"Vini"

Four o'clock came earlier than I thought it would this morning! However, we did well and got out of the house on time. It was a bit sad this morning because some of the ladies said they would be getting up to see us off but I think we left earlier then expected so we never got to say goodbye to everyone at the house. On our way out of St. Marc we stopped at the property by the church to pick up two sisters who wanted to come with us to see the airport. The younger girl, Sophianise is a school child that someone at home supports and she could not have been more pleased to be going with us! She was so excited and happy that it just came bursting out of her in big smiles and giggles! We sang songs and shared granola bars but as we kept going we all noticed the car making strange sounds and knocking. Robinson stopped once to check it out but he said he thought we could make it to Port and back and then he would take it to be looked at. Well now I understand why Robrob has us leave so early in the morning! The Toyota started stalling and then all of a sudden quit in the middle of the road in a little town halfway to Port Au Prince. There was a truck on the right side of us parked by the curb, and then a semi parked right next to that so there was just enough room for us to squeeze by, when another truck was trying to come through the same small opening... And that was when the car stalled out. Amazingly, a man came right over to us trying to help Rob move the car and figure out what had happened. We finally got pulled over to the side of the road and all of us girls stayed in the car while Rob was outside talking to all of these men. We could see that they were all talking pretty seriously and heated but then everyone broke up and Rob came to the car to announce, "It seems we are not going to waste anymore of our time here. We are taking another vehicle.". Before we even knew what was happening the back of the Toyota was opened and all of our things were hauled off by three or four men to somewhere we couldn't see. The man that had first tried to help Robrob threw open my door and said "Vini!" which means "come" in Creole. Well I didn't move a muscle because I wasn't about to go anywhere without Rob first telling me to go. We weren't scared but we were all being cautious because everything was happening so fast. A minute later Rob told us to get out of the car and the five of us girls followed the man over to this really, really big truck. It was as tall as a semi but not as long and in the back, benches had been built into the sides of it so people could ride in it. I think all of us figured that was where we would be riding but we stood outside the truck with all kinds of people staring at us waiting to be told what to do. The man then opened up the front of the truck and motioned for us to get into the cab. We weren't sure exactly what to do but then Robinson told us that yes, we would be riding in the front with the man who had been trying to help us. We were helped into the big truck and squished ourselves into the cab. Mom was sitting by the driver but her part of the seat was raised very high into the air so she was at least six inches higher than the very tall truck driver! I sat next to her and then Deloris! Without going on forever, lets just say that it was a very interesting ride to the airport! There were a few times that we all thought we were going to hit or be hit by another vehicle but God protected us and we laughed and made jokes the rest of the way! We pulled up to the front of the airport in our extremely large transportation at 7:30! It just amazes me how God works out such details! We were not very far from City Soulei which is a very dangerous place and it would have been very bad if the Toyota had quit there. Then to send along a man who could help us not only know what was happening with the car but who also had a truck to give us a ride in?! Our God is SO big and amazing! I felt bad because Robinson had the two girls and his vehicle to try and get back to St. Marc but we got a report a while later that they had all made it home safely. Thankfully the rest of our trip home went smoothly over all. All of our flights were on time and we landed a good 15-30 minutes early on all of them! It was about a 20 hour day for us but surprisingly we were all quite chipper the whole day! I really can't imagine two women that I would have rather been in Haiti with then my Mom and Deloris! They are both absolutely amazing women of God and have such wonderful talents and abilities! I learn so much from both of them all the time and it was such a privilege to travel with them for the past 8 days. I love you ladies with all my heart! I hope and pray that someday we will be able to do this again! This blog concludes this chapter of the book but I don't think this is the end of the story. Keep praying for our ministry in Haiti! Things have come so far in the past five years and I know God is not done working yet! Thank you for your prayers and support for the past week! I could really feel them and I appreciate everyone who prays and supports this mission in any way! So for the last time.....

Goodnight from cool and beautiful Lake Ann, Michigan!
Krystle

P.S. As a side note, this morning we received word from Robinson that St. Marc was flooded last night. As far as he knows everyone from our church is safe but there were reports of several men on motorcycles being washed off the bridge out to the ocean. Even though none of the members of the church were hurt there are several families whose houses have been severely damaged and have lost many of their things if not all of them. They already have so little and to have something so devastating happen really is heartbreaking. Please keep them in your prayers!