BUS RIDE TO HAITI/YWAM HAITI

So yesterday morning at 5am Dominican Republic Time (it was 4 am in Haiti and America) we left the YWAM base in Santo Domingo for the base in St. Marc. It was about 5-6 hours till we got to the border, where we spent a good bit of time trying to find out who was going to Port au Prince and who was going to St. Marc. After splitting up, we were on our way to St. Marc. I fell asleep (thank God) for the first time on the bus, and woke up when we were on the outskirts of PAP. We didn't go through it, just around it so we didn't see much destruction but I did see places that had crumbled and buildings that had fallen. Further outside the city, we based a huge piece of machinery dumping dirt in a huge hole. The bus driver informed us that it was one of the mass burial sites. As I let those words sink in I felt sadness for the people, and also felt emotions I could not describe. After I bit, I was able to fall asleep again, and woke up and fell asleep several times before we finally reached St. Marc. Oh yea before I went to bed in the DR Monday night I was able to talk to my brother Philipson (one of the Haitian Staff at St. Marc) on the phone! It was so awesome to talk to him. Anyway, we arrived at about 3 pm at the YWAM base in St. Marc. I walked up to the cafeteria and there was the founder and director of YWAM Haiti, Terry Snow. I said "I made it back!" with a huge smile on my face, and he says something to the effect of "He knows how to run the cement mixer! Send him to the fifth section!" So one of the other leaders asked if I could head out tomorrow (Wednesday) to the fifth section and of course I couldn't resist the opportunity to get back out there! I then went and found Philipson and said hello and chatted then said hello to some other Haitian Staff I knew. Then I went and got the box of beads I got for little 9.5 year old Lillian. She is Dominican and a daughter of one of the staff. She likes to make bracelets and necklaces to sell to volunteer teams down here and when she saw I had brought them down for her she got really excited and gave me a huge hug! Some of the other children of the full-time staff were with her and we walked around the back property just chatting about what they were learning in school and what I had been up to. We then went and visited their art room and I got to see some of their art. Then they wanted to take me to see the refugees on the base and afterwards we climbed the big tree in Terry's yard and played Monkeys. Then we ate dinner together and I spent the night trying to Skype with my college roommates and it was very frustrating but also rewarding. Then Alan and Philipson and I stayed up till midnight chatting and shooting a laser pointer off in the distance and raiding the kitchen fridge for leftovers. I woke up at about 6:45ish today (Wednesday) and we had a time of worship and prayer. It was an awesome time and very energizing. Then Matt (he lived here for 2 years, but it was 10 years ago) went out to the fifth section to start the very long painstaking process of making forms to pour cement in to make columns for the houses to be built. Oh, the fifth section is the poorest part of Haiti, if you were there and a lion roared you would think you were in Africa (there is no lions here btw lol). It's practically in the middle of nowhere. Anyway, what should of taken us 2-4 hours, took us from 10 to 4:30 because all the wood was bowed and the wood also had nails and screws in it and we only had one hammer and the wood would split when we hammered in new nails. And we had a half charged battery for a saw and drill, and of course it died when we needed it the most. We had to cut up more wood by hand and try to unscrew a couple screws by hand which didn't work all that well lol. We went out for more supplies in a small village that was very close to where I was at in June. We didn't finish the forms, we only did 8.5 and we needed to get done 9. We came back and I took a very refreshing shower and then ate dinner, caught up with Bill Fitch and Nikki and Lynette who just got back from PAP (they got on the wrong bus in Santo Domingo). Then I went and played soccer with some town kids and refugees, then went to the pool with the staffs children and played a version of tag they invented called "Disease". Lol I love those little kids and am going to try and hang with them for at least half an hour to an hour every day. Then Philipson and Patrick and I went out to get ice cream but they were closed, so we got sports drinks (like slimfast lol) then bought some food from a street vendor (grio and patte, very good food!). Then we came back and Philipson and I chatted and I mentioned that I will most likely be taking next semester off as well and staying here longer and that this trip is going to be the deciding factor on if I should serve full-term in Haiti. I told him I would love to adopt a Haitian child and live on the base. He said he sees me marrying a Haitian woman and having lots of kids so I don't have to adopt! lol. I feel so much stronger spiritually while I'm down here, and everything is just so amazing and I love helping the people here. I can't wait to see what God has planned for me. Keep me in your prayers please. Goodnight.