Saint Louis Update

Some exciting things have been happening in Saint Louis these last couple of weeks.  The day after my trip to Mirebalais was a Sunday.  To be honest, I woke up and did not want to go to church.  I had spent over 24 of the last 72 hours on a bus, van, truck, or motorcycle.  The thought of sitting on the hard benches for 3+ hours sounded miserable to me.  However, God told me to go, so I did.  I am so glad that I listened!  One of my friends came to church for the first time!  Her son is part of our nutrition program and preschool, and her daughter goes to outreach therapy after having a clubfoot surgery in October.  

This event was very exciting, but what is more exciting is that she was baptized last Saturday!  She, two other nutrition program parents, three boys from the orphanage, and three other members from the church were all baptized.  I had the honor of being the Marenn (like the godmother) to four of the baptisms.  I am so excited for all of these people who made this next step in their faith.  I am thankful that they had truth spoken into them and the opportunity to accept Christ.  I pray that they will be examples and lights in the nutrition program, orphanage, and community.  Here are some photos from the baptisms. 

 

The nutrition program parents

The boys from the orphanage

Since I’ve been back, I have been working a lot with one of the families in the nutrition program. I started working with them because their two year old son, Benji, was 9 pounds.  Benji had been born early and has always struggled with sickness.  They also have another little boy, Alandieu.  He was born less than a year after Benji.  As you can imagine they were very overwhelmed.  In the last two months, we have gotten rid of Benji’s tapeworm, and he is finally starting to gain weight.  In the beginning, Benji spent most of his time lying around almost lifelessly without expressing any emotion.  Today we have a completely different story.  Benji loves to babble, dance, and give everyone fist bumps.  

While there was an obvious need for physical help, this family also needed spiritual help.  Benji’s dad was one of the people who accepted Christ at conference, and he was baptized on Saturday.  Last week I was sitting in the nutrition program, and Benji’s mom came up to me.  She has just started selling popsicles to try to save a little money for her family.  Selling popsicles is no joke.  She carries a very heavy cooler on the top of her head and stands in the sun selling other people something cold.  She wanted to show me what she bought with her hard-earned money.  She bought a new skirt so that she could go to church on Sunday.  She is SEVENTEEN years old and the first thing she bought was a skirt for church.  I cannot even explain my feelings of joy and inspiration to see her sitting in church on Sunday.      

Benji's mom and little brother after church

I am so thankful for these exciting things happening in Saint Louis.  Please pray with me for these new Christians and church attenders.  Pray that they would not lose their faith.  Pray that they would be an example for others.

My Trip to Paul Farmer's Hospital

I am a huge Paul Farmer fan.  I have been ever since I read Mountains Beyond Mountains my freshman year of college.  I have always wanted to visit where he worked in Haiti, and last week I had a chance to!  A cardiology team was coming to Paul Farmer’s new teaching hospital, and Stephanie had two kids who needed to see them.  Since everyone knows how much I love Paul Farmer, Stephanie knew she would not have to convince me to be her other person on the trip. 

It was a long trip.  The hospital is in Mirebalais, which is about an hour outside of Port-au-Prince.  We left here on the midnight bus to go to Port-au-Prince.  We then took a bus to Mirebalais.  All in all it took about 12 hours for us to get there.  We dropped our stuff off at the hotel, and Stephanie and I went to visit the hospital. 

Me outside of the hospital

We had a friend who was able to give us a tour of the hospital, and I was absolutely blown away.  The hospital was so big and beautiful.  Everything was very well laid out and surprisingly clean.  There were fans everywhere, and they even had these UV lights all over that are supposed to kill germs in the air.  The hospital included a men’s ward, women’s ward, children’s ward, maternity, a surgery center, ICU, neonatal ward, and so much more.  They also have a therapy center, lab, ct machine, x-ray, and more! It raised my standards on what the quality of hospitals can be here (with the right funding that is).  Here are some photos of the inside of the hospital.

The children's ward

Playroom for the kids

One of the consultation rooms

The hospital gave me conflicting thoughts on its sustainability.  The entire hospital is run by solar panels, and all the money was raised BEFORE they built the hospital.  However, when a patient comes to the hospital, all they pay is the equivalent of $1 US.  That means that they could get a ct scan, surgery, stay in the hospital, and get rehab all for $1 US.  While that is absolutely wonderful for the Haitians who cannot typically afford quality healthcare, it would not cover hardly any of the expenses of the hospital. 

