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Wednesday, 10 February 2010 07:45

In an effort to escape the symphony of snoring in our room, Dan and I set his tent up on the roof and had a glorious night under the stars. Bill teased that maybe rainy season would start early. We all had a good laugh about that....until it started raining this morning about 5 AM. Did I mention that the tent had an open top? Dan and I scrambled to get the roof on vowing to kick Bill in the shin when we saw him.

The medical group went to a large house that more than 200 people from Port A Prince were living at. (more about that in a bit)

Bill (limping slightly) and I were able to competely install a water system at a different refugee site from where the medical team was. We had a small scare when we realized that we were missing a vital piece for all three systems. Fortunately Pastor Joaz had a water system that was currently not being used.  We took his part and got this system up and running and contacted New Life, the supplier for the water systems who is looking for a way to get us the parts we need ASAP. The rest of the afternoon we spent training some locals on how to work the system which is vital to the long term success of the water filter.

This next section has been written and dictated by Judy Bartle because she was at the medical clinic while I was at the water location.

Today was the first day of actually seeing patients in the medical outreach. One of the girls on the team began the day by sharing a scripture with the team..."Now begin the work and the Lord be with you".
1 Chron. 22:16. He surely was with us today. We went to the home of a man who had taken in many homeless refugees from the POP area. Most had not recieved medical care or government assistance since the disaster. They had only enough food for the day and no positive outlook for further support. One of the refugees had lost 7 members of his family leaving him the sole survivor. Several young expectant mothers had lost their husbands and were left with 2 or 3 young children to raise alone. Despite their loss, they were trying to care for thier little families as best they could. We were blessed to see 97 men, women and children at the clinic today. Everyone pulled together for a great team effort. The clinic ran smoothly an needs were met. SWI was also able to provide 400 pounds of rice, 200 pounds of beans, a case of bouillon, a case of sardines, a 5 gallon drum of cooking oil, 3 bags of charcoal, a hundred pounds of sugar, a hundred pounds of corn meal, cases of spagetti, tomato past and spices. theist exciting thing today was the fact that 4 precious souls prayed the sinners
prayer and became part of the family of God. Talk about holistic care, we were able to minister to body, mind and spirit in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ!

Getting to know the team;

Lori Lewis:
Lori and her husband Dan are comming up on their 23rd wedding anniversary in July and has 3 children, ages 20, 19, and 11. Her story is very powerful and inspiring. In spite of spending most of her life in church because of faithful parents, she didn't become a Christian until she was 35. This "lost" time of rebellion included getting married to an alchoholic at age 19. Thanks in part to her friend Stephanie, Lori accepted Christ and then was further urged by her friend to go back to school and get a nursing degree. Which she did. Less than a year later her husband gave up alchoholisim and joined her in her faith. So in the next 7 years she has been on 6 inernational medical trips. And she doesn't think she is intersting.
Lori has a humbly beautiflul and inspiring faith.