Today was a great day with the Lord. Simon and I got up at 5 a.m. and left the mission house by 5:30. We had to make a stop to pick up Gabriel on the way (Simon and Blanco took it in yesterday to have a couple of flats fixed). After dropping off Simon to get Gabriel we were on our way to Love A Child. We got there around 8 a.m. and proceeded to the warehouse where we pick up food. This day was a special day, because Pastor Jentezen Franklin was there for the dedication of the new warehouse that his ministry built to store the Feed My Starving Children food. This warehouse, as you will see in the photos, is huge – it is 3 football fields long and 2 football fields wide. Mark Crea, the Director of Feed My Starving Children, was there also. Bobby and Sherry of Love A Child had an area of refreshments for the selected guests who came to the dedication to receive food (this was not a regular food distribution). TEM was fortunate to be invited. As you will see, Pastor Franklin cut the ribbon, then the loading of the trucks began. We were the last to receive food, and Simon joked about the last being first. It was a wonderful time of fellowship with other missionaries. I met several new missionaries and we exchanged cards – you never know when you might need each other.
When we finished loading we headed back to the mission house and got there at 4 p.m., just as the secondary school was finishing up. Pastor Do and Simon gave all the kids 5 packs of food each – there were around 100 of them. Each pack will feed 6 children or 3 adults. They were so happy! The kids said they love to eat it before coming to school. Tomorrow we will be feeding the kindergarten and preschool, and taking food to Jerusalem IV, Palto church, Lone school and Tapio church, and people from Jerusalem II and Jerusalem III will be coming to pick up their food. We are giving all these churches and schools 25 boxes each. We were blessed with double the normal amount, so we are blessing others.
School is finally in session. Today they had 298 in kindergarten/preschool, and around 100 in secondary school. School actually started at the beginning of October, but in the country the children just straggle in. I called my good friend George Truelove to see if this was normal for the kids to straggle in like this. George has been living here for more than 30 years and he said, unfortunately yes – that is the norm. It’s Haiti; we’re not supposed to understand.
Thanks for your prayers and support. May the Lord continue to bless you and your families.