NWHCM blog too...

For those of you who didn't see it - the www.nwhcm.org site has a travelers blog as well - i know Brendan and Matt G wrote on there (maybe more... not sure) check it out if you missed it.

Home Sweet Home

Winnipeg Airport has never been such a delight! It was wonderful to be greeted by family & friends waiting for us. After what seemed like a long journey - we are all home! Exhausted, but home. I'm sure more and more stories of things that happened will continue to be told, we'll put some pictures sometime soon too.
Continue to pray for us as we process all that we have seen and experienced and what that means for life here.

Welcomed home.

To those of you whom did not have to wait anxiously at the airport upon our arrival, and know not who made it and who did not, this is the update. Sorry to say...we all made it back in tip top condition. Heh heh. Pieces of our group were left in Haiti due to broken hearts and bed bugs but the trip when as well as one can expect with a group of 27 going to a third world country, if not better. Hearts were changed, faith was stretched, bodies were worked, lives were changed. Alelouya. We thank each and every one of you for your prayers, patience, faith, and willingness to let go of those you loved for a mere twelve days.( I'm sure it felt like a lot longer than that for some) As well, thank you for participating in our adventure through reading of this blog. We continue to ask for prayer as each member of this group will be processing what we have experienced over the next few days, months, years. May we be good stewards of what God has given us and not be overly cynical towards this over indulgent culture we live in, and may we continue to be lights for Christ wherever are, spreading the Gospel wherever we go.

Luke 24:46-48: and said to them, "Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead, and that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations, beginning from Jerusalem. You are witnesses of th

ese things."

Glwa o Segne (Praise ye the Lord)

The exodus...

We're back from supper, people are finished showering, and there is a deep drive to sleep being felt by the whole team right now. They have good reason to be tired! Here's how the day went:

3:55 - wake up

4:30 - ship out

7:00 - first small plane carrying half our group leaves for PAP

we wait - it takes longer than it was supposed to for the second plane to come

9:00 - we get on our plane - meaning we have an hour and twenty minutes to cross the island, clear immigration, check our bags, and get through 4 security check points as a large group

10:10 - we arrive and are told we missed our flight - but the first group is about to take off for FL - they do and arrive safely.

- the second group is put on standby - all flights to FL are full - we start praying for seats to appear for us to fill. They tell us that some may need to sleep in a hotel with Mission staff over night in PAP. This doesn't excite some!

12:20 - 3 of our people get on to a flight and we aren't allowed to pick who they are going to be - they just tell us. The 3 people were Ana, Roxanne, and Matt W. They get on a plane with a few final instructions and head off the Miami International airport (different than where we were supposed to go). They arrived safely and did a great job of keeping out of trouble while waiting for the rest in the Miami airport.

3:15 - we are waiting in the airport, sleeping on the floor, wondering how many times we will have to recheck our bag. We get a mumbled call over the intercom where we hear some of our names being called - we all go to the desk and are given tickets for the next flight (which had been full). All 12 of us made it on - the Lord chose to answer our prayers!

6:30 ET - we arrive in Miami, hire a shuttle and move the 15 of us up to Ft. Lauderdale - which is about a 30 minute drive up the coast.  We arrive at our hotel at about 8:30

We spent the rest of our evening eating at a local restaurant, debriefing around the table, and than walking back to our showers and beds - which is where you find me now. 

 God has once again shown His mercy to our team today. We are so thankful. We are longing to see you all (Ezra we're coming home!). See you tomorrow night!

Doug

PS - I'm delusionaly tired - sorry if my writing is indecipherable.

We're in Florida!

Hello prayer warriors! Just wanted to let you know that after a crazy day of travel we are now in the Hilton Garden Inn Ft. Lauderdale! We had serious delays getting onto our prop planes to get across the island - which made our second group miss their flight.  We are now all here - spread over 3 different flights (two into Miami, not ft. Lauderdale). Praise God - its a good story that I will post later tonight. Now its supper time!

Doug

Headin' Home!

Well, it's thunder and lightening in NW Haiti - which makes us feel all the more that its time to get on the move again! Here's the schedule for tomorrow:

4:00 - Wake up

4:30 Leave for Port de Paix

5:30 - get on planes to Port au Prince

10:20 - Leave for Ft. Lauderdale

Lunch and early afternoon - arrive in Ft. L, get to the hotel, take a swim!

5:00 - leave for supper (provided by the giving of the church family)

8:00ish - first debrief session

10:30ish - lights out

 

Tomorrow has way to many variables involved - pray that the Lord will bring together all the details (bags, planes, roads etc.) Pray that God will give strength, emotional stability, spiritual heads-up, and general travel efficiency. Thanks for praying and we'll see you in two sleeps!

Doug