food distribution

The day started out with our 6am run through the dirt roads of Tabarre. The people have become accustomed to this every other day ritual & greet us with Bonjour, I'm sure wondering why the heck we are running! The youngest of Pastor Forges 9 children, only 2 years old, has had many bites on her face, which has been swollen so he took her to the doctor & we stayed behind at the house since we were out of paint & hafd no transportation to get any to continue painting at the church. A friend from a church my uncle used to pastor in Iowa, Steve Scheib, flew in yesterday & we made arrangements to meet up with him. The visit was nice, he will be here, or 90 miles from here, leading 3 teams coming to build a school at an orphanage his church supports & he & his family used to live at for a few years. We are working out details to meet up with him next weekend & leand a helping hand there at the orphanage, I'm excited about that:)

Then the best part of the day. We went to help distribute food to one of the tent cities Pastor Forges church supports. We pulled up to a gated area where what seemed to be guards we monitoring who came in, I was a little nervous as I didn't know what was going on. When we got inside, there was a moving truck full of bags filled with food & supplies. People were everywhere, wanting to make sure they would get their share. We were told to avoid even more chaos, families had been told to go to their tents with their I'd cards that stated they lived in the tent community & we would come take the card & give them a bag ensuring that everyone got one. Even with the instructions it seemed crazy once they opened the trucks & started handing us the bags to distribute. People tugged on our clothes as we followed our guides, showing their cards, saying "give me". I wanted to talk to them & tried to point at the Haitian guides that were collecting the I'd cards before we could give them their bags, but all I could do was point. It was crazy, but this is what I had been expecting for my time here. After all the bags were gone a Jesus film was shown to share the story of Christ & what he did on the cross. We didn't get to stay for the film as it was dark & we needed to get back home. We are all excited about the opportunity to go back on Friday & visit with the people as we did not get the chance with all the chaos this evening. Pray for good translators on Friday. After dinner I started thinking if everyone got a bag. There was plenty, 400 total that were ditributed, but I saw several people walk out with 2 bags. I hope & pray that each family got one & these were only extras. I am thankful for the day & posting this from my cellphone hoping it will go through. Thanks for all your prayers & support.