Jeremie Adventure

'Don't follow me.' I read the words on the car in front of me and laugh. What? Don't follow me? Does he mean no tailgating? Or is it maybe a line of his favorite Kompa song? Or did he just paste that on his car because he thought some English words were cool?

Shaking my head, I ease into the left lane and pass him. He doesn't want me to follow him; fine, he can follow me! 

30 minutes ago, Jason had called to say there was a seat open on his flight to Jeremie. Since Justin was still under two he could sit on my lap, but since he wasn't sure if there was another seat for Jayden I quickly made some arrangements for him to play at a friend's house.  I had been pestering Jason for weeks to let me fly to Jeremie with him and if there was an opportunity today, I wasn't about to pass it up!

Just yesterday Jason had flown in there and had taken pictures of a sunken submarine right off the coast, very close to the airport.

Seeing it made me want to go explore!

Packing the necessary swimming gear and pre-making a few bottles for Justin, I was ready to go in no time flat.

Now, in front of me, traffic slows down to a crawl. I sigh. I really hope I make it on time. 

My cell phone rings and I quickly answer it. It's Jason.  "Will, are you almost at the airport yet? The team is here and as soon as their bags are weighed we have to leave." 

"Traffic is pretty slow, but I will do my best. Hope to see you soon!"  I hang up and inch forward. The white patrol in front of me slowly starts to pick up speed, so I do as well. A minute later he slams on his breaks. Having almost no time to react, I stop a mere centimeter from his back bumper. A pedestrian on the sidewalk, looks at me, points at our almost touching bumpers and shakes his head. 

Breaking eye contact, I give myself a little pep talk. "Okay, Will, in a hurry or not, you are definitely not going to be going to Jeremie today if you rear end someone."  

Leaving more distance now I pray for extra patience. 

Ten minutes later I'm at the domestic terminal. Whizzing through security, with Justin on my hip and my pink bag flapping behind me I slip right in behind the team who are just heading out onto the tarmac. Perfect timing!

Once everything is secure, passengers are seat belted, and checklists and briefing are complete we taxi to the active runway. Behind us, American Airlines holds short, waiting for us to depart.

Once airborne, I pass Justin his first bottle and get myself comfortable. When we reach open ocean I play with my camera settings and try to take photos of the sailboats floating in the ocean beneath us.

A little further along I catch sight of some amazing little inhabited islands. 

I can't imagine living on something like that! One little storm and your house is gone!

50 minutes later we have Jeremie's runway in sight. Since I haven't seen it before I marvel at its length.  

Turning the airplane for final approach, Jason focuses on executing a smooth landing while I snap pictures of the jungle below.

Once our Cessna 207 is on the ground and off the active runway, Michael Broyles, another MAF pilot lands a larger airplane, the caravan, with the rest of the team members.

Setting Justin on solid ground again, he flashes me a big toothy grin. It's as if he's saying;"I'm all ready for this next adventure Mom!"

Piling into and on top of a pick up and trailer we catch a ride with the team to the beach cove about 5 minutes down the road. Waving goodbye to the team, Jason, Micheal, Brandy (our temporary MAF flight scheduler), Justin and I hike down to the cove of Anse D'Azur. Ruins of an old fort cling to the sides of a cliff overlooking the ocean.

Stopping at a lookout point, we pull out our cameras and admire the views.

Wow, it sure is amazing!

Making our final descent we reach the powdery sand.

The 180 degree view is beautiful!

Minutes later we are in the water. Leaving Justin with Brandy on the beach I swim  out to explore the sunken submarine with the guys. The afternoon waves are fairly strong and very quickly a wave sucks me under. Coming up laughing and sputtering, I stop to blow up the swimming ring I had brought with me. Having trained as a lifeguard in my previous life, I know the importance of safety and always being prepared.   

Reaching the sub I adjust my mask and snorkel and dive down. Stripey tropical fish dart around the conning tower and drive shaft. It's amazing to explore this piece of history that's been here for over a 100 years! Once I've finished exploring, I pass the mask and snorkel over to the guys to use. Leaning my forearms on the top of the exposed sub I quickly pull them back. Ouch! Stinging coral. Warning the guys, I keep a safe distance. Once they've also had a turn to explore we swim back to shore.  

Jason and Micheal then go on to explore the caves as I spend time with Justin and Brandy on the beach.

Digging in my pink bag, my big baby helps himself to bottle number two.

Since clouds are starting to roll in, the guys don't want to wait to long to head back. Using the remnants of a second building as a change room, the guys pull on their pilot uniforms over their wet, sandy bodies.  It might not be the most comfortable flight home for them!

Hiking back up the path I pause to photograph some pretty flowers.

On the main road again, we flag down some motor taxis and hop on for the short ride back to the airport.

There is (apparently) always room for one more on these taxis!

Back at the airstrip the pilots ready the planes and we climb back on board.

Goodbye Jeremie. Till next time!

Justin waves at the disappearing city beneath us as his Daddy plays with the controls.

Admiring the view from my window, I continue to snap photos.

More tiny inhabited islands, dot Haiti's coastline.

A little later, I snap photos of Micheal and Brandy passing us in the caravan.

Jason then decides that there's no time like the present for his youngest son to take his first flying lesson.

50 minutes later we have Port au Prince insight once again.

Thankful

After some of my prior posts about mosquitoes, cockroaches, rats and tarantulas, heat and humidity, back pain and viruses I felt compelled to write about thankfulness. 

