Good-byes and Hellos!

We are home! Back in the cold of Michigan. I could not post Friday because of the internet but it was a fabulous day! We spent the morning seeing some of the school kids and had one procedure for Chris to do. We followed up on some labs and radiology some of our earlier patients had gotten done but most of the morning was spent organizing the clinic and getting it ready for the May team. We figure that we have seen 350 people this week with 2 providers, one nurse, one pharmacist, three lay people and ONE MIGHTY GOD!! Thank you to our translators, security, and other Haitian helpers!Everyone had their own place in the clinic to clean and organize. . .
Kim had the bathroom:Denise had the office:Kendra had the lab area:Deb had the cupboards:Kayla had the pharmacy:Chris helped with the cupboards when he wasn't seeing patients:And I had the storage shelves and table drawers:We had things all wrapped up by noon and then we were off to the mountains! It was a beautiful day to go to Fort Jacques where we could get an awesome view of Port Au Prince and take in some history. After the tour, we made a quick stop at the Baptist Mission for some ice cream. We returned to the Methodist Guesthouse in time for dinner and guests for our last night. Our guests included Hansel, George, Michel and his wife and son, Francois, Fan Fan and his siblings, and Emmanuel and Marie Claire and Adrien from ADA. It was tough to say good-bye.
Travel today was great! It was the first time I got "patted down". The flights were on time and were quite comfortable. It was great to arrive back in Michigan at 6 pm! So, here are the "Hellos" . . . On the plane, Deb and I sat next to a nurse practitioner from the Detroit area. Of course we invited her to come and we exchanged cards. She said she would check out our website. Earlier in the week I had given Denise some of my business cards in case anyone asked about our mission. Well . . . God hooked her up with a physician assistant on the plane. And she gave him my card! Chris just happened to be sitting next to an orthopedic surgeon! Cherry on the top is that this surgeon went to medical school with Paul Farmer (a physician who started a hospital in Haiti). This surgeon also was born in Port Au Prince!!! This surgeon also happens to work with one of Chris' friends! How cool is that?! God is all over the place . . . even in the seating assignments of an airplane.
Thank you for your prayers. It has been a blessed week.

A great day!

Today was a great day . . . and still is! It is 9:15 pm and we are sitting around the patio with our Haitian friends that are visiting including Michel, Jean Bernard, George, and Vedrine. Laughter abounds. Chris, Kayla and Denise are planning out the Halos' pharmacy while I am posting this. Michel, Jean Bernard, and Vedrine are talking (but not in English . . . who knows . . . ). Kim and Deb and Kendra are making George watch family videos on Deb's computer :-)Today the clinic went very well. We saw about 100 people and things went smoothly. We even had city power for 1/2 hour!! That meant Kayla had light in her closet pharmacy for that long! It has been such a blessing to Chris and I to be able to ask for the med that we wanted and she either had it or had a suggestion. The pharmacy is totally organized with "rules" written up on the wall. This is why we have been able to see over 250 people.
Deb works her butt off! She is everywhere.Kendra got to poke some fingers today and even had her first positive pregnancy test! She thought the tests were defective until today! Kim and Denise kept the peace outside and had the patients organized and were directing traffic. It all went so smoothly today.Our Haitian staff here is so amazing, too. Gabriel and Orbenson had everything in order at the front gate. Michel translated outside and was available to handle anything that came up. Adrien helped translate for Kim and Denise. Robinson was with Deb. He has such a genuine smile and we love him. Francois has a heart for his people and a true love for God. This is the second time he was with Chris. Hansel was with me and I taught him how to make slides for the microscope exams. It was great and cut the exam times by a lot!We are all doing well and having a great time. We can't believe this trip is almost done. Tomorrow morning Chris has a couple of "things" to lop off and we plan to organize the clinic to have it ready for the May team. Tomorrow afternoon we will take a fun trip into the mountains. Tomorrow evening will be time to say good-bye to our Haitian loved ones again.
Please continue to pray for our team and for the people we serve.

Quotes from Today

Today was a very busy day at Heartline. It's great to have the opportunity to share ministries and work together for the Kingdom. We saw lots of people in Clercine, Haiti. Deb was the nurse. She was everywhere, taking patient information, vital signs, directing, assisting, and everything else. Kendra was stationed at the lab dipping and testing (not tasting) urine ALL DAY LONG! She was disappointed that she didn't have any fingers to pick. Kim held babies, directed traffic and her creole was amusing to the Haitians. Then on to Chris who enjoyed having his own office space with a ceiling fan and a kitchen table for patients to be examined on. He kept very busy today but never grumbled! I played educator as I was blessed to be able to teach Beth McHoul how to do lots and lots of female exams and listen to babies' heartbeats, etc. After seeing a provider, they moved on to the pharmacy where Denise and Kayla were ready with drugs and a smile! We saw about 100 people today and felt pleasantly tired on the way home.
Here are some quotes heard from the day today:
Kayla: "Look! There's a walking pharmacy! Deb! Get your camera!"
Kim: "I'm so sorry! Chita la!"
Denise: "No . . . you do it!"
Chris: "I'm going to read to my friends"
Deb: "That makes me feel better . . . "
Kendra: "I wonder where that hole goes"
Lynda : "That's what I've been wondering all day"It was a busy day, but we are having a great time with laughter sitting around the table talking about our day at 10:00 pm. Chris has gone to bed. We are hoping he doesn't get tangled in his bed. Have you seen how tall he is? Have you seen how short the beds are?
Please continue to pray for us. We have a full day tomorrow at Halos. We are thankful that it did not rain tonight. Please continue to pray for God's mercy in stopping the rain.

