This morning started out very smoothly as I had planned, but, as you know, my plans change daily in Haiti–always. Simon had rented a pickup truck so we could pick up the luggage for the first team. I had decided to leave Gabriel in Z’Orange in order to save the money I would have to spend for someone to drive me back up to Z’Orange, if I had brought it in to Port. With this team coming in early, I figured that I would have plenty of time to drive Will up to Z’Orange and drive Gabriel back to pick up all of the luggage–I thought this was a good plan. We picked the team up and got the luggage, then went to Dottie’s to leave the luggage there. Betty and Brittany stayed with Dottie, while Pastor Philip, Will, Nate, Blanco, and Simon went with me to Z’Orange. We got up there in plenty of time, so we sat around and had a coke and talked for a while.
When we got ready to go, I had Blanco check the fluids on Gabriel, then went to crank it and it wouldn’t start. I just drove it two days ago! Blanco found a loose wire and I traced it to the starter. We tried splicing it, but that didn’t work. We tried cranking it again, and sparks flew everywhere. We worked on it for about 45 minutes, and then I had to make a decision to go. We got about 10 minutes down the mountain, and the Lord had me remember that I had bypassed the switch on starters many times. When I told Will, he said let’s go back and try it, so we did. It started right up. So now we were running late, but we still needed to stop and buy ice at the ice house. Luckily, it was on the way, so Will stopped to get ice while I drove up to Dottie’s to get everything packed that I needed. I thought I could make it back to the airport to pick up Pastor Sean, Pastor Ken, and Lane, but that was another part of my plan that had to be changed! I called Will; he had just finished getting ice, so he said he could go to the airport to pick them up.
When Will got to the airport, he called and said that Pastor Ken wasn’t there. I was afraid something had happened, so I called him in the States. He answered the phone, and I asked him why aren’t you here? He reminded me that he had a wedding in south Florida, and that I had made his flight for Sunday. Don’t they say it’s your mind that goes first, and then something else–I can’t remember . . .
To make a long story short, we all made it to Z’Orange. Brittany and Nate rode on top of Gabriel, Pastor Philip rode in the back of Gabriel, and Lane rode with Will and Pastor Sean. Betty and Ginette rode with me. Nate had a blast riding on the big truck!
The election is tomorrow. Simon told me that traffic won’t be allowed on Election Day. We have people flying in on Sunday–someone has to pick them up. He thinks that by afternoon it should be okay–I guess we’ll see. Not only do we need to pick up Pastor Ken, Will needs to take Gabriel to pick up people from Pastor Harry’s and another church for the Pastors’ Conference.
In the photos you will see bunk beds. Eventually, we will need 15 bunk beds–ten in the men’s room, five in the ladies’–at a cost of about $225 each. You will also see a photo of boxes where chickens can lay their eggs. We will need about 5 chicken boxes, at a cost of about $50 each. If you or a Sunday school class would like to help with some of these items, please let us know.
