Haiti in Ruins!

There are not words to describe what happened here in Port-au-Prince, Haiti the afternoon of January 12th. Twenty years or so of advancement were erased in 45 seconds! The massive earthquake that struck that fateful day demolished an already impoverished nation's hope. Many of the schools were destroyed, burying hundreds of children. At least 3 universities that I saw were reduced to a stack of pancakes - killing hundreds of the brightest minds that someday could have lead this country. "School" may not return for a year or more as every level must be rebuilt.

I arrived in Haiti on Sunday to assist for three week the earthquake response Compassion is conducting. The tsunami in South East Asia is the only thing that can come close to describing the loss of life and destruction. An estimated 200,000 people may have perished - but in on tiny geographical area - as contrasted with the tsunami that killed 229,000 in the Asia region. An estimated 2 million Haitians are homeless tonight because of those 45 seconds of terror. Rich or poor, all suffered the same fate. No one but God can add one single moment to our lives.

The sights, sounds, smells, hollow - vacant eyes, anger, fear - are unique. Pictures may better describe the heaviness in my heart for these beautiful people.

Graduation 1, Graduation 2, Graduation 3

What a month! My 3 kids have all graduated... well Kaitlin on Saturday! Heather and Nathan from college and Kate from high school.

En route to Minnesota this week for Nate's graduation we saw a coyote face to face - only about six feet away! The problem was he was running about 1o miles per hour. So it was kind of a tan blur. Compounding this was that we were traveling at 80 miles per hour. We only saw the blur for milliseconds. The blur and us met on I-80 in the middle of Nebraska. The coyote did not make it. Our car... well significant damage. Pushed all the stuff up front (radiators, fans, skirt, etc) all the way back to the engine, even knocking off the oil filter!

Stranded with a disabled car is no fun! Becky no longer sighs for the poor bambi's she sees dead along the highway. Now is poor driver! But after calling Nate and his being able to get a phone number for a tow truck in Kearney off the internet - we were checked into a cheap motel by midnight.

The plan was to make it to Lincoln NE so that the next day we could be in time for Nate's graduation ceremonies. Now we were stranded! Friday morning I dealt with the insurance company and the repair shop. Being Memorial Day weekend, we could not find a rental car from any of the 3 companies in town. But as the LORD does all the time, HE provided! A guy "happened" to be at the shop visiting a friend and heard the story of the coyote encounter - and wanted to check out the car. Only one other time had anyone heard of a coyote being hit! But his friend worked for Thrifty. He called in a favor and then handed me the phone - saying "he has a car for you"! So by 10:30 am we were on the road again!

Made it to Bethel University with a whole 30 minutes to spare! And we were so thrilled and proud of Nate for his accomplishment!

BAD COP, GOOD COP. GOOD WINS!

Oh the realities of traveling in the developing world! Heading to Dar es Salam, Tanzania yesterday we ran into the president of the country's motorcade. Like the driver was supposed to do, as soon as the lead motorcycle approached us on the two lane highway, he pulled off on to the left sholder. (The drive on the left side of the road here). A few moments later a wish of 10 or so SUV's blur past and on their way. After the route was cleared, we pulled back on the road.

A mere 200 yards or so down the road a police man pulled us over. Ordering our driver to get out of the vehicle, they went behind the vehicle and it was clear the officer was very upset! He was accusing us of blocking the president's motorcade and passing stopped vehicles during a presidential motorcade. After 45 minutes or so of heated discussions and the realization that our team was not going to bribe him, he insisted on raising the stakes and made us go to the police station in the next town. There he took our national staff in through the side door for further "discussions" and attempt to force the driver to sign a mia-culpa document! Well these were totally false accusations as the 5 of us in the vehicle testify to and can prove it. But he was facing either a severe beating or years in prison for this "hiddious crime"! After two hours of delay, it was agreed that the driver would return on Monday to appear in court so that the "visitors" could make their international flights.

