We’re back and safe. In fact most of the team has already left for their respective homes, only three of us remain here in Texas. I’ll give you a brief overview of what went on in Haiti, then will explain what to expect in future blog posts regarding my time there and will finish with my tentative itinerary. In other words feel free to skip to whatever interests you most.

Haiti, as little surprise as it may come to you, is a mess and an endless source of tragic irony.

Little seems to have improved from the earthquake; buildings lie in ruins everywhere and thousands of people continue to flock to the growing tent cities. Things are getting worse now too as a cholera outbreak struck the country while we were there, and Hurricane Thomas just swung through Port au Prince. Thankfully the hurricane did little to no damage according to our friends back in country, but cholera has claimed almost twice as many victims now as it had when we left.

We were working with the long-standing ministry Mission of Hope, whose reputation within Haiti is impeccable to say the least. It’s so good, in fact, the government has started giving them land to develop into housing for displaced Haitians and schools among other things. Their ministry is so impressive, their staff absolutely incredible. We had a great time getting to know and be blessed by them over the course of our 15 days there.

There’s a lot to get through, I wrote an average of 4 pages per day in my journal and took over 4.5GB of photos (as a group we wound up with around 14GB of photos). My plan is to wade through my journal to figure out what’s worth posting over the course of 3-5 entries in the coming weeks as I prepare to fly to Africa. Of course photos will accompany stories for those of you that find reading appalling (bravo for making it this far).

As I get through my thoughts and experiences regarding Haiti I’d love to hear your own thoughts and questions in the comments below each post, it’ll help me think through stuff and provide an opportunity to be more eloquent in my responses than if you pose them point blank over a meal when my mouth is full.

Which brings me to my final point: I’m coming back to Spokane! I fly in next Thursday evening and will be in town until Tuesday afternoon (the 16th). I’ll also be in Portland, Lord willing, the 19th-22nd for those of you on the coast who would like to meet up. I’m planning to have a large-group gathering/informational meeting in both cities, so if your schedule is as full as mine at least you can make one of those events (I hope).

I’ll also be back in Spokane the weekend after Thanksgiving before flying to Tyler, TX on Monday the 29th. I then fly from Dallas to Durban, South Africa on Tuesday the 30th. It’s going to be a whirlwind month to say the least. Send a text, facebook me, or leave a comment here if you want to try and meet up when I’m around. I’d love to see y’all =D

Filed under: News & Updates by Jay