It’s been a while since I’ve given you an update, so let me bring you up to speed. I’ve been really busy! Trying to keep up with the all the teams and their needs is hard but rewarding.
On Tuesday, I got to fly up to Cap Hatien with Pastor Pierre. We had some parts that we needed ASAP that were flown it from the States. If we brought the parts into Port Au Prince we would have to pay a higher tariff and they may be held up in customs. Since they came into Cap, we cleared them about ten minutes and were able to negotiate the rate we paid. We rented a small plane. To fly commercial would have been $250.00 and to bring the parts back would have been another $250.00. Esperandieu rented a plane for $375.00 and they said he could bring me with him. As we flew up, we went by a Citadel that is built on top of a mountain. It has walls that are 130 feet high. It is truly amazing to see what the Haitians built in the early 1800’s.
The family made quick trip to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday as well. We can only stay in Haiti for 90 days without a visa. We made about a "45 minute drive" to the border, crossed it, turned around and came back. The boys were glad to be able to say that they’ve been to another country now. (Clarification from Amy...this trip took a total of 5 hours round trip...Jay wasn't sitting in the back with the boys.)
A couple of weeks ago Esperandieu and I picked up the tractor from the port. I drove the 15 miles back to Chambrun through rush hour traffic. You should have seen the looks I got. It was as if they’d never seen a white guy driving an Oliver 1855 in downtown Port Au Prince before! I also got to put the Oliver 1855 to work this week. (Clarification from Jay: It’s not a John Deere as Amy referred to it last week.) We had a couple of containers that we needed to move. I hooked the 1855 up to them and lifted the front of the container up about a foot with the 3 point hitch. I was able to pull the container about 500 feet before it started to dig into the soft ground. The front tires came about three feet off the ground. I decided I’d better try something different before I tore something up. We got the backhoe and pushed while pulling with the tractor. It worked very well and we safely got the two containers moved.
We had a huge answer to prayer on Wednesday. Vineyard Mercy Response and GAiN USA have been building a team complex for here in Chambrun. We have everything we need but the generator. We’ve been praying and trying to raise the money, about $50,000, to finish the project. Our big dedication of the complex is Monday and we have no generator. Wednesday, a church agreed to give us the money we needed for the generator. So Thursday, we went and picked one out and they delivered it Friday night. Lord willing, everything will be completed and working by Monday.
Saturday Morning Update from Amy: I'm just now posting Jay's update. As of this morning, the generator is up and running. Hot showers tonight! We ate our first meal in our new kitchen last night and today are working on moving everything from the old kitchen to the new kitchen. There is lots to organize! (Not my strongest gift...wishing for my organized friends right about now!) Jay is also putting up fence and I think there are tons of trees to plant. I went to the grocery yesterday with Dianne and found some foam water squirt sticks for the kids to play with. Ahhh...they've been very busy, running around campus in swimsuits, carrying buckets of water and squirting each other. I think we'll all sleep good tonight...
On Tuesday, I got to fly up to Cap Hatien with Pastor Pierre. We had some parts that we needed ASAP that were flown it from the States. If we brought the parts into Port Au Prince we would have to pay a higher tariff and they may be held up in customs. Since they came into Cap, we cleared them about ten minutes and were able to negotiate the rate we paid. We rented a small plane. To fly commercial would have been $250.00 and to bring the parts back would have been another $250.00. Esperandieu rented a plane for $375.00 and they said he could bring me with him. As we flew up, we went by a Citadel that is built on top of a mountain. It has walls that are 130 feet high. It is truly amazing to see what the Haitians built in the early 1800’s.
The family made quick trip to the Dominican Republic on Wednesday as well. We can only stay in Haiti for 90 days without a visa. We made about a "45 minute drive" to the border, crossed it, turned around and came back. The boys were glad to be able to say that they’ve been to another country now. (Clarification from Amy...this trip took a total of 5 hours round trip...Jay wasn't sitting in the back with the boys.)
A couple of weeks ago Esperandieu and I picked up the tractor from the port. I drove the 15 miles back to Chambrun through rush hour traffic. You should have seen the looks I got. It was as if they’d never seen a white guy driving an Oliver 1855 in downtown Port Au Prince before! I also got to put the Oliver 1855 to work this week. (Clarification from Jay: It’s not a John Deere as Amy referred to it last week.) We had a couple of containers that we needed to move. I hooked the 1855 up to them and lifted the front of the container up about a foot with the 3 point hitch. I was able to pull the container about 500 feet before it started to dig into the soft ground. The front tires came about three feet off the ground. I decided I’d better try something different before I tore something up. We got the backhoe and pushed while pulling with the tractor. It worked very well and we safely got the two containers moved.
We had a huge answer to prayer on Wednesday. Vineyard Mercy Response and GAiN USA have been building a team complex for here in Chambrun. We have everything we need but the generator. We’ve been praying and trying to raise the money, about $50,000, to finish the project. Our big dedication of the complex is Monday and we have no generator. Wednesday, a church agreed to give us the money we needed for the generator. So Thursday, we went and picked one out and they delivered it Friday night. Lord willing, everything will be completed and working by Monday.
Saturday Morning Update from Amy: I'm just now posting Jay's update. As of this morning, the generator is up and running. Hot showers tonight! We ate our first meal in our new kitchen last night and today are working on moving everything from the old kitchen to the new kitchen. There is lots to organize! (Not my strongest gift...wishing for my organized friends right about now!) Jay is also putting up fence and I think there are tons of trees to plant. I went to the grocery yesterday with Dianne and found some foam water squirt sticks for the kids to play with. Ahhh...they've been very busy, running around campus in swimsuits, carrying buckets of water and squirting each other. I think we'll all sleep good tonight...