He was released on condition of appearing in court - and of course, having his drivers license and vehicle doucments confiscated until the judge ruled on this case. We were about 1,000 kilometers from Arusha - so this demand was going to be costly, especially as he would need to bring our lawyer in order to get some form of justice.

We drove just a couple kilometers further under a cloud of doom until we reached the project we were supposed to visit for lunch - now hours late. We were discusing this incident with the staff we were told that this police officer was recently transfered there and already had a reputation of being a "trouble maker".

Come to find out, the project director is the head of security for the province. The chief of police is also an active member of the congregation! One phone call to the chief and another to the national level "fixed" the problem. The chief himself came to the church to get things straightend out. The driver would stop by the his house to pick up the confiscated vehicle documents on his way home! All charges were dropped! PTL!

The corrupt cop will most likely not be around that town much longer. In his zeal to make a buck or to "do one for the president", did not realize what he was doing. This was a very visible way that God demonstrated His grace. Trumped charges an all we were able to walk away praising God... and making our flight home!

This is normal life - their daily bread - in many countries. Prayer every time you get in the car is more than "keep us safe", but it is also "deliver us from evil"! Evil has been defeated! And we know in WHOM we can trust!

Uganda - Beautiful, Facinating, Complex

Uganda, the Pearl of Africa... the source of the Nile... a beautiful country that can produce anything! It is a lush paradise that grows whatever you plant. There should be no hunger in Uganda, but there is. HIV/AIDS has devastated the country. UG has made great strides in reducing the new incidences of infection... but now it is growing again, but within married couples! So marriage could be seen as a risk factor. Extremely sad.

The dictatorship and wars has destroyed communities' economic productivity. Cities that used to have many factories and jobs, now are just barely surviving. Mostly on reselling things brought in from elsewhere.


Lake Victoria - the source of the Nile river.

Cemetaries in the yards are common in Eastern Uganda. HIV/AIDS has been devastating. Now almost 40% of the new infectons are within marriages.

Project that is growing citrus, tomatos, passion fruit, papayas, bananas, beans, corn and cabbage for the children.

Spring protection and source we developed to provide 10,000 people safe drinking water.

Move over Mario Andretti, WE can change a tire in 2 hours!

In Africa, everything has thorns or bites! As is "normal" around here, we picked up an acacia thorn in our tire. We were 5 handy men... we can handle ANYTHING! ;-)

Pulling the spare, we discovered it was flat too! Someone else had found the thorns too, but forgot to fix the tire. No problem, we are in Arerti, Ethiopia - a town of 20,000 people. We ran down to the local tire repair shop - no Goodyear Shop - only a pile of old tires, a canvas tarp and a compressor. What else do you need?

Well, there was no electricity, and had not had any all day, so the compressor did not work. Ugh! Hey, we are guys... so we will figure it out. Aha! The well we put in 2 years ago has a Deutz 5 cylinder diesel generator. But it is about the size of a tiny car. It also puts out 44o volts. Guess the tire repair guy would not appreciate it if we fried his compressor! Also forgot to say that it was over a mile away! That won't work. So off we were, trying to find someone that had a generator.

It happened that we were near a school and a couple pastors from the church we work with are also teachers here. And yes, they did have a generator we could borrow. A horse drawn cart came to our rescue, taking the generator and our two flat tires to get repaired. Sorry Toyota, your new Hilux 4x4 pickups are less reliable than the old fasioned horse! Needless to say, we did make it back to Addis - 2 hours later than expected. Hey given the situation, not even Mario Andretti could have beaten our time in changing the tire!

Palm Sunday Mass at the Basilica in Rome

Seems impossible, but posting this Palm Sunday Mass at St Peter's Basilica in Rome now seems anti-climatic! But being with these beautiful children in Ethiopia has been more rewarding. Here is more of Rome as I promised. It is out of place, but I have had no or pitiful internet connectivity for the last 5 days, so please accept it as it comes.

Ethiopia's Hope

The beautiful children are the hope for this great nation! Given an opportunity, they can be who God created them to be! Enjoy their smiles...