For those of you who haven't been to Haiti, I want to paint a picture of the driving here. Our first time in Haiti Dan Irvine picked us up from the airport and as we were driving we noticed right away that the person with the bigger vehicle basically has the right of way. Dan spoke of the driving as crazy and told us of an imaginary third lane on a two lane road (to pass a vehicle you find space and make it a lane). We quickly became accustomed to the wild driving here in Haiti. Every time we leave the compound we say a prayer for safety and God’s hand of protection over us. Yesterday was no different. I, Dustin, left early to drop off someone at the airport and pick up a few things in Port-Au-Prince. Nancy and the girls were going to go with me but a last minute decision changed their minds. I made all my stops in Port-Au-Prince and started my 1.5 hour trip back home. I made it into a town called Cabaret where I was to meet up with Dieuse (our nanny who helps with our girls and has become a part of our family) to bring her to our house for a few days of work. I wanted to pull into a gas station that was on my left. I threw on my blinker and waited until it was clear. I started to make the turn and my world started spinning...literally. A massive UN tour-type bus came flying up behind me as I was turning and they could not react in time. It all happened very fast and as I sat in the Nissan patrol facing the opposite direction from where I started, I said a quick prayer to God. "God thank you for me being alone in the car, thank you for allowing me to live today....” There is no doubt in my head that God was with me yesterday. I sat there for a minute and vaguely remember a UN soldier knocking on my window, no doubt asking if I was okay. My head was pounding and bleeding but I knew I'd be okay. I tried to step out of the truck and realized I was a bit too dizzy for that. I then said another prayer as I looked up from the ground where I had ended up after trying to stand. Within minutes Dieuse (our nanny) was next to me – "God, thank you for Dieuse and for guiding her to me today". By God’s grace she had found me, and I knew all would be okay again. As I said amen I had to stop again and thank God again. "God thank for the ambulance that just showed up.” With little medical infrastructure in Haiti the last thing I expected was an ambulance to show up. They never show up! As the EMT worked on my head Dieuse handled the vehicle. She spoke with our mission driver over the phone and had him on the way to handle the vehicle, etc. Dieuse and I got into the ambulance and made our way to the hospital. Thank you Lord….for the Canadian doctor who happened to be in country for 10 days and for good friends like Carl Gilles who showed up at a moment’s notice to help. Long story short, I received a CT scan and lots of medicine. After the CT scan results came back okay they allowed me to leave. Carl arranged a taxi to get us home and off we went. By God’s grace I am home and laying down resting and praising Gods name for many things. I feel I need to list them again to show how great our God is: 1- Nancy and the girls stayed home 2- I was alone in the vehicle during the accident 3- If the wreck happened a split second earlier I would have been t-boned right at my door and wouldn't be typing this message 4- Dieuse was at the scene immediately after it happened to help and take control for me 5- For the ambulance that was there when you live in Haiti and never expect one at any time 6- For good friends like Carl Gilles who would drop what they are doing to come be with you and help in anyway 7- The Canadian doctor who was in country for only 10 days at the hospital I was taken to 8- For a CT scan in Haiti 9- For prayer warriors 10- Fre Judain (the mission driver) who handled the vehicle after we left for the hospital 11- The available medicine in Haiti to relieve some of the pain I was/am in 12- For the workers here at the Ortlip center who care for us deeply and are helping to take care of the house (Camelot) so we don't have to worry. Se Lousani who wants to make sure I'm eating and taking care of myself. Fre Brestyl and his wife Mme Brestyl who came over last night to sing songs of praise and pray for me. 13- My God who is TOO good to me. I can go on and on with this list but all this to say...I'm doing good and will be 100% again in a few days/weeks to come. To all our prayer warriors, thank you. Here is one more prayer I want you guys to say..."Thank you God". This is my prayer. | |
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What a crazy few weeks it has been! We wanted to drop an update with just a few things that have been going on in our lives since we officially moved into our home. We appreciate YOU and YOUR prayers for us...for daily continuation of language learning, learning our job, hosting teams, logistics for traveling teams/missionaries, and much much more YOUR prayers are extremely valuable to us. So THANK YOU!! We have been blessed to already have a few family members come visit and get their hands dirty with us. We have also had a LOT of traffic in and out of the Ortlip center in which we live (people passing through to get on the boat, meetings, people spending the night, etc...). Here are a few pictures because lets face it...pictures always tell a better story. This is Fre Brestyl, a worker here at the Ortlip center. He loves going fishing and typically goes every Saturday. Just yesterday he went fishing and brought a gift to us!....GWO PWASON (Big fish)!! As a lot of you know we started building a chicken coop, with a small garden area on top, from mostly scrap wood. As of yesterday it is officially finished. We have purchased some chickens are awaiting their arrival anytime now! With many trips made back and forth to Port-Au-Prince for airport runs with teams, errands, shopping, etc... We get to see many things. The driving is...well...it's crazy to say the least. Here is one of the many wrecks/break downs we see throughout the country. Through the chaos we have a great God that blesses us with many things. For example, the views like below. Also we had an issue of a broken washer here at the center which was forcing a few of the workers here at the center to wash everything by hand!!! We had so many people praying for this and God answers prayer! We have a new washer for the Ortlip center! God is good and shows up at the EXACT time that we need Him. Thank you again for all of your support for our family here. We would not be here without you. Please click on the prayer button above and let us know how we can be praying for YOU!
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