I'm sending some major praises up tonight! Just got off the phone with dad- his voice never sounded so sweet! Right now they are in the Dominican and will fly out tomorrow, so of course prayers are still needed for safe travel. I know the guys are probably exhausted after sleeping on Leon's roof in tents, especially since it rained last night. However, it sounds like it was an incredible trip. God was listening to all of your prayers and I truly believe He went before them and stayed with them the entire time, guiding every move. I love it when God answers our prayers with something even better than we had planned! I was praying for them to get the truck to go from the Dominican to Port Au Prince. The wisdom of my father prompted him to pray simply for transportation. God is much wiser than I am, and provided a 45 minute flight rather than hours of travel on bad roads. I also wanted to clarify- on the last email I said they bought 16 thousand pounds of food- it was actually $16,000 worth of food equaling 32,000 pounds of food. Simply amazing! And a HUGE thank you to all of you who so generously donated to help that happen. One of my main concerns about this trip was the threat of gang violence in Cite Soleil, not to mention the unrest that can arise with huge crowds of hungry people at food distributions. I asked my dad if he noticed any signs of gangs or violence and he said ZERO. This is a quote: "The country was the most tranquil and hospitable as I've ever seen it in the last 25 years." I was so relieved to hear this and want people to know that even though sometimes the media portrays Haitian people as violent and ungrateful, that is usually not the case. The people right now are very scared to go back into their homes and most people are not in their homes, even if they weren't damaged. Dad thinks there may have been a small aftershock when they were there. He's not sure, but he did feel something. They've been told not to go back in until their homes are inspected. I don't know how that process will take place, but it doesn't sound easy. So that means right now all these people are trying to survive in very inadequate shelters. Another trip is being planned focusing on restoring building. When Jeff is back in the States, we'll send another update with more details and I'm sure pictures too. Thank you all once again for your enduring faithfulness and devotion to prayer.Lisa Seeley

Update from Haiti

Just a quick catch up.Things have gone great- only by prayer and the grace of God.We made it through customs in the Dominican Republic easily. Then we got a taxi to the bus station and arrived in Dajabon by 7 pm. We met Arcenio and he told us he did not have a truck for the next day. We prayed for transportation We didn't buy supplies because it would be too hard carrying it all on the bus. We cleared customs at 9am and got a bus at 10. We called Jeremy on the way he said there were flights out of Cap Haitien. At 3pm we were on a flight to Port Au Prince. At 3:45 we were in Port Au Prince. Leon picked us up @ 4pm- Praise the Lord. We went directly to Cite Soleil. We slept on the roof at Leon's Wednesday night. Today we went to Citi Soleil and Jeff Graham helped a medical clinic near there. John, Dave, and I went to buy food. We bought 16 K pounds of food- enough for 3 thousand families. We asked the workers to load the truck for free. After singing several songs with them they agreed. That is 7and 1/2 tons on the first load. When the truck left the depot we were going to get in the back and didn't. It turned left, started up a hill and stopped, but the brakes couldn't hold. The truck came roaring back and took out a gate and part of a wall and pinned a worker. He was ok. We were able to fix the gate and no one got too upset. The 2nd trip was eaiser. We plan to go to St. Marc for one day. Arcenio had to leave early, his wife is in the hospital. Please pray for her. Jeff Badgero

For such a time as this

Jeff Badgero and Dave Tugan from Kalkaska, MI., John Vernon from Atlanta, GA., and Jeff Graham from Mt. Pleasant, MI. will be flying out for Haiti tomorrow(Tues. Feb.2) morning. After several attempts to try to get flights right in to Port-Au-Prince they have decided to fly in through the Dominican Republic. Arcenio Jimenez, our friend and preacher in Quanaminthe, which is on the border of Dom. Rep., has already made two trips to Port to deliver and distribute food. Once on money he collected himself and once on money we wire transferred in. He said the roads were clear and he was able to make the trip in 12 hours, which is actually pretty good timing.
Emmanuel Pierre, from St. Marc also made the trip two times, once on his own and once with Arcenio. Emmanuel was able to connect with Leon D'Orleans, a friend and preacher in Port. I would like to share with you a couple of emails we received from Leon. "Happy to hear from you brother, we're still alive and are determined more than ever to serve the Lord. Our time is short, we only have today to serve. I'm very happy, pleased and encouraged by your commitment to your brothers and sisters in Haiti. Hoping to see you when you come."
"Thank you for the precious gift 'in such a time as this' when its really and truly needed. With your donation we plan to buy rice, beans and oil to pass out on Saturday to people in City Soleil. Leon and Jacky."
We are very thankful for men like Emmanuel and Arcenio and are looking forward to going and working with them. Please pray for this trip.
In His Service,
Jeff Badgero