StephenByxbe.com

Hello Everyone,

I am coming to you live from Blanchard, Terre Noir, La Plain, Haiti!! Lots of names huh? Well today was great… My bed is pretty comfortable and has a nice bit of airflow so I had a difficult time waking up this morning.. Nathan, on the other hand.. has delayed moving into the better bed so he suffered a little last night in a pool of sweat. He was also up early moving around. Breakfast arrived early  (6:30am) so that helped our Medical crew.. they were able to get some coffee and then eat. We shipped the team out at 7:30am accompanied by Nathan, so they could get him some meds for a cough, and so he could make sure they had everything they needed.

Mean while back at the compound- I decided it was time to take some action and see what was up with the crazy solar system. I asked to look at it, and Bruno (local helper) was more than happy to take me up. They are doing construction work around the building where the panels are and in the process, stucco slush had landed on the panels. Yeah – thats why they arent working. So I began to scrub the panels down to get the concrete off. It wasnt too difficult and Nathan returned shortly and joined. We were supposed to go to the store on sunday but that got moved to today so we were waiting to go to the store (kinda like Africa – hurry up and wait)so we were cleaning up and organizing in the time being.

We were able to meet with Pastor Luc and talk about a lot of useful things today including power, transportation, phones and lots of other good things. During that time we sent someone to pick up some fuel for the generators so we could have power all night long!!!! finally!!! We are about to test this so tomorrow you will know how it worked.

After lunch we made it on the truck to go to the store. This was very exciting as we had to go to Leon’s house in Delmas to pick up Nadege (Leon’s daughter). Delmas is a “nicer” area of town. At least until after the earthquake. We saw store completely collapsed, Malls fallen apart, schools crumbled and people in tents EVERYWHERE. There are parks in town that are completely crammed with  tents. Not even any walking space. It doesnt make any sense.

Anyways we made it to Leon’s house and and picked up Nadege. The supermarket- if that is what you want to call it – is very small and only has the basic essentials. We were able to get milk and cereal, peanut butter and crackers. There were a few other things they had but it was no walmart or kroger. Think about shopping for everything you need in a gas station and thats it.

After shopping we made it back to the compound and unloaded. We also learned how to use the generator, how to refill the water tanks, and how to speak a little more creole. Today seems like it was a little bit slower but it ran non stop all day long. They are getting closer on our bathrooms so that day will be SUPER NICE.

Here are some creole phrases/ words we learned:

Manje = food/eat
ou se zanmi’m = you are my friend
pa antre la = no entrance/ do not enter
dlo = water

We have a few more but I cant give it all to you at once or you wont read anymore

Our next mission is t hook the batteries up to the generator so they charge while its running and to build 20 more bunk beds!!!

Keep us in your prayers.

Always with love,

Stephen

Earthquake pictures

Church in Blanchard is definitely eye opening. We complain about having to be at church at 9am and even 10am.. the Haitians living in this area are excited to be here by 6:30am!!! that is crazy! We were awake around 5:30 due to other reasons (dogs, roosters, no fans during the night) but that doesnt matter. We made it to church and did not understand anything that was being said but REALLY enjoyed the music. We were able to pick out a few familiar songs. We were invited to come up to the front and say a few things. We told them thank you for being so kind and we are excited to be here, to get to know them and work with them. Pastor Luc led up to us talking by saying “It is EVERY haitians dream to go to the USA…. not many people want to move to Haiti to live. These two young men have moved here to live with us for a year.” Their response was awesome…. Crazy applause and shouts from the thousands in attendance. It made us feel very welcome and God’s presence was definitely there.
After church we were able to change clothes and get all the medical supplies loaded into the “tap tap” (the local mode of transportation. They received their name by what you do when you want out.. beat on the side “Tap Tap.” We took the medical team and their supplies over to Cite Soleil and got them set up. There are so many children running around the compound, which was weird because all of the school children were in the school building. These are all street kids who just come inside because all the walls fell down around the compound. We gave them a soccer ball to play with – which was like Christmas came early – there were so many kids out playing futbol with Nathan. It was fun to watch them play and get so excited.
A little more information about Cite Soleil as we learn. Cite Soleil is a trash dump. No lie… imagine building a city on a trash dump.. now stop imagining.. and that’s Cite Soleil. It is awful – and there are hundreds of thousands of people living there. My heart is already breaking for these people. I apologize for some of the pictures that we will be uploading but they still dont communicate how things really are down here.
After we returned from Cite Soleil Nathan and I tried to do some organizing and finally got the interent working in our room. WOOOHOOO.. thats how you are reading this! I am having to type them out in advance and then upload them. We were able to take a nice nap and then take care of some business around the compound. We are still working on the power situation. Tonight we thought we had it figured out, however, we learned that the Solar batteries were dead and we had enough fuel for the generators for 30 mins. This first team is suffering a little bit as we get used to the setup. Good News tho! our showers and bathroom areas are almost finished.. i think we will have them up and running by the end of the week!
Once again tonight – food was amazing. We have a rice and beans meal. Seemed like fried rice… with some goat meat, avacado, tomatoes, and fried potato crisps (kinda like french fries but like small little pieces)
It gets very dark here around 6:30pm so life starts to shut down early. I got in bed around 8pm and read some of Hebrews and typed this up so my idea of lights out at 10 works well
I want to share a very familiar verse with all of you,
Hebrews 4:12-13 “For the word of God is living and active. Sharper than any double-egded sword. It penetrates to even dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitues of the heart. nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of Him to whom we must give account.”
From this I just felt the desire to strive to live a life that is constantly and willingly laid bare before our Amazing God, and not fight for any of it. To have less of me and more of Him.
Thank you for your prayers. Please continue to lift us up.
Shout out of the day: Brandie Lee – Thanks for the mosquito nets. They are a life saver… and much better than what the other teams have!

Always with Love,

Stephen