Greeting us at the airport at 4 am was an abundance of troops being deployed. In the midst of my sleepiness and longing to still be tucked in my bed, I found myself so very thankful to be an American. (And I thought a lot of my precious friend Stephanie and her husband, Brandt who fights for our country.) Watching those brave men and women wearing a uniform that represents my freedom - that which I take for granted daily. I can already see God revealing things - including my blessed freedom - and changing my perspective. We had to check 6 large plastic bins filled with our team supplies and groceries. Before we left, I posted on Facebook asking for help with our groceries. It would have easily costed us $500+. Many responded and all our supplies were purchased FOR us. God is good! We should have weighed those bins BEFORE we got to the airport because all of them were over the 50 pound max weight. Thankfully, Jessica and Grant brought extra bins we could shove things in. The check in lady let some of our bins pass still being 2-3 pounds overweight. I took Max Lucado's Out Live Your Life as reading material and am finding how pertinent this book is to our mission. Our team is much like Christ's body - each one representing a body part, or gifting, important to our mission. I'm excited to see God reveal our roles to us.
As we sit on the plane ready to fly to Haiti, Cody and I watch the passengers find their seats. Several young American teens and college students pass by us in their brightly colored T-shirts stating their faith and church name, I find myself praising God to be aboard a plane packed with His followers. Much good will happen this week. I just know it.
Flying in over Haiti the island as a whole is so majestic with its mountains and blue water that kisses the sandy shores, but as we descend the poverty and devastation of this country is immediately evident. Not even 50 feet from the shoreline, there are makeshift homes made of tarp and branches, piles of rubble, heaps of trash and abandoned vehicles.
I was shocked how quickly the devastation was visible. It took my breath away. It reminded me a lot of my experience serving in Mexico, but worse. Customs was a breeze considering the chaotic disorganization of Haiti - tons of people everywhere, no lines, no signs, no direction. It's every man for himself. As we were shuttled to baggage, I quickly said a prayer for all our luggage to arrive and thankfully it did!! Cody wheeled our six enormous bins and 2 smaller ones with a large duffle bag to Customs to be checked. The Haitian man said, "I get you through." So Cody gave the guy $10 and none of our bins were checked. Had they checked all the bins, we would have been there for hours. We loaded the MOH vehicles with Bobby, our MOH guide, and took the 45-minute drive from Port au Prince to Mission of Hope in Titanyen. The drive actually took 2 hours. The city of Port au Prince is eye opening. People are everywhere. Trying to make a buck selling whatever they have found, made or grown.
These are called 'tap-taps'. We call them taxis. The Haitian way is to jampack a truck, motorcycle or van with as many people as one can fit then drive really, really fast and blare your horn as you go down the road. It's highly unsafe. 
Men just pee in the streets. I saw a couple as we drove through town. Scraps of food are just thrown down anywhere. Things are discarded everywhere. The smell is potent, but these people take no notice. 
I thought about what these people must think as they watch these white tourists take pictures of them. To the tourists, this is bizarre, unclean and not desirable. But to them, it's life. I know God is breaking down my views on living with plenty and living in want. When Haitians talk, it sounds like they are bickering. It is very fast and very intense. It made me think how do we sound to them? That's a very good lesson in godly speech. "The idea is to build someone up not tear them down..." -Colossians 4:6 (MSG)It is hotter than blue blazes here. It brings true meaning to "hotter than Haiti". But the evenings bring cool breezes and rain. We spent time getting settled and refreshed from the day's travel. Our journey starts tomorrow. I'm excited for it to begin!
