Hurricane Matthew Is Coming

This is more of a call for prayer than a blog post, but I know these blogs get to more people than other forms of communication.  Also, if you have a chance, please share it with other people so that they can be praying for us here in Haiti.  If you have not yet heard, there is a major hurricane (Hurricane Matthew) with a projected path right over Haiti.  This could very well be a very dangerous storm for a lot of people and this nation needs your prayers.  Jessica and Sophie are safe at our apartment in Jacksonville as I type this.  Our plan was to all leave tomorrow, but instead I will be staying until Friday to help our kids and employees get through the storm.  Please pray for us as we prepare to sit out the storm in our home and have the kids come up and spend a couple of days with me while we wait for it to pass.  It was really difficult to put my wife and 11 month old (she turned 11 months today actually) on a plane while I was staying here, but it was necessary.

More than that, this storm is life-threatening for many people, it could be devastating to the country, and we just need your prayers that people will be prepared and a have a place to go.  One of the really difficult things that I have found is that, as of yesterday, many people still did not even know a storm was coming.  This is the first category 5 hurricane in almost a decade, it has been out there for days now, and it is heading straight for us but people are just now beginning to realize that something is going on.  Some of the main threats include mudslides, flooding, winds that could destroy homes, debris in the streets, contaminated water, etc.  Please just remain in prayer for this country and its people over the next few days.  I understand that many countries, including America, have to deal with storms like this on a consistent basis.  However, for a country like Haiti, this could be especially devastating so please keep an eye out and continue praying until this thing passes over.  People here are definitely not prepared for this, so to start with, I think it is ok to pray that it turns to the west a little and that Haiti avoids a direct hit!  But the main prayer is that people would find a place to stay tomorrow night as Matthew passes over us.