date - Merle)
Today Darrin, Duane, John, me, Ezra (another volunteer) and Kevin set out from the base at 6am. We got to the fifth section about an hour and a half later. It was a bumpy and dusty ride out. It is a totally different world out there, much like our country side; wide open and peaceful. I rode out with Terry and he was telling me how the valley we drove through was the biggest and most fertile valley in the country. Lots of people were tilling up or tending to rice patties that are share cropped between the land owner and individual people or families. If I had to guess I would say a few hundred acres were broken up into 20 ft by 20 ft squares, most of which was under water and green. Housing is not as much of a pretty sight. Mud huts made from rice straw and clay smeared over stick frames with ratty tin for a roof. Quite a contrast to the concrete block walls with wood rafters in the houses we are building.
Once at the work sight Kevin, Ezra, and I worked on setting poles for our team's house and the rest of the guys redid a tin roof for a house another team did incorrectly. Shirley worked over in the sports arena again today. Please pray for her; this afternoon she wasn't feeling 100 %.
Tomorrow we plan to put the roof on our house.
(Sorry for the delay getting it on the blog, travel and returning to work has challenged me in keeping this up to date - Merle)
Thursday, January 28, 2010
many of the group arrive home safely
We were greeted at the New Danville church last evening aroung 9:45 PM by a enthusiastic group of people. It was great to feel the support of so many people in various ways. Thank You!
The travel through Haiti and Santo Domingo went well, and there was a lot to see. Border crossings, flight arrangements, customs and immigration process's went very well.
The flight from Santo Domingo to New York was smooth and uneventful. A computer display on the seat backs showed us travelling at around 38,000 feet at over 500 mph, with an outside temperature of around -50 degrees farenheight. When we got on the bus at the airport there was a ice chest with sandwiches, drinks, fruit, and Whoopie Pies. We enjoyed that very much after two days of travelling and eating at unusual times and sometimes skipping meals. Thanks Naomi. After travelling Tuesday for 8 hours in a minivan packed with 11 people, we were very glad to travel more comfortably in McMichaels bus. Thanks Elvin and Mary and Carl!
Linford, Darren, Duane Stoner, Shirley and John are still not home. Today they are traveling, and I would guess that as I write this they have traveled through Haiti and are somewhere in the Dominican Republic and may arrive at the YWAM base in Santo Domingo between 2 and 3 PM today. Tomorrow they plan to fly from Santo Domingo at 1:35 PM and are expected in New York between 4 and 5 PM. I suspect Carl will take the Executive Coach bus to pick them up.
Please continue to pray for the people in Haiti that are residents, and for those that went to help meet the needs of the people. There is much to do and the work will not be easy. As Jesus said: "when you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me".
Thank you
The travel through Haiti and Santo Domingo went well, and there was a lot to see. Border crossings, flight arrangements, customs and immigration process's went very well.
The flight from Santo Domingo to New York was smooth and uneventful. A computer display on the seat backs showed us travelling at around 38,000 feet at over 500 mph, with an outside temperature of around -50 degrees farenheight. When we got on the bus at the airport there was a ice chest with sandwiches, drinks, fruit, and Whoopie Pies. We enjoyed that very much after two days of travelling and eating at unusual times and sometimes skipping meals. Thanks Naomi. After travelling Tuesday for 8 hours in a minivan packed with 11 people, we were very glad to travel more comfortably in McMichaels bus. Thanks Elvin and Mary and Carl!
Linford, Darren, Duane Stoner, Shirley and John are still not home. Today they are traveling, and I would guess that as I write this they have traveled through Haiti and are somewhere in the Dominican Republic and may arrive at the YWAM base in Santo Domingo between 2 and 3 PM today. Tomorrow they plan to fly from Santo Domingo at 1:35 PM and are expected in New York between 4 and 5 PM. I suspect Carl will take the Executive Coach bus to pick them up.
Please continue to pray for the people in Haiti that are residents, and for those that went to help meet the needs of the people. There is much to do and the work will not be easy. As Jesus said: "when you have done it for the least of these, you have done it for me".