Not our plan, but God's

Today was like a typical Haitian day. We had 2 of our 4 translators show up. YIKES! Slowed us way down, but we still saw 75-80 people today. Please pray for our Haitian helpers. It has been raining a LOT every night I have been here. Our driver this morning could not get here to take us to the clinic because his house was filled with water. One of the translators was sobbing in the clinic when he finally made it in because his house was also filled with water. He told me through his tears that we cannot possibly understand the conditions they live in. I agree wholeheartedly. I just finished raining again and we watched the caretaker at the guesthouse digging a trench to divert water away from the guesthouse. Please pray for mercy from the rain.
Alix, again, was organized with more kids and their parents this morning. We are thankful for him.
Today was a long day. It was great to be back and relax at the guesthouse. Dinner was fabulous. Deb and I jumped into the pool in the pouring rain while Donette, the house manager, thought we were crazy! The temperature has been wonderful! It actually gets quite cool in the evenings!
We enjoy our gatherings after dinner and today Chris told us about Paul Farmer who started a hospital in Haiti and God had totally blessed it. It was interesting.
Phyllis Langewisch's cookies got busted out and I believe they are all gone now! YUMMY!!
We are blessed to have visitors in the evenings. Tonight it was Michel, Fan Fan, Jean Bernard, George, and Vedrine. It was great fun having 2 different card games going on. Laughter was everywhere as we let our hair down. Thank you God for these moments!

Saw Jesus Yesterday

Yesterday was a great day! We actually started on time. Not sure how that happened, but thanked God for it! While 3 members went to the market to get lunch supplies, I went out to talk with crowd. It was such a blessing to me to be able to tell them that Jesus loves them, then God sent us to show them He loves them. I explained that we are a small group but would do our best to see as many people as we could. The were awesome. Then I said "let's pray" and was praying for God to give me the words . . . he misfired (just joking) and gave all the people outside the gates the words . . . prayers busted forth from nearly everyone all at the same time. The Holy Spirit was totally moving through the crowd and I saw tears from some of them after the prayers. All praises, glory and honor to our Savior, Jesus Christ!Alix (the school administrator) was so organized as we set aside the first hour or so for the school kids that are sick. He brought them over and brought their parents in with them. When it looked like they would take over the hour, Alix said "that is enough for today". I love that man!
Then we started letting the people waiting outside the gates in. We saw Jesus in their faces, radiating so brightly from the woman with advanced breast cancer who we treat palliatively, through the woman who loves her 14 year old daughter so much she was having trouble controlling the tears when we were discussing the daughter's need for 2 new heart valves who is in congestive heart failure (I know that pain!), to the baby with severely burned foot, and all those prayed with who turned the prayers around for us! Thank you God for revealing yourself to the team and to the people served.We are excited to see what God has in store for us today. Thank you for your prayers. This team has come together and works together so well. Please pray with us for the patients mentioned above. God knows their names.

Got our bounce on!!

We absolutely LOVE to worship at Port Au Prince Fellowship! We "get our bounce on" during the worship songs. The message was great and I love the way this pastor delivers it . . . with passion and conviction. We left refreshed and ready to serve!
We returned to the guesthouse for lunch then to Three Angels to finish setting up and start seeing patients. We saw about 15 of the orphanage kids and about 8 of the staff at Three Angels. It was fun to watch Kim, Denise, and Kendra go get the children one at a time and hold them during the exam by Chris. The kids were so good during their exams, too.

Kayla was listening in on the exams to anticipate the meds that would be needed. She was all over it! Kendra got to dip a urine,too. What fun! Deb was weighing and getting vital signs before the kids saw Chris and the adults saw me.

It was good to get started and try to figure out kinks.
We finished just in time for the dance performance by Ayiti Dans Ansanm (ADA) who performed in Midland in the fall. It was good to see the dancers and drummers again.
Then, back to the guesthouse for dinner, devotions by Kayla, then playing cards and swimming. It is actually cool at night and has rained every night. The pool was a bit cold tonight, but still refeshing.
God is good and faithful all the time. Thank you for your prayers. Tomorrow starts our first full-day clinic. Continue to keep us in your prayers. Pray that the Spirit of the Lord is released through Halos Medical Mission. Amen!
PS. . . everyone is well.

Internet is Spotty

Sorry family and friends for not posting last night. I tried several times, but the internet is so unreliable and I could not get on last night.
The team arrived safely. The flight was on time at the airport, no problems through customs . . . I sort of prayed their flight would be delayed because I was told by our transportation provider that they would pick me up Three Angels to go to the airport at 8 am. But, by the time 8:30 rolled around, I told Junior (our Haitian assistant) to get me some sort of transportation to the airport! About 9 am the transportation arrived and the traffic was horrible! I arrived just as the last person was getting into the van to come to the guesthouse! Greetings were very quickly made and off to the guesthouse. A quick swim for a few people, lunch, then Three Angels.
This is a small group of 7, but a very hard working group! Kendra and Kim set to work on preparing the "goodie bags" filled with toothbrushes, toothpaste, stickers, etc. They made about 250 bags.

Deb was busy with organizing and putting away supplies.

Denise put expiration dates on the meds.

Kayla sorted through expired meds and planned the organization of the pharmacy.

Chris and also helped with the meds. Then we taught Kendra how to poke fingers for blood sugar and HIV screens and taught her how to check urines for infection and pregnancy. We are almost ready! Today we are waiting for breakfast then going to church and back to Three Angels! Will try to post later, but depends on the computer.
Please pray for protection of the team from the evil one. EVERYONE is fine . . .