1 Thessalonians 5:18 says "In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you." 

This past Wednesday, in part to celebrate Jayden's birthday and in part to just take a much needed break we spent the afternoon at a beautiful hotel. Some of the hotels here in Haiti allow you to swim and eat at their restaurants without actually having to spend the night there. 

Surrounded by plants and trees we soaked in the beauty of God's creation. 

We enjoyed the refreshing pool, 

swimming between hundreds of beautiful tree blossoms. 

Our sweet Jayden, who sadly asked me whether cockroaches went to heaven when I was in the process of slapping one with the fly swatter the other day, rescued a drowning bee. 

It was beautiful to watch it slowly recover from its near death experience before flying away.

For a snack we shared a delicious piece of cheese cake. 

That night, back home again, as the sun set,

and mangoes ripened on the counter, 

and my two tired boys fell fast asleep, 

I quietly thanked God for everything.

Happy Birthday Jayden!

Working together we get the job done! 

Decorating the pirate treasure chest birthday cake! 

And it's finished! 

Waiting for friends to arrive! 

And they are all here! 

I wonder what is in this package...

Water balloon fun! 

Pass the parcel.. 

Sand bag toss. 

Don't let it fall! 

Birthday lunch! 

And some final pirate fun! 

Worry About Nothing, Pray About Everything

Friday, May 31, 2013 

The fan beside my bed makes a final rotation before coming to a complete stop. In the unnatural silence I stir and waken from my restless sleep. Reaching out with my hand I feel for the ipad on our makeshift night stand. (Rubbermaid totes have multiple uses here in Haiti!) My mind, still numb with sleep, momentarily forgets how to activate the display. When the screen does finally light up it’s 5:48 a.m.. 

Laying it back down I take a moment to absorb the stillness. With summer quickly approaching there’s very few times when a fan is not blowing somewhere nearby. 

As I lay there the events of the previous afternoon come rushing back. At 5:00 p.m. when I had just finished peeling a large carrot and three potatoes for dinner, my cell phone had rang. Seeing Jason’s name light up on the call display I eagerly answered it. Today was his first day back at work since the previous Wednesday when his back pain had started, and it had been a very busy day for him so far. 

Anticipating to hear that he was finished flying and on his way home I gave him a cheery hello. 

“Hey Will, do you mind if two pilots from MFI (Missionary Flights International) stay over at our house tonight? They were delayed flying into Port au Prince from Florida due to weather and now it’s too late to fly back. “ 

“Sure, that’s no problem.” I responded quickly. “I will get the guestroom ready.” 

“Oh, and the team of 8 they were supposed to take back to Florida doesn’t have anywhere to stay tonight either. I’ve tried calling several guest houses, but they were all full due to the delays in departures from the UN airplane that crashed off the runway on Sunday. Is it okay if they stay at our house too?” Not waiting to hear my reply he rushed on; “Well, I already told them yes, and we’re on our way right now!” 

Laughing I shook my head. “Okay, we will make it work!” 

“Oh and you don’t have to worry about cooking dinner. I’ve arranged for all of us to eat out!” 

“Okay, great! I will get the kids ready and hope to see you soon.” 

An hour and a half later we were all sitting at a restaurant, but along the way our numbers had continued to grow and now there were 18 of us. Anywhere else in the world that may not be such a big deal, but with a group this size in Haiti you could anticipate some delays. 

The atmosphere was nice, the company enjoyable and our two boys well behaved so finishing at 9:00 p.m. was not a problem, except for one thing; I had hoped to stop by Eagle market to purchase some food for breakfast, but by now it was closed. Driving past the gates of the grocery store I silently prayed that God would somehow make the food we had be enough. Remembering the miracle of how the 5 loaves and 2 fish had fed 5,000 people, I felt a sense of peace come over me. 

Once at home I quickly got to work giving our guests a quick tour and orientation about where to find clean drinking water, cups, etc. Then I pulled out mattresses, pillows and sheet sets for everyone. That night, as I was getting ready for bed, I suddenly remembered that there might be some packages of oatmeal and granola bars in a suitcase that one of our previous teams had left behind. 

Crawling out of bed, I slid open the door to the suitcase storage area. “What are you doing Will?” Jason mumbled sleepily. “I just thought of something,” I replied. Zipping open a small red suitcase I was rewarded with a ration of at least 20 granola bars. I also counted 8 packages of instant oatmeal. With the two I still had in my pantry, I now had one for each of our guests. Thanking God, I crawled back into bed and fell into a fitful sleep. 

Now, hearing our house guests begin to stir, I roll out of bed. Using the ipad as a 21st century candle, I lift it up to illuminate my way to the closet. I slip on some old clothes and grab my glasses, then head out of the master bedroom into the hallway. Hearing Justin cry, I scoop him out of bed and carry him on my hip. After starting the generator, all the while cradling Justin and praying we won’t run out of diesel, I head to the kitchen to set out the cups, bowls, spoons, oatmeal packages, granola bars and a container of peanut butter chocolate chip cookies that I had baked the day before for the ladies Bible study later this morning. 

Look up at the wall I once again read the words I had written there several months ago: ‘Worry about nothing, pray about everything'; a reminder from Phil 4:6 (Be careful for nothing; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God.) 

By the time everyone had eaten and was full I was amazed that there still was food left! The generator which had not been filled in a long time didn’t run out of fuel either. Once again God had provided.