Daily report for the group on the Haiti Trip

Hello,

Today we woke at 6:00 AM to a tremor. The dog had barked again from 10:30 PM until 4:00 AM, so we didn't get a great night of sleep. I was just waking up and it wasn't quite registering that we were experiencing a tremor until I realized that guys in the dorm were running to get out of the building. Later we learned it was a 5.9 aftershock with an epicenter near where it was last week. In a few seconds it was over, but when I went outside later it seemed like I could hear many people talking in the community. Can you imaging all of the people in the tent cities experiencing this after last week. I'm sure they are very uneasy.

Today the ladies helped get the refugees that are staying on the base ready to be moved to another facility. They got them ready and on the bus and a couple hours later learned that the refugees were coming back soon. The place they were headed is in the mountains and the bus could not get through on the roads. The people are back in the arena here at the YWAM base tonight and I haven't heard where or when they may be going anywhere.

Tomorrow is when the YWAM staff were planning to use the arena as a registration area for the people coming from Port Au Prince. There could be hundreds of people coming tomorrow, and Terry Snow (the YWAM Director) also learned today that the local Civil Patrol who is expected to feed the people hasn't gotten prepared yet. Another challenge is that the school they were to go to is a two-story building and it is expected that many people will be fearful of going into a place like that due to their fears from the earthquake.

Today most of the guys worked at the building that is planned to be set up as a hospital. Linford and Josh were running skid loaders most of the day, reshaping the terrain of the hospital grounds and digging a pit for an outhouse. John, Tom, and Merle went with some Haitian fellows to buy wood at a place in Saint Marc. Others took water and tools to the masons at the school and began painting the interior and gathered tools for us to start framing out the openings in the concrete walls for windows. The guys got many of the Haitian people who were there involved in painting and moving stuff. Imagine trying to saw lumber and fasten it to the window openings with a room full of 40 (Tom counted them at one point) curious teenagers and children. Also at the same time there were masons working on adding several partition walls inside and patching up the exterior.

Terry Snow mentioned again today that although the United Nations and other organizations are serving people in the wake of the disaster, the Christian organizations are the ones that are most proactive and doing the most to minister to all aspects of peoples lives.

Terry shared today about the history of Haiti, including a part about in 1794 that a few Haitians used Voodoo and a pig sacrifice ceremony to create a pact with the Devil for 200 years in exchange from their freedom from France. Voodoo has played a large part of the culture of Haiti for many years, but now many Haitians are believing that the Earthquake is God's judgement on them for Voodoo activities over the years. The Presidential palace collapsing is a strong image of the collapse of the government leadership, and with the palace containing many Voodoo activities over the years is also a sign the the people that God is sending his judgement.

All of our group is healthy and doing well, and very keenly aware of the needs in this area of the world. We thank you for your prayers for us, but ask for your continued prayers for the people of Haiti.