As much as I loved being able to visit the hospital and see some of Paul Farmer’s work, it was also hard.  We often deliver babies by cellphone light in our birthing center.  If a baby stops breathing and needs to be put on oxygen, we have to think about if we can turn the generator on.  Premature babies who need to be in an incubator have pretty much no chance here.  Yet this hospital had an entire neonatal ward!! I would by lying if I said I was not jealous of some of the capabilities that they had. 

As we were walking to the hospital, Stephanie and I were talking about how different the town was than Saint Louis.  No one yelled out “hey blanc” (hey white person).  No one seemed shocked to see us.  We talked about how it was kind of nice.  However, by the time we walked back to the hotel, we were missing the atmosphere of Saint Louis.  In Mirebalais, people may not have been phased that we were white, but they also did not care that we were there at all.  We had to ask the security guard a question, and he completely turned around trying to avoid us.  We may hear “hey blanc” a lot in Saint Louis, but everyone says hi and everyone is willing to help.  This all may sound silly, but I was thankful for a reminder of how much I love life in Saint Louis.

The next day we took the two kids for their check up.  One problem that is often in Haiti is that if you go to a medical facility with a white person you typically get pushed through faster/a better quality of care.  We were pleasantly surprised to be put at the end of the line to see the cardiologist.  We were even more surprised to get two good reports from the doctor!  

It was a quick trip, but I am so thankful for the opportunity.  I am thankful to fulfill a dream of mine.  I am thankful to have been able to see how another hospital runs.  I am thankful for two clean bills of health for the kids.  And now, I am even more thankful to be home where everyone says hi and asks how I am! 

Spiritual Warfare in Haiti

Spiritual Warfare is real everywhere.  It is just as real in America as it is in Haiti.  However, I feel like there is one major difference.  In America, spiritual warfare is often disguised in music or movies.  In Haiti, spiritual warfare is not always so disguised.  It is the actual battle between the power of God and the power of voodoo. 

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world, and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms.  Ephesians 6:12

Voodoo in Haiti is real, and it is powerful.  A bible study I am currently doing explained, “the original word Paul used for struggle is ‘palē’ which means a fight or contest among opponents waged in close, hand-to-hand combat with the goal of pinning down and defeating one’s rival.”  This battle is real here.  A couple weeks ago we visited with a pastor who said the lady next door to the church was a voodoo priestess.  They were having a war.  While he was having church services, she was having voodoo ceremonies.  The battle is raging there. 

Another example of this battle was this past week.  For Christians, this week was a week leading up to Resurrection Sunday.  A week spent remembering the sacrifice that Jesus made for us ending in a celebration of his resurrection.  However, for voodoo this week is always rara.  Rara is a voodoo celebration where different bands march around playing music and drinking, often armed with guns or machetes.  My friends have told me I do not even want to know some of things that go on during these celebrations.  When one band meets another band, they often fight and many people (even innocent bystanders) are hurt.  They also will destroy people’s gardens and property simply because they can.  We were not allowed to leave campus for the week because it was not safe.  Many of my Haitian friends have told me that they celebrate rara during the week before Easter because they are celebrating Jesus’ death.  Their biggest celebration is always on Good Friday, the day we remember our Lord Jesus as dying on the cross.  They related these rioting bands to the riots that were held against Jesus surrounding his death. 

A book I am reading explains, “Voodoo is not just part of Haiti’s heritage.  It is not just for the uneducated, a way of explaining what seems unexplainable.  It is not just about cultural expressions of music and dance.”  Voodoo is real, and it is powerful.

This past week was also women's conference at our church.  Conference is a week of worship and evangelism.  Every night the church was overflowing with people.  We sang; we danced; we listened to sermons.  While we were doing this and fighting to win souls for Christ, the rara bands were encouraging people to join them.  The battle was real.  I wrote in my journal how this week the air felt charged.  The spiritual warfare was so prevalent.  On one night of conference, a rara band actually went right past the church.  Shortly after they passed, we sang a song with lyrics that said "satan you lose!"  There are no words to describe the feelings during those moments.  To hear and see the voodoo band walk by and feel the evil that occupied them and then to sing that song was extremely powerful. 

