StephenByxbe.com

Hey Everyone!

Today was definitely exciting. The Lee family dropped us off at the airport around 5am. I send a special thanks out to them for driving us up to Atlanta. We had the smoothest transition in the airport ever. I was only stopped once – he asked me why I had so much tuna in my bag. When I explained where I was going and what I was doing, he zipped it back up and said “Good luck!” After that, it was smooth sailing. No delays – no Rollovers (Thank Goodness) and pretty nice flights.

When we arrived at the airport in Port-au-Prince, they were actually using part of the terminal. They had just opened it up the day before. Inside the terminal felt like they were trying to melt us. It was increibly hot and muggy, but outside felt decent. We were able to leave the plane through the tunnel but then immediately sent outside. We were then put on a bus and shuttled all the way to the opposite side of the airport where immigration had been moved. Imagine a random metal building with some ropes inside – that are attempting to make lines. Make it through immigration and now think of baggage claim gone wrong. All baggage is dumped off of trucks into a pile and you claim what is yours. Mine and Nathan’s luggage came on the last truck… so we were waiting for awhile. O yeah.. I didnt tell you that the limit for bags is 50lbs but you can pay extra and have up to 70lbs. We def paid extra and loaded the bags full. So now we are in chaos with about 400lbs of luggage. We are pushed out of baggage claim to the road where we were greeted by 1000′s of Haitians of whom we knew ABSOLUTLEY NO ONE! Some very nice individuals came to help us (expecting to be paid) and took our stuff across the road. Eventually I told them we were looking for Pastor Leon and one guy said ” OOO you know Pasto’ Leon??? I get him…” So I was like please do. A few minutes later Leon walked up saying ” where have you guys been?? I have been waiting for you!!!” haha. Bill then pulled up in the truck and we were on our way.

It is a short drive from the airport to the Blanchard Compound – in which you go through Cite Soleil. Nothing I have seen or read could prepare me for Cite Soleil… there are people living in the median of the road, in ditches, in piles of trash. It is heartbreaking to see how these people live. Anyways, we made it to Blanchard and immediately started getting lessons and tours. We learned how to work the water, bathrooms. We saw the progress on the bunk beds and the NEW BATHROOMS they are building for us!!! Indoor Plumbing!! who would have ever thought I would get so excited over that!!

About an hour or so after we arrived, the medical team of 8 arrived. We got them unloaded and set up in their rooms in time for supper. The Haitians are so kind. And they can cook!!! the meal last night of RICE AND BEANS was AMAZING!!!

Last night we had some difficulties getting the power to stay on (lack of communication & miscommunication!) I think we will have it worked out tonight. The sound of the rain outside helped put us to sleep.. we made it to bed around 9:30 … and back awake at 5:30am to get ready for church. Days start early and go NON STOP here!!!

This is going to be a great adventure… and this is ONLY the beginning…

Keep Praying for us!

Shout out for the day… Mr Steve & Mrs Rhonda Hensley – the kids in Cite Soleil got a lot of good use from one of the soccer balls today!!

Always with Love,

Stephen

Tents along the road in Cite Soleil

Well everyone… The time has come. Today was crazy, but I think everything that needed to be done got taken care of. Slightly stressful day but God’s hand was on everything we did today. Thank you for the outpouring of love. It has made this journey so much easier. I love everyone of you.

Just to let everyone know. I did FINALLY get everything out of my house and get it cleaned up. I just finished at 2:45 am. So I have 20 minutes to chill before leaving for the airport. Please continue to pray as we fly into Haiti! We will let you know we made it as soon as possible

God Bless
Stephen

Hey Everybody,

The time is drawing near very quickly! We will be leaving around 3 am on saturday – headed to the Airport. Please keep us in your prayers.

Remember, tonight is our going away party. It will be at Joshua Cup in Downtown Macon. 8:30pm – until. Please make it if you can. We would love to see you there.

Everything is in order. The house has been rented, almost everything is out of it :/ and plane tickets are ready… its time to pack the bags!

Be on the lookout for a new VBlog.

Thanks and God Bless

Stephe

Hey Everyone!
I am sitting at the DRs office so I figured I would use my time wisely and give an update. Please excuse any typos or grammatical errors as I am on my phone.

Nathan and I are both getting a physical before we go – just to set a baseline in case something happens while we are gone.

Be praying for me in the meantime. I have had a sore throat and have lost my voice. So please pray for healing before we jump on the road.

