Whirlwind Days, Renewed Strength

The range of emotions the human heart can endure is astonishing, at best. From the depths of despair to the hieghts of joy... I have felt them all in the past 12 days. Having Marc come back home, though he has been so torn by leaving, has given me a renewed sense of strength. I can now be strong for him and I give thanks to the Lord as I feel so much of my energy must be supernatural. Cell phone service in Haiti seems to be improving as we have received a few calls from our leaders and one of our nephews who lives with us. The reports from them are encouraging, at least for our area. They are very positive; the people are all still camped out together at the compound and the technical school, even after the last 6.1 quake, is still standing! Security is becoming more of a concern though, as they say the food situation is becoming more dire. There does not seem to be any aid from outside getting into grand-Goave, or for the western part of the island. People are till fearful of entering back into their homes, since structures are still falling. Many more homes collapsed in town after Thursday's last quake. Our major concern now is getting people into at least temporary shelters before the rainy season hits, which is due at the beginning of March.

It was a tough choice for Marc to come back to Canada, but our Haitian leadership team, as well as the Nelson team insisted he return for many reasons. Our staff of Haitian told him numerous times how grateful they were that the kids and I (Lisa) were not in Haiti during this time. Seems God's sovereign hand saved us for this time, even when we did not know or understand why. The leaders urged Marc that it was important for him to be home with us, especially now that our baby is due any moment- already overdue by a day. The mix of emotions, joy of new life and the sorrow of so many lost, have made it challenging for Marc to sleep, but at least he is getting rest. The second reason they pressed him so urgently to return was to share firsthand with as many people as possible of the desperate need and situation of Haiti, and to instill a sense of hope that Haiti will yet again ARISE! A people so resilient, that have endured so much suffering for long enough, and are determined to rise up again. Marc stated this morning while speaking at CrossRoads Church in Red Deer that, "I challenged the people before I left Haiti, though we may fall, we will rise again! And we will be an even better nation. God wants to rebuild Haiti into a glorious nation and though we don't understand all that has happened, I know that he could not build on the unstable foundation our country had. He must build a new, solid foundation."
So, our hope rests in the Lord and we will wait on Him for renewed strength and a new song! We also wait for a new Honorat to come into the world, another nation changer...
-1/24/10