Throughout the week, over 20 people accepted Christ at conference.  Several parents of children in the nutrition program were among those 20.  I have been working a lot with one boy in the program named Benji.  His dad accepted Christ during conference!  

Benji and his dad

While I am so thankful for the 20 souls who were saved, victory is not always the result.  While the church was winning souls over for Christ, there were people choosing the other side as well.  Sometimes it is simply too late.  Two days ago Benji's dad came and asked if I would go pray with his cousin who was sick.  When we were hiking up the mountain, I was so inspired by this new Christian walking with his Bible in his hand to share the gospel with his family.  I would love to tell you that we were able to persuade him to accept Christ.  Even better, I would love to tell you that he accepted Christ and was healed.  However, that is not always what happens.  For us, it was too late.  By the time we got to the house, the man had died.  Please join me in praying for this family.  Pray for this new Christian, that his faith may not be wavered in this situation.  Pray that he still has the courage to share the gospel with the rest of his family, before it is too late for them too. 

These past two weeks have been hard, and they have been trying.  There have been moments when I have rejoiced, like when my friends accepted Christ.  However, there have also been moments I have mourned.  The battle is real, and we will keep fighting it.  I am so thankful to know that victory was found on that cross nearly 2000 years ago.   

Settling Back In

I have now been back home in Haiti for over two weeks.  At some moments these two weeks have felt like only two days and at other moments they have felt like two years.  My time back has been spent reconnecting with all of my friends, setting up my house, and getting settled back into the Haiti routine.  Here is a before and after photo of my house!

Before

After

I would be lying if I said I didn’t love life in Haiti.  I absolutely love the chaos of it.  I absolutely love the people.  I absolutely love the cultural differences.  Yesterday I was reminded of all of this.  There were many moments of pure chaos as Haiti decided to not do the time change, but many phones automatically changed.  I think the most common question of yesterday was “what time is it?”  As I spent time in the afternoon running around laughing and playing tag with the boys, I was reminded how much I love the people here.  I was reminded of my love of the cultural differences when everyone started dancing at church.  While I am used to people feeling self-conscious about raising their arms, there were people in church doing the “whip and nae nae.”  How can you do anything other than smile when you see that?

Some of the boys after church

These last two weeks have been filled with so many good moments.  I have had so much fun celebrating my engagement with all of my friends and family here.  They are so excited to meet Liam.  I have loved spending every morning in the nutrition program being showered with hugs and kisses from the sweet kids there.  Every time I walk past them, I am bombarded with “TOREEEE!!”  I had to laugh a couple days ago.  One of the kids in the preschool yelled out “TO-LE” for my name.  One of the other kids was quick to put him in his place and tell him that he needed to pronounce my name with an R not a L. 

Love the nutrition program kids!

I also had the opportunity to teach an English class at the local trade school.  Roderick, the teacher, asked me to teach about Easter.  Each student was given an English Bible to follow along with as I read the Easter story.  We were able to discuss some words from the story that they did not understand.  They then started asking all sorts of questions about the bible and Jesus’s story.  I am so thankful for this trade school not only pouring into their educational needs, but also their spiritual needs. 

The trade school class

While these last couple of weeks have been filled with so many good moments, there have also been the moments that are not as easy.  These weeks have not let me forget the reality of Haiti.  As much as I love being able to hold and love on the boys, it is equally as hard to hold a sick ten pound two year old.  As much as I have loved following up on some of the surgery patients, it is equally as hard to see the patients that it is too late to help.  As much as I love church here, it is equally has hard to hear the voodoo drums every night. 

The hardest moment for me came after a long hard day last week.  I was sitting upstairs when one of the boys asked me to come to the birthing center (also used as the urgent treatment room).  As I walked in, I immediately saw Jozye, one of the boys from la baie, lying there and the doctor trying to find a pulse.  I immediately bent down at the foot of the bed and started praying.  There is still a little confusion about the story, but it appears that he had fallen, hit his head, and had a seizure.  The doctor told us his pulse was okay and we just needed to wait.  Those moments of not knowing what had happened and waiting for the doctor to say she had found a pulse were horrifying.  Jozye has a younger brother in the orphanage, Chinaider.  After the doctor said that we just needed to wait, I went to look for him.  He was in the back sobbing because he thought his brother had died.  These boys have already gone through so much in life.  I pray that in those moments I was able to be a little sense of comfort for Chinaider as we sat together and prayed.  I had the doctor explain to him his brother was going to be okay, and I just held him.  I am so thankful that God is faithful, and He heard our prayers that night.  Jozye is doing so much better, and sang at church on Sunday to praise God for protecting him.  What an example of how to give God the glory.  

