Haiti Day 1

Tonight will be short. I am completely exhausted. It has been a long 36 hours of packing, travel, setting up camp, and now writing this. We arrived without a glitch. The airport was a bit of a mad house, but those familiar with Haiti say it has always been that way. We loaded all our belongings and ourselves into these small, beat up, little pickups and drove to the camp we are staying in. As we drove through town you couldn't help but notice the devastation all around. I am told that some of this has always been that way, but some has not. We drove by two tent cities on the way, one looking upscale, with nice matching quonset hut looking tents, and the other, just a sea of sheets and tarps tied together in a makeshift, patch quilt looking manner. As we drove on further we saw a water distribution spot where hundreds of people where grabbing and fighting over cases of water. Not long after that we turned down a road, labeled such only because that is its intended use, and came back to the compound we are staying in. Yes I said compound, complete with armed guards and all. We unloaded our stuff, set up our tents, ate dinner, and then went to our first daily meeting. We talked a little about what we would be doing and what we could expect out of the week. Now I am struggling to keep my eyes open as I write this, just waiting until things calm down enough so I can sleep without being woke up. The sounds of the night are those such as a 5 ton military truck just pulled into our compound to unload a shipment of water that just arrived in port and a building full of people singing and worshiping God as loudly as they please. Not complaining, just sharing. I love to hear them singing and to see a huge truck full of water is an exciting sight as well. That's about it for today. Tomorrow starts early as we head into some orphanages to bring food, supplies, and the love of Jesus to the Haitian people. Until tomorrow night, Be blessed and thank God for the comfort and security from which you are able to read this from. Don't forget to pray for the people of Haiti and our team of eight. We have a busy week ahead and can't wait to see how it goes.