Here

I am here. This week was long and hard but it's over, and I'm here. Work and life and broken computers and no sleep took it's toll, but I feel an underlying sense of peace. Something like the peace that Paul describes. After a relatively smooth trip down, we flew into Port au Prince and 11 months later it's not any easier to see the scene here. A sea of blue tarps as far as I could see have been shelter for millions of displaced haitians. The lack of progress is frustrating.

We drove out to Cazale and my heart was so happy to see this familiar place. Licia and the boys and her precious baby Ameyah and Mary were waiting for us and it was such a sweet reunion. We unpacked all the supplies we brought and went up to visit Lori who is killing herself working in the cholera house. I was so impressed by the little hospital she is running. We are sprayed down with alcohol from head to toe and rinse our shoes in a bleach mix before entering the house. There are many patients of all ages and stages of disease laying on cots.  Their family members hold vigil at their bedsides and help clean them up as they expel insane amounts of stool and vomit. I will spare you the details for now, but I'm sure I will want to elaborate later :)  They have treated more than 250 patients since last week. I'm going to head to bed soon so I can get up in the night to pull a shift in the hospital. Thankfully, the treatment of cholera is pretty basic, the difficult part is just managing the hydration status in the patients, especially in children.

Please pray for me for health and endurance. Pray for the patients and all of the staff who is caring for them. Pray for Lori and Licia who have committed their lives to this. I am continuously overwhelmed with the privilege to serve along side them and pray that I may be a good steward of that. This cholera stuff is a mess. The task of caring for so many patients whose lives are in such a fragile state is daunting. Seeing things that no human being should ever have to experience is terrifying. But my trip has been planned for months, and God is not surprised by this. I know I am here with purpose.

   “Surely this is our God; 
   we trusted in him, and he saved us. 
This is the LORD, we trusted in him; 
   let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

Isaiah 25:9