Jozye and Chinaider

Thank you for all of your prayers as I have been settling in.  I have felt your prayers of protection and peace.  I could not be here without them. 

A Birthday to Remember

Though Haiti is often full of hard work and heartbreaking stories, sometimes we have a lot of fun too.  Today I wanted to write a quick blog on a fun event that occurred this week.

Most of you have read about my special boy Wadley.  Wadley has had anything but an easy life, especially for only being 12 years old.  In a short recount, Wadley lost his family in a truck accident, lived with an abusive aunt, and was diagnosed with muscular dystrophy last year.  As we get closer and closer, I cherish the times that he opens up to me about his past, even though it also breaks my heart.  A few months ago I asked Wadley about his birthday.  He said that he did not know when it was because no one ever told him his birthday.  At the end of every year, he would just say he was a year older.  Well, this did not work for me.   Everyone deserves a birthday, and everyone deserves a big party!

Last Friday turned out to be a pretty good day for Wadley.  It started off with no school.  He spent the morning playing with his friends (while I secretly worked on party decorations).  Every Friday afternoon he and I go to outreach therapy together.  After therapy, I sent him to play with his friends, and then the real work started.  Autumn, the occupational therapist, Carlos, the physical therapist, and myself started decorating one of the rooms.  Wadley’s favorite colors are blue and yellow, so all the decorations were blue and yellow! (Thanks mom for sending those in!)

Next, all of the children who live in the Miriam Center (the special needs home) came in to get ready.  They were so excited.  We passed out hats for everyone to get them in the spirit.  Then it was time to bring Wadley in.  I went to tell him we needed him for something, and he walked into his first surprise birthday party!

It took him a little bit to figure out what was going on, but once he did, he was the life of the party.  There was cake, a photo booth, and lots of dancing.  Everyone had so much fun! Mom had sent down sunglasses for everyone, and they were a huge hit.  I have enjoyed watching these sunglasses make their rounds through the campus the last couple of days.  The other night a security guard was wearing a pair, and I saw a couple pairs at church yesterday!

I had to laugh preparing for the party about how you make do with what you have in Haiti.  I wrapped Wadley’s presents in Christmas wrapping paper and pink duct tape, but it worked!

While Wadley has many friends in the Miriam Center, he also has many friends in the boy’s orphanage.  I wanted to be able to include them too, so Wadley made a list of some of his best friends.  These friends were all invited to a movie night complete with juice, snacks, and a goodie bag!  They all showed up all dressed up and excited. 

All in all, I am so thankful to have been able to give Wadley a day for himself.  I explained to him after it was all over how now he can say that October 30^th is his birthday.  Though I cannot change his past, I can do my best to make his present life all that it can be.  It is an amazing thought that even our best birthday parties in this life are a mere glimpse into the parties we will have in Heaven.  I hope and pray that everyone reading this will be in attendance of Wadley’s heavenly birthdays, when those days come.  I know I am looking forward to them. 

Blessings and Lessons (Part 2)

Part 2!  Something I love about surgery weeks is all the new people that they bring to campus.  While this opens a huge door for ministry, I also found this week that these patients provide huge blessings and lessons. 

One of the patients who came for eye surgery really impacted me.  I was sitting inside the surgery wing, and a Haitian man came in and said “Can you help me? There is a lady outside who is really sick.”  I went out to find this lady sitting there who was missing one leg from the knee down.  She proceeded to take off her shoe from her other foot and not only was she missing all of her toes, but the area was grossly infected and rotting.  I kept asking, “Wait, you are here for eye surgery?  Are you sure you are here for the eye team?”  With a smile on her face, she kept saying that yes she was here for the eye surgery, but she had diabetes and this kept happening to her foot.  I got one of the doctors to come examine her.  He said that she could still have her eye surgery, but she would need to start a week’s worth of iv antibiotics and then also have surgery with the orthopedic team.  She was from several hours away, so this meant she would have to stay on campus.  When we explained this to her, she just said, “okay that’s fine” with a smile on her face.  Ultimately the decision was mad that she could not have the eye surgery, but she still stayed waiting for the orthopedic team.  Every day she would sit at the front of campus and greet everyone who came and went.  She never asked me for anything, but she was so appreciative when I would give her a little money to get some food.  I knew that staying for what ended up being two weeks was not in her plans.  After the first day, she would hug me every time she saw me and call me her best friend. 

