Checked-in

Yesterday, today, separated by a period of darkness. No actual sleep… at least for me. 2:00 A.M. rise and shine, quick wash up job and down to load the buses. It went smooth, the transport people arrived with two buses just for our team at 3:00 am, the drivers helped us load and unload and we were standing at the ticket counter at 3:30! We were able to get our boarding passes and the early attendant got us in line right away. The check in was the calmest to date. The flights were smooth and on time for the most part. God goes before us. One noteworthy point: there are a host of Americans and teams still flowing into Haiti. It is very uplifting and exciting. We are grateful to be a part. As we arrived in PAP and made our way into the new terminal (AA freight terminal turned baggage claim) we were in the line for Passport verification when a man walked up to me and said “Berg?” I said “yes”, he said “I have all your bags ready for you.” The terminal was a sea of people and bags, but ours stood at the entrance of customs, all thirty. It was incredible; we showed our white forms and walked through customs, no bag checking, no questions! Now outside the terminal, that was a little different story, but within a short, but intense period of navigation and communication, we were loaded into the bus and under way. We paid the driver a little extra to give a small tour of PAP and the devastation is incredible. The word “pancake” hardly does justice to what we saw. Floors of houses simply collapsed together, unmercifully destroying and extinguishing anything caught between the sudden shifting of the walls and shaking foundations. We passed a church standing open to the passerby, because the entire front of the church had collapsed, leaving the sanctuary standing exposed, a few people gathered to the front of what remained perhaps to worship, perhaps to mourn. Rebuilding is daunting, even to consider, let alone attempt to do. Clean up will take years, maybe never for some. Equipment is needed that most here have not even seen! Pray for us this week, pray for Haiti daily. We are safely here, but that is just the start of the journey. Everyone is tired, but doing well. We had pizza for supper tonight, now to bed our weary bodies. Blessings from St. Marc!