Also – another important need is alcohol wipes – something that is packaged individually or in small quantities that we can wipe things down with to kill germs.

Thanks and God Bless

Stephen

Hey Everyone,

Thank you so much for your prayers over the past few weeks. They have been tough weeks. We could not make this trip happen without you. I want to encourage you to check out the Prayer Blog that will start very soon. You can find that link at the top and in the right hand menu.

A small update – Plane tickets are booked but we couldn’t get a Friday flight so we leave on Sat morning at 6:25 am and arrive in Haiti around lunch.

Also, Nathan and I are having a “going away” party at Joshua Cup Coffee on Wed night the 24th from 8:30 – until so feel free to stop by and say hey!

Here is an updated needs list – based on what I have already received. If you already purchased something off this list and now it says “covered” don’t worry – extras are GREAT.
————————

Tuna & Chicken in pouches
cliff Bars& Granola Bars
Plane Ticket – about $300 – COVERED
Anti-Malarial Meds – Covered
Air Matress – Covered
Tencaction – Covered – 1 tube
Tooth Paste (5 Tubes) – covered
Deodorant (5 sticks) – covered
Boots – Keen Voyager size 10 ($100) - Covered
Thick Socks (short socks)
twin sheets – Covered
suncreen
mosquito Spray(deep wood with deet)
Mosquito net
Batteries (AA, AAA, 9volt) – covered
Disposable razors – Covered – 6pk
Tylenol Cold & Flu, Regular Tylenol – Covered- 2 of each
Immodium – Covered – 2 pks
Backpacking Water Purifier – attaches to nalgene bottle – Covered
Towel – Shamee Style (Quick Drying) shamwow
Hydrocortizone Cream – Covered 2 tubes
Travelers Med Insurance – Covered
Sun/Rain Hat
Cheap sunglasess (aviators)
Rain Coat
work gloves – covered 2 pair
small backpack – daypack or smaller – Covered
antibiotics
benadryl/zyrtec/claritin
bandanas – covered – 4 pk
packets that absorb water
moisturizing lotion – aloe
gold bond powder
HD Flip cam or small video cam – Pending
Floss
Nalgene Bottle – Covered
Digital Camera
Multi Vitamins – Covered 300 tablets

Check out our newest video blog…

Hey Everyone,
Here is a list of needs that Nathan and I have. Thanks to everyone who has helped so far! If you can help with any of these please let me know!

Just a reminder. Nathan and I leave on Fri Feb 26th! We will be having a going away party at Joshua Cup Coffee in Macon on Wed Feb 24th. Feel free to stop by and join us from 8:30 – Close. Thank you for all of your prayers and support. This trip would not be possible without everyone’s help.

I love all you so much!

God Bless

Stephen

—————————-

Plane Ticket – about $300 – COVERED
Tencaction
Tooth Paste (5 Tubes) – covered
Deodorant (5 sticks) – covered
Boots – Keen Voyager size 10 ($100)
Thick Socks (short socks)
twin sheets – Covered
suncreen
mosquito Spray(deep wood with deet)
Mosquito net
LED light that is crank powered. Found at Dicks ($11)
Batteries (AA, AAA, 9volt) – covered
Disposable razors
Tylenol Cold & Flu, Regular Tylenol
Immodium
Backpacking Water Purifier – attaches to nalgene bottle – Covered
Towel – Shamee Style (Quick Drying) shamwow
Hydrocortizone Cream
Travelers Med Insurance (One time payment for the year – still finding price) – Covered
Sun/Rain Hat
Cheap sunglasess (aviators)
Rain Coat
work gloves – covered
small backpack – daypack or smaller
dramamine
antibiotics
benadryl/zyrtec/claritin
bandanas – covered
packets that absorb water
moisturizing lotion – aloe
gold bond powder
HD Flip cam (video cam)
Floss
Nalgene Bottle
Metal Lock Box – Large enough to put a good amount of stuff in it
Digital Camera
Multi Vitamins