The orthopedic team arrived, and she was able to have her first surgery on the first day.  There happened to be a prosthetics team in Port-de-Paix during this same week.  The day following her surgery, she walked on the foot she had operated on to find a motorcycle and went all the way to Port-de-Paix (about an hour).  She went to Port-de-Paix every day for a week, after that including the day she had her second surgery (during which more bone was removed and the wound was closed).  We all thought that when she went back after her second operation she would get her new leg; however, when she got there, she was told she could not get a leg because her knee was too contracted.  It was worked out for her to come back in January to meet with another team.  When she was telling me the whole story, I was heartbroken for her.  She did not get her eye surgery, she had more of her one foot removed, and she did not get a prosthetic leg after all those painful trips to Port-de-Paix!  My face must have given away that I was upset because she looked at me with her ever present smile and said, “It is okay friend.  I am happy because now I will see you again when I come back.”  I am so inspired by the joy that was always evident on her face no matter what the circumstance.  

Since most of the orthopedic cases were major surgeries, most of the patients had to stay for several days.  I loved getting to know some of the patients throughout the days that they were here.  One family really stood out to me.  The lady’s name is Meprilla.  She is 83 years old, and she broke her hip over a month before the team got here.  I found out about her because her grandson is in our orphanage.  He took me to see her a few weeks before the team arrived, and I remember wondering if she would make it until the team arrived.  She was lying there crying in pain.  She had her surgery on the first day, and she ended up being one of the most difficult patients of the week.  She never listened, she tried to bite and pinch the nurses, and she just caused a lot of problems.  Her son demonstrated so much love and patience throughout this whole process though.  He never left her side even as she tried to bite him.  He never gave up trying to feed her even when she would spit food back at him.  After her surgery, her dressing had to be changed.  As she screamed in pain, her son left the room , went outside, and broke down in tears.  I heard him screaming and weeping.  These are not common emotions in the Haitian culture, and I realized that he loved his mother so much that he felt all of her pain.  It was breaking him to see how hurt she was.  Though I had not met him during my visit, I have no doubt that he has had those feelings for the last month as she was lying there with a broken hip.  I feel as if this man gave me a little glimpse into how God felt as He watched his son on the cross.  Here is a picture of Meprilla’s son and her grandson (who lives in our orphanage).  Please pray for Meprilla (and her family) as she still has a long way to go and is still in a lot of pain. 

While the two weeks were full of many victories, there were also hard times.  There were a couple incidents when I did not know if the patients were going to live.  There were times where we saw signs of neglect and abuse in children’s lives.  There was a time when a mother tried to abandon her child.  There was a time when a simple cyst was actually a brain aneurism.  There was an emergency case that came in of a girl who was hit by a truck and had an open leg fracture. 

During the difficult moments, I clung to the things that I am thankful for.  I am thankful that the man we met in La Baie was able to come for surgery.  I am thankful that I was able to spend more time with him and minister to him.  Please keep him in your prayers as his leg is now infected.  Pray for complete healing.  

I am also thankful for a surgeon that allowed me to scrub in and assist in one of the surgeries.  This was such a fun experience for me, but it also gave me a better glimpse into why the patients felt the way that they did after surgery. 

I am thankful for Tammy, a nurse from Lexington, who was willing to bring in a wheelchair for Wadley.  Though he does not need it now, it is such a relief to know it will be here when the time comes.  I am so thankful for her dedication in getting the wheelchair here, and her instant love for Wadley.  

I am thankful for the two surgery teams.  They loved their patients unconditionally.  Some of them were yelled at.  Some of them were cursed at.  Some of them had poop flung at them, but they never lost their Christian testimony.  They gave up their time and money to come here and serve the Haitian people.  One of my favorite stories from the eye team was a story one of the doctors shared.  He was one of the last stops in the eye clinic, so the patients had already interacted with many Americans by the time they got to him.  The doctor said that by the time one of the patients had reached him the man said, “I want what all of you have!!”  This doctor was able to lead this man to Christ because of the Christ-like love that everyone had demonstrated.  What an example of how we should live everyday: a light shining from us that is so great that people want what we have.  

