A looong post for those who like details :)                               Sat. March 14, 2015

Dear Friends and Family,

It's been a busy few days here. Last night as I sank into bed I pondered all the events of our day and marvelled that so much had transpired since the sun peeked over the horizon. On Saturday we plan a brunch for mid-morning, and knowing I would have a busy day I asked the young ladies to take care of that meal. As a family this gave us more time to spend together after the children awoke... traditionally a very special time for us. So, when our three little ones had crawled out of their blanket cocoons we dressed them and headed up to the flat depot roof (a storage building built in recent years that sits next to our house). The boys were thrilled to dance in the treetops and mama and papa had to quickly establish some rules for the daring little acrobats who would love to peek over the edge of the wall-less roof. This put me at peace a bit more and we enjoyed the view of the waking sky and surrounding mountains. The trees pranced occasionally as a bird landed on the outermost flimsy branches to enter into the green covert. Tabitha happily crawled on the concrete surface until Mama felt it wise to suspend her to the pink blanket where the boys had also been grounded. We visited and enjoyed just being the five of us, ignoring the fact that we were still in plain view of the encircling neighborhood—pretending to be hidden in seclusion. After awhile we made a couple calls to the States. We appreciated the advancement of technology... only 6 years ago we had to climb a nearby mountain to enjoy the privilege of a phone conversation.

While we enjoyed our family time, the nurses had been summoned to the clinic for an emergency call. A man was brought in with head injuries. He had been transported from Besace- a nearby Clinic that is glad to send their harder cases our way. The limp man arrived draped over a moto, tied to it for his own safety. The suffering soul seemed dead. The girls examined him and called for Hans- our young man here who had been an EMT in the States. Together they determined he was beyond their scope of care and called for an emergency helicopter. (Just days before a non-profit group had come back here to explain to our clinic how they could help us with their chopper service...transporting just such tough cases as we had now to Port for swift medical help.) With help on the way they prepared to drive the ATV to the soccer field where the helicopter would land. Meanwhile the story continued to unfold as to why we had this man in such serious condition. He had been in market the day before(Friday), drunk. A woman was sitting in a little shack nearby, holding a baby. For some reason he happened to go in and decided to take a swipe with his machete at the innocent little one. Instead he whacked the woman's hand- almost removing her fingers. This incensed the people and they beat him, intending to leave him lifeless. Rather, he went unconscious with a soft spot in his skull... Both families transported their wounded people to the nearby Besace Clinic. The following morning he was carried to our small hospital, hoping for better care.

At the large grassy field, the emergency helicopter help drew near from the air to meet the group from our mission on two ATV's with the wounded man and a couple family members. As the chopper landed an incensed crowd gathered intending to thwart the clinic staffs' efforts to save this life. The people had tried once to kill him and they didn't intend to see him rescued. They reasoned with our young people that if they would also take out the woman with the injured hand then they would allow the man to fly also. However, we had not seen the woman yet and the flight crew would only transport one injury at a time. The three helicopter personnel walked over to discuss the situation... the Haitian man among them tried to calm the mob but only a temporary calm ensued. Someone called for a machete to take matters into their own hands and finish the criminal off if anyone tried to load him. Seeing they were losing ground and endangering their own safety the helicopter group took to the safety of their mechanical bird and headed back on their 15 minute journey to Port. Our people made a hasty exodus too, with one of the man's family members running after -begging not to be left behind to the mercy of the angry mass. 

Back at the mission we heard the 'copter return back overhead, assuming that the man was on his way to higher care. Meanwhile, the nurses at Clinic soon discovered their quiet Saturday was not to be.... the lady with the mangled hand was now here to be examined and stitched and the sound of the mission vehicles brought the injured man back into view. The family of the man causing all this adieu soon made tracks for the local Kayzak(Judge), realizing if they didn't get protection the crowd would come and do as they pleased. The (former) Kayzak who is now a worker in our Clinic as a secretary came down and gravely instructed our staff to quickly get both of these injured people out to T-Guove as quickly as possible. Apparently this man has a warrant out for his arrest and was in trouble from another area where he used to frequent. Direk didn't want trouble for our clinic from holding such a criminal. He felt sure if we would agree to help both the man and the woman by taking them out to a larger hopital there would be peace. The people agreed with this arrangement and soon both the attacker and attacked were loaded with family members from each party. The man had been slowly coming to... even saying a few things and showing focus from his eyes. One of the woman who had been so riled up at the soccer field now sat near the man she wanted killed – helping the nurse adjust his pillow and resettle him more comfortably. It is dangerously evident that crowds breed trouble when emotion builds upon each others irrational reactions.

Having safely seen these two off, the rest of us unwound from the excitement.  Those who hadn't eaten the prepared brunch of creamed eggs and toast, mango shake and coffee cake came home to do so. Our little boys took a nap and I worked on supper preparation, hoping to make good progress before we headed up the mountain to visit Grandpa Harold. Lydia accompanied us as we exersized weak muscles over rocky terrain. Our little men were delighted with the outing, but had a number of minor tumbles before we arrived back home. Some parts of the trail were relaxing but others were a series of huffs and puffs as we hauled ourselves and our little charges up to the top. At Grandpa's we had a pleasant time chatting and enjoying the view of the surrounding mountains. Theodore and Stephen gave Mama a few scares with their lively monkey antics. Finishing our visit we declined Grandpa's kind offer to drive us back to the mission and started the descent. Greeting smiling Haitians along the way added enjoyment. Lydia and Theodore took the lead and a little girl latched onto Lydia's hand as she passed by. The two made a sweet pair until they parted at the gate.

Home again, I moved into high gear, rolling my prepared tortilla dough out for our evening meal of chicken fajitas. Janelle had seasoned potato wedges for oven fries and made carmel pudding to go over EllaMae's peanut butter bars. We gathered our smaller group together -wishing our two on the trail could join us. (Julian and Kindra came back later and ate what was left of our evening meal.) Those who wished to- gathered around our table to count pills into sachets(bags) for clinic. This gave a relaxed atmosphere to visit after the kitchen was cleaned up.

Well, I got the bathroom cleaned today and a few other areas polished as I had planned, but the main floor will have to wait for another day to be swept and washed like I had hoped to. Days don't always go as expected...neither in the States nor here.  The girls washed up the tea cups before heading to their house for the night and we wound down with our boys. They enjoyed some Daddy and Mama time before closing their tired eyelids for needed sleep.

After we dropped into bed we slept until some nearby community sounds awakened us off and on throughout the night. It's Ra-Ra season. This means the local satan worshipers relish opportunities to gather and worship their evil god. Dancing, swaying, chanting, tooting on conch horns or droning from bamboo pipes... their devilish festivities interrupted our peaceful night as they marched past our houses and up the mountains. Tabitha was restless so she appreciated being snuggled in by Mama most of the night. Amazingly, we slept better than some nights despite the unwelcome serenading.   

Our Sunday was a welcome day of rest... especially restful in the afternoon and evening compared to some busy Lord's Days around here.  It seemed a special benediction from the Lord who knows our need for rest.