Hi All:
The week is winding towards an end and the craziness with it. I had a couple more encounters with the MEBSH administration today (Friday), one to get the accountant, Welser, on the bank encounter capacity for the hospital (for some reason, we have accounts in 3 of the Haitian banks and one of them has both Haitian money and US money accounts). We then were requested to make some other adjustments to help reduce the stress of an employee, but, after we tried various avenues to accomplish that, to no avail, we discussed it directly with the employee and she felt she could handle the situation just fine. So, another long rabbit trail in trying to get along with our Haitian expectations. We have greatly appreciated the wisdom and help Johannes and Luise Schuerer have given us in this situation, veteran missionaries and his work in the Bible School was so valuable in dealing with the pastors involved in the decisions.
We had a decent surgical schedule, not as busy as some of my other weeks have been, but it did allow me to do a few other necessary things. Wednesday night, we heard that the container with replacement 2 x 4s, 2 x whatevers and a lot of roofing steel was coming here. It arrived at 10 pm and we started unloading it at 7 am on Thursday. It had a large amount of wolmanized lumber in it, as we have an abundance of termites and other critters here, so many boxes got soaked and sweat was dripping off the ceiling of the container itself. It was a lot of hard work for the crew, but it got done while Duane was here to organize it, thankfully. Things are back where they need to be, i.e. we have repaid our loans of wood, roofing, etc from other missionaries, and we can go home relaxed.
The weather has been pretty nice for me, not sure Duane and Tom are liking the warmth as much, but not a lot of rain, so we could make progress on the cement work that needed to be done. This morning, they found a significant leak in the line going to the dental clinic, but all the lines are under cement, so we did not start the project at this late date. Also, they put a shower in the doctors’ call room, an addition greatly appreciated by them. There did a variety of other jobs, as it seems there is never an end to breakdowns in the heat and the fact that the original building was put up in 1946, but there are a number of other things left for the next team (and many after that, I fear).
[I Am finishing this after we got home.] All went well on the return trip, other than little sleep, only 2 hrs plus cat naps in the plane. (I think Duane slept better in the back of the truck but the others in the cab couldn’t sleep much except Elizabeth). I do not sleep as my job is assistant navigator. We need 4 eyes to look for the many cars and trucks that have no running lights and drive like crazy all over the road, as well as the ones without even headlights who also fly along at reckless speeds with abandon. Jean Eddy does most of the driving now, but doesn’t speak English, so I have to keep watch on the road and keep us both awake with chatter, etc. We arrived home late last night with our 4 suitcases of sewn materials from the Women’s Ministry that Caleb and Olga Lapp run now (Luise Schuerer started it years ago to help the ladies who had no other means to support themselves), and are happy to see our families again. I greatly appreciated having Duane stay another 5 days to provide support for the meetings and then change all the locks that needed to be changed with a new administrator, as well as the other 3 team members who were most encouraging in sharing the work load, meals and other duties. I thank the Lord for the people He has given us to make the load lighter and help us accomplish more for His glory.
Dr. Luke and Jeff Berkompas will leave on the 15th of April, then Dan Boerman and I will go on the 29th of April to do both surgery and continue to sort out and organize the hospital authority structure in a way that we believe will be more efficient, God honoring and encouraging to our staff, who have been in need of relief for years now. We want to be sure that we replace the old system with an improved one, so pray for wisdom and direction for us as we do this. Dr. Moise and the accountant/interim administrator, Welser, will have to continue until we return, I do have confidence that they will do their best.
In His Service, again with MUCH Thanksgiving,
Bill, Duane, Tabitha, Elizabeth and Tom