Dear L2,

Hallelujah! Praise God! Guess what? We got our first shipment of boxes from Agape today. Thank you so much for the items you sent in the box. I love the earrings and I am saving the diet coke to drink on a hot and difficult day of work. The cassette tapes you sent made me cry. I had been wanting to hear the Acapella tapes for many weeks. What a blessing for me. I just cannot put into words how honored I feel to be working for the Lord down here. We patched the screens in the living room and Casey’s room this week with clear tape-to cover the bullet holes, they were outgoing. About every 4th or 5th night we hear shooting from those around us. There was an American warship in the harbor today. Casey saw it on his way home from school. We could see it really well with the binoculars.

I have been caring for a man that had a bad infection after a surgery. He was 80 years old and was really struggling to come each day for dressing changes. Several days ago when I saw him he was very weak and I was very worried about him. He did not come for his appointments the next few days. Then on the 3rd day someone came and said he was too weak to come to the clinic. They wanted me to go see him at his home. They said it was not far. We drove for about 15 minutes on a normal road, then we drove for awhile on a dirt path. When the path ending we were at the bottom of a mountain. They pointed up and we could see a custer of homes. Everyone said I could not make it up the path, it was to far but I decided to try and I made it. All the homes were made of mud and sticks and covered with a thatch roof. My friend was in a one room home, he was laying a twin mattress. There was just enough room for one chair in the room. I asked him if I could change the dressing and he said yes. To my surprise the infection was gone and the wound was almost healed. It was a joyful experience for me and I will always remember my first Haiti house call visit. Why is God blessing me like this?

The fuel situation here is very bad. If you an find fuel it is $17 to $22 a gallon which adds up really fast. We have been able to get some fuel for humanitarian use since we continue to deliver food to children and supply so much water to those in the local community. We have to limit our use of electricity and fuel. Many food are difficult to find. This afternoon I am going down to the goat field to give two of the goats antibiotic shots. I am not sure how this is going to go and they sure did not teach me this in nursing school!

Casey went climbing with his friends this morning up the mountains behind the houses. He did not want to get up but his friends finally convinced him. They had a good time but he did cut his thumb. We went to church this past Sunday. They asked us to come up before the service to say a few words. Casey did a great job and said some very mature things. It amazes me how much he has changed in just a few weeks. He is still a joker but he has a great love and compassion for the people here. He is much less self centered.

When I get to a place where I can speak the language well I want to do some education teaching in the feeding program of hygiene, nutrition and a few other things. They asked me if I would also like to do Bible teachings with flannelgraph-what a question-would I??? Everyday seems like an adventure-I’m sure that is the way God wants us to look at it, an opportunity for service.