Thank you
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Travel day for most of the group
Hello,
This morning at 5:10 ten of us pulled out of the YWAM base at Saint Marc and traveled to Santo Domingo, arriving at 2:40 PM. The drive was uneventful, but long. Our driver for the portion from the border to Santo Domingo did not speak English, and so communication with him was a challenge. We crossed the border without needing to show any identification or our passports. For 20 or 30 miles after we crossed into the Dominican Republic there were military checkpoints that we were required to stop at. They simply looked in the windows at us and waived us on. This happened at least 6 or 8 times during the trip. We believe they were try to prevent Haitians from coming into Santo Domingo without authorization, but we were always a bit relieved when they motioned us to go on.
We stopped at a Burger King for lunch, and after that the driver seemed to be in a hurry, and sometimes made us uneasy with his aggressive driving. We arrived safely though, tired and ready to be finished driving.
At the YWAM base in Santo Domingo we arrived just as they were meeting for some prayer and singing time. After that we did a few projects to help them, had our evening meal, and are resting and looking forward to getting home late tomorrow evening.
John, Shirley, Linford, Darren and Duane Stoner are still in Saint Marc, and plan to travel on Thursday and Friday. Please pray for their safety in work and travel, and for our travel in the final two phases of that.
We plan to go to the airport around 11:00 AM tomorrow, the flight is scheduled to leave around 1:25 PM, arrive in NYC around 5:00 and then we still have a four hour drive home to Lancaster. We are looking forward to getting back to the comforts of home, and are more appreciative of the many blessings we have in our homes and communities.
Again, as we wrap up the later stages of our trip, we really appreciate all of the support everyone has given us in preparing for the trip, making arrangements, fund raising, prayer, and all of the other details. May God bless you for that.
We look forward to seeing you and sharing about our experience. I've joked that I've taken so many photos that I'll be able to inflict pain on people for hours at a time. Hopefully our sharing is only painful in that you will have a better understanding of the needs of the people of Haiti.
See you soon.
This morning at 5:10 ten of us pulled out of the YWAM base at Saint Marc and traveled to Santo Domingo, arriving at 2:40 PM. The drive was uneventful, but long. Our driver for the portion from the border to Santo Domingo did not speak English, and so communication with him was a challenge. We crossed the border without needing to show any identification or our passports. For 20 or 30 miles after we crossed into the Dominican Republic there were military checkpoints that we were required to stop at. They simply looked in the windows at us and waived us on. This happened at least 6 or 8 times during the trip. We believe they were try to prevent Haitians from coming into Santo Domingo without authorization, but we were always a bit relieved when they motioned us to go on.
We stopped at a Burger King for lunch, and after that the driver seemed to be in a hurry, and sometimes made us uneasy with his aggressive driving. We arrived safely though, tired and ready to be finished driving.
At the YWAM base in Santo Domingo we arrived just as they were meeting for some prayer and singing time. After that we did a few projects to help them, had our evening meal, and are resting and looking forward to getting home late tomorrow evening.
John, Shirley, Linford, Darren and Duane Stoner are still in Saint Marc, and plan to travel on Thursday and Friday. Please pray for their safety in work and travel, and for our travel in the final two phases of that.
We plan to go to the airport around 11:00 AM tomorrow, the flight is scheduled to leave around 1:25 PM, arrive in NYC around 5:00 and then we still have a four hour drive home to Lancaster. We are looking forward to getting back to the comforts of home, and are more appreciative of the many blessings we have in our homes and communities.
Again, as we wrap up the later stages of our trip, we really appreciate all of the support everyone has given us in preparing for the trip, making arrangements, fund raising, prayer, and all of the other details. May God bless you for that.
We look forward to seeing you and sharing about our experience. I've joked that I've taken so many photos that I'll be able to inflict pain on people for hours at a time. Hopefully our sharing is only painful in that you will have a better understanding of the needs of the people of Haiti.
See you soon.
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