Hello from Haiti! What a whirlwind the last 48 hours have been! I arrived in Port-au-Prince Tuesday at about 4:30 p.m. Pastor Henri and Sister Gladys (the co-founders of the orphanage) picked me up. We stopped at the market and then headed to Canaan Orphanage. We arrived at about 8:00 p.m. Overall it was a great flight and safe trip. So far my first impressions of the country are kind of what I had expected – I am reminded so much of Gambia!! This makes me smile, because you all know how much I loved Gambia.
Wednesday morning I woke up to the most precious kids in the world singing about God’s love. These little orphans are beautiful inside and out! I am excited to befriend them. 
I have worked a bit in the medical clinic and started training for the medika mamba project. I am ready to dive in, but other ‘work’ has come up that is a higher priority right now. This type of work cannot be prepared for, this type of work cannot even be expressed in words or portrayed in photos. But I must try to describe it to you because what I have seen over the last 2 days is beyond imagination.
As you know, Haiti has suffered so much recently because of the hurricanes. The orphanage is doing good – our food supply and shelter is all well – so we praise God for that – but just a couple miles down the road lay some of the worst sites I have ever seen IN MY LIFE……
In America, we see the brief news clips of the damage from the hurricanes, but to SEE this in person with my own eyes has left quite an impression on my heart. People are starving. Their is mud in many houses – about 4 to 7 feet high. The stick shacks people lived in at one time that were in the path of the flood waters are non existent. The water people are drinking and bathing in is the dirtiest water I’ve ever seen.
You can smell the decay – we saw a baby girl that had died and her body was stuck in a pile of brush. People said dogs were starting to pick at the body. The police were on there way to take care of this unbelievable site. One of the missionaries turned to me and said, “Bobi, welcome to Haiti.” I cried. I almost couldn’t hold myself together. Guys – this is really happening! I am shocked….
One word I can use to explain the look on people’s faces is: hopeless. It is difficult to know where to begin, in such a mess, but we want to do all we can to help restore hope in their lives, homes, and hearts. Yesterday we bought rice, oil, beans, sugar, flour, corn, soap and toothbrushes to hand out to families. We packed it up today in individual baggies.
Please pray that as the hurricane and tropical storm season is just starting, that God would hold off on allowing the rain to come our way. Pray for the people to have strength during this devastating time. And please pray for us to have wisdom to help them and that in the midst of all the horrible suffering, Jesus would be made known!
If you want to donate money to help us buy more food or eventually to build houses – please shoot me back an email. If you want to read more details and see a few pictures you can visit Elsie’s blog – she is a missionary that has lived here since January. That link is: www.lckornelsen.blogspot.com. Thank you for reading this and I will keep you updated. If you do want to donate you can also shoot me back an email – thanks! We’d appreciate any support you can give. God bless.
Love you all and THANK YOU for your prayers – I’ll be in touch!
