Haiti, week 2

1-27-10 9pm Paul is home! It was 2 weeks and an hour ago that Sammy and Nathan were sobbing telling him good-bye. Tonight at dinner there was much hub-bub of Daddy this and Daddy that! We are all grateful to have him home and grateful to have had the opportunity to play a small part in what God is doing in Haiti. The next Haiti update will come from Paul as he processes his experiences and share his stories.

Last night while Paul and I were catching up, Patti Sue of Casa de Fe called me to tell me little Steven died. When I left his heart rate was getting lowere and lower and his breaths more and more shallow. We are grateful also to have played a small role in his short and difficult life. We rejoice that he is with the God who created him and that he is no longer constrained by his imperfect body.

1-25-10 10pm Paul is in Florida now. He arrived today from Haiti. Tomorrow they will fly from Miami to Quito. Things seem to be in order regarding the passport. I am planning to go to Quito tomorrow and meet him at the airport. We will have a debriefing meeting with the team before heading back to Shell. I will take Isaac and my parents will be here with the other three boys. We are excited to see Paul again! The boys all have lists of things they want to do with him. We were stunned to learn today that our church raised more than double the cost of the vaccines that were sent with our friend from medical school. God has been faithful throughout these past two weeks and we are in awe to see the way He continues to work! What a privilege to be serving Him.

1-24-10 11pm It has been a busy day, both in Shell and Haiti. The good news is that the team is planning to fly from Haiti to Miami tomorrow. It is unclear when the next flight out (after Mon) will be available, so the current plan is for them to leave Haiti tomorrow afternoon. The passport situation still seems to be up in the air, but we are trusting that things will work out. Lord willing, they will be in Ecuador Tuesday night.
Vaccine: We are working hard to get the tetanus vaccine to the Baptist Haiti Mission. However, it is in Santo Domingo now and will be used for Haitians injured in the earthquake one way or another. Please continue to pray for the logistics of this. The team with the vaccine is driving from Santo Domingo to the border tomorrow and representatives of Samaritan’s Purse are driving to Santo Domingo at the same time, so hopefully they will find a way to connect.
Baptist Haiti Mission Hospital: Paul said tonight (when I finally got to talk to him) that they are busy again with patients transported from the valley of Port-au-Prince up to the mission. Most of them have closed femur fractures, so they are getting very good at repairing this! However, there are now 2 other anesthesiologists, so he has enjoyed working and talking with them.
Steven: Little Steven is still in critical condition at our hospital here in Shell. We changed his antibiotics tonight and hope to see some improvement in the next 1-2 days. Several times today I reminded myself that he is in God’s hands. He has fought so many odds against him. It’s hard to know what God has in mind for him.
Re-entry: Please pray for the next phase of Paul’s experience in Haiti. I don’t know what to expect, but I am very proud of him and hope that the processing and debriefing process goes smoothly.
Thank you for your many, many prayers. I know Paul will want to share some of his firsthand experiences. Stay tuned. By the way, he said it wasn’t him giving the blood!

1-23-10 10pm I haven’t been updating quite as often. Things are becoming more routine in Haiti, according to Paul. They have been there for a week now. It sounds like they are almost caught up on the surgeries at the hospital and today picked up 8 patients from the General Hospital in PAP who need surgery. Paul told me several days ago they were approaching 100 surgeries. Although this is only a drop in the bucket compared to the need, it is a good week’s work for 1 anesthesiologist (most of the time) and several surgeons, as well as a 100-bed hospital. Check the Baptist Haiti Mission blog for more information, stories and pictures. http://www.bhm.org/bhm/lang-en/news-and-resources/our-life-in-haiti-blog.html Is that Paul giving blood to a patient? I know he has type O which anyone can get and I also know he gets woozy giving blood! Some of the supplies and vaccine that have been lacking have arrived. We are thankful for this. We are still working on getting the 500 doses of tetanus vaccine to the hospital. They are awaiting transport with a team this weekend. No word yet on whether Paul will need to get his passport renewed in Miami, but this is the back-up plan if necessary. Flights are leaving Haiti only on Mon/Wed/Fri so the plan next week is for the team to fly out of Haiti on Wed. They have tickets back to Ecuador on Fri and will come back earlier if the passport and flight situation allows.

Here at home we are happy to have Maw-Maw and Pop visiting. Isaac is figuring out who they are and the other boys are enjoying games, books and movies with them. I was able to go to a bridal shower today. Steven was admitted to the hospital for his pneumonia today so I was also able to leave and be involved in his care. I am thankful for the chance to leave the house without any boys in tow! Also, a huge answer to prayer is that Nathan’s infection is MUCH better. That is all for now. I have not heard from Paul today, so I don’t have up-to-date information.

1-21-10 10pm Wow, Paul has been gone for more than a week and we hope to see him in another 9 days. (See #3) I am tired, but want to share several prayer requests. I will try to update on the team tomorrow.
1. We are trying to arrange tetanus vaccine to get to the team in Haiti – please pray for the logistics of reaching Paul at Baptist Haiti Mission. A friend from medical school is arranging for the vaccines and her husband will bring it to Haiti since he is an orthopedic surgeon planning to go to Haiti this weekend. Pray that their travel goes smoothly and that he is able to connect with a representative from Paul’s team.
2. Paul’s team is still lacking certain supplies for fixing fractures. Pray that these would be available to them.
3. Two team members (that we know of) don’t have 6 months left on their passports and this may be a problem getting back into Ecuador. Paul is one of them. (This requirement is also why my parents are delayed.) Pray that if Paul does need to renew his passport before re-entering Ecuador, the process would be completed quickly and smoothly.
4. Praise God my parents should be at the Quito airport now! We look forward to seeing them in Shell tomorrow.
5. Also praise God for the team of nurses that was at Casa de Fe this week. They were helpful with some regular screenings and giving vaccines.
6. Pray for Steven, the baby at Casa de Fe with a tracheotomy. His pneumonia is now worse and we started a second antibiotic today.
7. Pray for Nathan who has an infected scrape on his leg. Some of you may remember Paul’s saga with a similar infection that required IV antibiotics.