Haiti Update
Before we travel back on Sunday, I wanted to give you an update on the political and social environment in Haiti right now based on the unrest that occurred at the beginning of July. If you recall, the government raised gas prices by close to 50%, the population rioted in the streets, 22 hours later the government lowered gas prices, and then 1 week later the Prime Minister resigned. Of course many other things went into those events, and you can click here to read more about it, but that is an overview of some pretty crazy events that happened while we were in America.
With that said, I wanted to give you a quick update on what our family is heading back into as we travel this weekend. As you can imagine, with 2 babies here and Ezekyal still back in Haiti, those events in early July were a little scary for us. They were not “We will never go back to Haiti” scary, but they did show us how quickly things can change and how difficult things can be when and if something goes wrong. Since those events, however, Haiti has been pretty calm. There has been the occasional manifestation or road block, but for the most part everything seems to be “normal.” With that said, we are cautiously excited to be going back down this Sunday. We are cautious because things could change in the country at any second, but excited because of so many reasons that I could not even begin to name all of them (though I will name some of them). We will get to see Ezekyal, hopefully we will move forward in our attempt to get Ezekyal a Visa and then begin the adoption process, we will get to be with the kids, we will continue the ministry of All Things New, we have a few new initiatives we will be starting, we will get to spend time with our friends and employees, and there are many other reasons for excitement as well.
If you cannot tell, even with the difficulties involved with taking 2 babies down and having a third waiting for us in Haiti coupled with the precarious political situation in Haiti, we are really excited about getting back down. As you have probably noticed, our time in America is necessary. We have to do our best to fundraise, meet with our supporters, make new relationships, search for partnering churches and organizations, make plans for the future of ATN, and rest while we are here. But our time in Haiti is what our ministry is really about. It is our chance to see how our kids are progressing, ensure that our employees are following our plan, to impact our community to the best of our ability, and most importantly to be there for the children that GOD has put in our lives. Please pray for us, our kids, and our ministry and we cannot wait to update you on how things are going in Haiti.