Hi All:
We appreciate all the prayers and support we have received on this trip. As we said, American, understandably, cancelled all our flights, but Delta graciously took us in and, though the plane was full, they told us they would swing out into the Atlantic and give Irma a wide berth. They did exactly that and we arrived in Port only a bit late but in good spirits. We piled ourselves and our baggage in the Kia and took off. A bit into the trip, Jean Eddy told me that he thought I needed to buy a new battery as he had trouble starting the truck at the airport!! Yikes. About half way home, it became evident that we were living on borrowed time, especially as it got darker and we were trying to not run the battery down further. A bit short of the 3/4 point, the truck died altogether and we were stuck on the side of the road. We tried calling but Dr. Moise was not available for a bit and he doesn’t have a vehicle. We did the usual Haitian flares, taking tree branches and spacing them along the road to warn approaching traffic of our misery. Duane tried all his magic tricks to get the truck going, though was hampered with not many tools, no spare battery and darkness.

By God’s grace, we finally were able to contact Dr. Moise, who was able to borrow a car from one of the pastors and his brother in law went with him, carrying the battery to the second generator (the first of course was running). What a welcome sight to see these two brothers and we were soon on our way again to the hospital, again arriving a bit later than expected but thanking the Lord for His provision, as not much is open at night in Haiti and especially not on a Saturday night. Dr. Moise’s sister (the wife of the gentleman who drove the truck) usually makes us a huge meal of beans and rice, fried fish and some vegetables. We always eat a bit but the 4 men from Bible Believers Church in Lowell ate like they hadn’t had a meal in a week. Their enthusiasm is contagious. They went to the Sunday School program and then the Wrays and thoroughly enjoyed themselves. They have worked like slaves (of course, they have the Egyptian Taskmaster in Duane) and have finished the roof on the house they are doing.

Duane has his hands full of tasks, 2 of the 4 water tanks on the roof are leaking, one has a crack and spurts water. We don’t always understand Brenel, we would have expected him to let us know this on Monday morning, but not ’til tonight. One never knows the mind of the Haitians. My OR girls told me today they only had 2 months of spinal and Ketamine left, again, it takes about 5 months to get a new order from Amsterdam. Sometimes the bald spot on my head slowly grows. The government also decided, that we need to increase the baseline salaries about 200%, due to the runaway inflation after Hurricane Matthew, but where do the funds come from to do it? Surgery has been decent, I am a bit feeble, running a low grade temp despite increasing my Levaquin to 1000 and taking Tylenol each 4 hr. Am sleeping 10 – 11 hours a night, so appreciate prayer for God’s healing of my infection. Am thankful that I am able to work, albeit a bit less than I would like.

So, we are plugging along well, me a little less than the others, but the boat is floating and we are thankful. We are hoping that Jean Eddy comes back from Port au Prince tonight with the alternator, as none available in Cayes. We got a new battery and tire, but the problem seems more serious to my talented buddy, Duane. He never ceases to amaze me with what he can do.

Thank you so much for prayer for us all, including the stumbling Haitian Donkey as we try to serve HIm faithfully in Haiti.

In His Service,

Bill, Duane, Jake, Joshua, Mike and Nicolas