Background behind Haiti Mission Trip

I (Greg) kept a journal during my time in Port-au-Prince, the capital city of Haiti. Keep in mind, my thoughts and observations come from the perspective of a guy going to help/work in any area that I could. I was just a small part of the team; we had Doctors, Nurses, Paramedics, skilled security guys, and translators giving their all for the hurting Haitian people. I worked in the area that was assigned to me daily (this was a team of 40 from S.C.) so I did not get to see what each and every Doctor and Nurse saw inside the clinics that were set up but I will do my best to give you a picture of what it was like.

First, I want to thank my beautiful wife Melynda for praying and giving Matthew and I the go-ahead to join the team going into Haiti. We have lived on the island of Hispaniola (this island that shares Haiti and the Dominican Republic) for four and a half years and never felt called to visit Haiti except for the temporary visits of landing at three of their airports delivering missionary supplies with Agape Flights in an airplane. We have met good Haitian Christians here in the capital of Santo Domingo and have always worked with Haitian guys on our job sites. There are now over 1 million Haitians living in the DR. But we have always felt called to the Dominican Republic and despite some offers from our Haitian friends, had never ventured into what we had viewed as a somewhat dangerous country.

This started to change when we got an email from Melynda's brother Brad. He is a Paramedic and goes to Brookwood Church in Simspsonville, SC and when he heard a mission team was going into Haiti, he felt like God wanted him to go so he signed up - you da man, Brad. Long story short we found out his team was being led by Andy Patterson, (an old friend of ours - he used to be a missionary here in Santo Domingo), so we called him up and he welcomed us to the team BUT he wanted me to drive my vehicle which led Melynda to pray some more. I could see how God was planning this trip and while I was praying, I never felt a complete sense that Matt and I would be safe the whole time, (and we weren't) but I sensed completely we were supposed to go and help - so I drove my '99 Trooper behind a school bus filled to the max with 40 people and alot of medical supplies. We were heading to "Mision Rescate" (Rescue Mission) which was being run by YWAM (Youth with a mission) which is led by another good family friend of ours here in Santo Domingo, Kent Norel. It is amazing to watch how God takes the terrible things of this world and see how he organizes and responds to it with love.