Searching for Donkeys (Part 1)

PART 1! These last two weeks have been so full that it’s going to take two blogs to write about all that has gone on.  Here’s a start to how God has worked these last two weeks. 

Every week day morning is started off with Haitian staff devotions.  I cannot think of a better way to start a work day than with prayer, singing, and a short message.  Every day a different department is assigned to lead the devotions.  A few weeks ago it was my turn to share, and I chose to share a devotion about 1 Samuel 9.  In this chapter, Saul was sent out to search for some missing donkeys.  I explained how this was not in Saul’s original plans for his day.  While this was probably an annoying task, he had no idea what God had in store for this search.  This search took him much longer and farther than he had planned on going until he ended up in the town that Samuel lived in.  1 Samuel 9:15-16 reveals that God had told Samuel to anoint the man coming from the land of Benjamin as king.  That would be Saul!! God used missing donkeys to anoint Saul as ruler over the Israelites!

Wow! God has made the truths of this devotion so apparent in our lives these past couple of weeks.  Two weeks ago the eye surgery team arrived.  We had planned that they would use our one working anesthesia machine.  (We have been praying for the acquisition of a second machine.) However, when the team arrived, we were informed that now this anesthesia machine was not working either.  This was a major hiccup in our plan and a bit of an annoyance.  Not knowing what else to do, we went out looking for donkeys (or anesthesia machines) at a hospital about 30 minutes away, but God also had much more in store for us.  While there, we were introduced to an anesthesia machine technician.  This is a job pretty much unheard of in Haiti.  Over the last month, I have asked many organizations if they knew of anyone who could fix medical machinery.  Even places in the nation’s capital, Port-au-Prince, did not know of anyone.  The fact that this man was trained to fix medical machinery AND was way up in the Northwest zone, OUR zone, of Haiti could only be a God thing.  He was able to come fix both of our machines and countless other machines on campus (plus they gave us an anesthesia machine to borrow while ours were being fixed)!  While I was originally upset that we were having to search for donkeys, I am so thankful for this now. 

While sometimes we have to search for donkeys, sometimes God sends them to us.  The day before the eye surgery team arrived, we also had an unexpected visitor arrive on campus.  The director of the Haitian National Police (along with all his body guards) showed up and informed us that he would be having surgery the next day.  This turned into chaos as we tried to quickly prepare a place suitable for him to stay.  While we were all a bit frazzled by this, God once again had bigger plans.  When the team arrived the next day, they had a lot of problems with customs.  Customs took all of their bags with medical supplies and said that they could not bring them into the country.  Since this meant that the Haitian National Police Director would not be able to get his surgery, he quickly started making phone calls to get the supplies released from customs.  Without his help, we would not have been able to get the bags released, and the surgery week would not have been possible.  Only God could have used something potentially dangerous to bring glory to Himself. 

The last two weeks of surgery were insanely busy.  The eye surgery team saw nearly 800 people in the eye clinic and completed about 80 surgeries!  The day that they left, an orthopedic surgery team arrived.  This team was able to complete 22 major orthopedic cases and 30 minor procedures.  One thing that I loved watching during the busyness was how much the Haitian staff stepped up.  They stepped into roles that needed filled whether that was welcoming visitors, organizing the large amounts of people on campus, or simply praying for others.  I found one of the ladies who works in the orphanage in the surgery wing one day.  I was wondering what she was doing until I heard her going up to people and asking, “Do you know Jesus?  Have you accepted him as your Savior?  Do you have a church to go to?”  I am so thankful for a staff that wants to pour into the spiritual needs of the community as much as we do.  Another example of service I saw was one of the night security guards leading a blind elderly lady to where she was supposed to sit.  I asked him why he was doing that, and he said, “She looks like my grandmother.  I just wanted to help her out a little.”  Even though he was probably ready to go home and go to bed, he stopped to help this lady first. 

All in all, I am so thankful for the last two weeks.  I am thankful for God sending us searching for donkeys.  I am thankful for God sending us unexpected donkeys.  I am thankful for the surgery teams and all they accomplished.  I am thankful for the Haitian staff and how they demonstrated Jesus.  I am thankful for the individual patients that impacted my life.  Be watching in a couple days for part 2 which will go more into details about these patients!!