Hey Everybody… Where did we leave off. I think it was our first day in Boston. Well after not making any of the flights on day one we gave up and crashed at a local’s apartment. Day 2: We wake up and immediately head to the airport to begin our journey home… and yup.. you guessed it – All flights canceled.. other than 2 and they are full. This is heartbreaking, however, we are tough. We decide its time to hit the town and get to know Boston. We rode the train all over Boston and toured as much of the city as we possibly could.. basically giving up on the airport. We have now made contact with my sister’s husband’s aunt – Mrs Jan Bothwell. She said we were more than welcome to come and stay with them (@ the roxbury) for however long we were stuck! During our tour around town we went to meet Mrs Jan at the church and so we could get a shower before returning to the airport one last time. Needless to say we didnt make that flight either, but it was nice to get a shower. This time at the airport they guaranteed us that there were no flights out for us until Monday because of Atlanta’s GIANT (4″) snow storm. This now allowed us to just relax and not worry about leaving (we now declare ourselves residents of Boston). Day 3 is somewhere around here: While riding the bus around at the airport we decide that we need to look up free stuff on craigslist – we find a lot of random items… but one sticks out – the Leprechaun “Lucky Charm” Bobble Head. It is now our mission to retrieve the bobble head. We got on the train that goes as far south as possible and made it to the craigslister’s house. It was a slightly odd experience seeing as the guy didn’t say 2 words to us. He just gave us the bobble head, asked us if we wanted another one and then shut the door.. any who to each his own. We hopped back on the train and headed back to our new home (the Bothwell’s) to hang out with Kristin (Mrs Jan’s Daughter). Kristin was amazing. She drove us to and from the bus stop, target, and other places around town and cooked breakfast for us. She really made our stay at the Bothwell Inn great.

Day 4 belongs about right here: Anyways.. we eventually had to make it back to the airport. But we got smart this time. We called ahead to check out our options. During this time we decided to reroute to Cincinnati and then to Atlanta. There were plenty of seats open and a guarantee that we would make it home on this flight. With new flight plans now we pack up everything and head to lunch and then to the airport. the day is going great until we hear the words DELAYED. Our flight to Cincinnati was delayed by 2 hrs which would make us miss our flight to Atlanta.. and who wants to be stuck in Cincinnati?? This is when we become desperate! Facebook statuses are being updated to calls for desperate measures.. pilots.. drivers.. anyone “PLEASE SAVE US”

Here is where it gets good! Bekah to the rescue.. I love my little sis. My mom and my sister began to create “Operation Rescue” I got a phone call asking about coming to pick us up – my response “GET IN THE CAR AND DRIVE.” So that is what they did. Bekah and Christina (one of Bekahs friends) jumped in the car and drove 14hrs from Charlotte NC to Boston Mass. Talk about AMAZING!! We finally got rescued!!! They came cruising in and saved the day! It was a wonderful feeling to see a familiar face and to know that we are leaving.
The next leg of the adventure was about to begin. Bobble heads in hand we jump in the car and start heading down I-95 all the way down the east coast. Thank the Lord for Steve Jobs and the iPod – it fueled the whole trip with some amazing music!

About 30 mins out of NYC we all began to get hungry so we decided to call up ahead and order a REAL New York style pizza. We are on a tight schedule trying to make it to North Carolina by 5 am so there is not much room for detours. We picked George’s Pizzeria right off of I-95 in the Bronx to order a pizza. After battling it out on the phone for a few mins he realizes I am trying to order a large pizza.. which in his book is considered a “big pie.” How was I supposed to know that? Im from Georgia. Anyways.. I order the pie. He says “Sure.. gimmee bout 10 mins” and hangs up the phone. I just burst into laughter explaining this to the rest of the car…
So we make it to the Bronx/NYC and get off the Interstate and pull up to George’s. I run in grab the pizza and head back to the car. We also grab a dozen doughnuts.. and are back on the interstate – driving and enjoying our “big pie.” All I have to say about NY Pizza is “Delicious.”

That concludes all of our stops on the trip other than for gas… it was just 10 hrs more of driving through rain, snow, sleet and anything else you can imagine. Luckily, we made it to the Charlotte airport at 4:50 am.. just in time to get our boarding pass and make it to the gate. we were finally able to make a flight back to Atlanta!

And here I am now.. exhausted yet amazed

A special thanks goes out to my sister Bekah and to Christina for coming to rescue me and Nathan!

There are so many more details to that adventure.. a lot of people that we met… however my brain needs a day to process
Ill add some more to it later.

God Bless,
Stephen

Hey Everyone,

My trip to Haiti is approaching VERY fast! Thank you to everyone who is supporting – It means so much! I still need to raise a good bit of money… so If you feel led to contribute financially towards my trip to Haiti it would help greatly. You can donate by:

emailing me @ stephen@stephenbyxbe.com

Calling – 478-998-9467

Or donating online @

*donations are not tax deductible

You can mail checks to:
241 Bass Road
Macon GA 31210