It's a Big Job

Yesterday I had 5 meetings. Barb had 6! So there was no time for blogging and precious little for email. But a lot of planning got done.

The results of the survey the young people did is in. As of Wednesday evening or Thursday morning, there were 887 people who had returned from Port-au-Prince to 263 households. Those households are in several communities from Grand Latanier 3 or 4 miles south of HAFF to LaPila about 2 or 3 miles north of HAFF. I don't know how far off National Route 3 the survey takers went. Of those communities, Bohoc had the largest influx with 320 people. And those numbers were not including the people coming in on the 5 trucks that were in Port-au-Prince picking people up yesterday.

Those trucks needed lots of prayer. I don't know the details, but our management team meeting was interrupted several times yesterday morning by Met Gabriel's voice sounding very stressed as he talked by cell phone to the men with the trucks in Port. Barb got a call from one of the men in charge of the truck we sent and he sounded pretty stressed too. But we did get a report last night that the truck we sent arrived safely with 61 people. That puts the number received in the area over 900. And that doesn't even count the other 4 trucks.

So, we are realizing we are facing a huge refugee population and many families who will be needing help, as they were already struggling to make ends meet even before this. When the community leaders' finance commission met yesterday to talk about distributing the cash already received at that time (not the pledges, just the actual cash on hand), it quickly became apparent that there was nowhere near enough to make any kind of a difference. And this is just the beginning.

Another area of need is the emotional and spiritual well being of the folks returning and of the people receiving them. Several of the survivors have mentioned that they still see the bodies they had to climb over to get out of their buildings and that they still hear the noise of the quake and the buildings falling. Some can't sleep unless they are between 3 or 4 other people. And others still start and want to run each time the wind shakes the metal roofing on the house.

The young people's meeting yesterday brought out an idea of possibly having a week long evangelistic crusade combined with a Vacation Bible School for the younger children. And this morning, the students and teachers of BTI gathered for a service of prayer and worship and then divided into 3 groups to go visit and encourage the families of our 3 former students lost in the quake. All these activities bring healing and comfort in these uncertain and difficult times.

We are excited about how the communities and missions are working together. Keep us all in prayer for unity and wisdom and transparency and that we would do what is best.