Monday, Feb 8

Internet! Our service was restored today. Hooray!! The problem was that our antenna was linked to a service town that had fallen down. Today the technicians linked us to a different tower, and all is well.
However, I ate dinner at the Manasseros' house tonight, and when I got back, every teammate except one was stuck in front of a computer. I entered the room lamenting the sorry state of God's people, all together but in separate worlds. Ha! :-)

Last night we had most welcome visitors! At 12:30 AM the 82nd Airborne visited us again. They came by to drop off a shipment of rice and check on our security situation. It was good to reconnect with Captain Mike Anderson. I like that guy, and not just because he commands a platoon of soldiers who can protect us from those who mean us harm. He seems to be a quality human being. And I will admit that it is no small thing to learn that he and his men are patrolling our area on a regular basis.

I didn't get back to sleep until about 3:00. Then I joined the Firefighters on the roof for devotions at 6:30. That makes for a short night's sleep.

Later in the morning, our older boys moved the rice into a safe location, and I also wandered over to the location of the new neighborhood tent city to take a few pictures. I felt sorry for the Firefighters who were doing manual labor in the hot sun, but not sorry enough to join them. :-)

I also got to mentor Anderson as he prepared to preach the mini-sermon at today's feeding program. Love that kid! Then I had a counseling meeting with Cherley, and she told me her life story. The poor girl bounced around and was flat out told she was unwanted first by her aunt and then by her mother's live-in boyfriend (AKA "stepfather" in Haitian parlance). Hearing her tell her story broke my heart all over again for these people. It seems like the majority of boys, girls, men, and women struggle with a father-void. The other day, as I talked about how our sponsor girl Isguerda calls me papa, I was told by a 27-year-old woman that she would like to have a papa too. I thought, "Doesn't anyone around here have his or her own papa?"

I finished the day at the Manasseros' house for dinner. After many days of Haitian cooking, which I love, I really dug into barbequed chicken and mashed potatoes. Yum!

That reminds me. Last night we watched the Super Bowl at Marc Williams' house. Going over there was a last-minute thing, so we didn't show up with very good snack food. The highlight of the night -- or lowlight, depending on your food tastes -- was Underwood Deviled Beef spread on crackers. Its barely-passable-for-dog-food taste and texture grossed out almost everyone at the party. But it was an unwritten rule that all game-watchers had to eat at least one cracker with Deviled Beef on it.

In a few minutes, it's time for team devotions. Then on to catch up on some sleep...

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