Tropical Storm Ivan; Michelle's email

 Picture above is the mission yard. Notice the downed power line.

 Above: The main paved road in Fond Parisien.

 Above: The road to Na Plezi.

Here is an email from Michelle and Sheila:

Greetings to you from the storm battered town of Fond Parisien, Haiti! How are you doing? I am sure that by now you have all heard about hurricane Isaac that hit our island. Thanks to God, we are all doing fine, we have trees down, electric lines broken, and some tin torn off our church, but it could be so much worse. On Thursday we had a very sudden storm, that gave us a good drenching, and we thought maybe Isaac had arrived early. But no, on Friday we all knew the hurricane was coming, so we all got our work done early, the laundry lady came early, the doc worked really fast so the 82 patients at the clinic could get home early, and there was just a sense of urgency in the air. Sure enough, us singles were at Matt's for supper and the winds picked up. By midnight it was very very windy, something like 70 mph winds whipping through our yard, our town, our mountains! I could hardly sleep, the wind was so vicious, and friends kept calling to see if we were ok, and it was pouring rain, by the buckets!! The next morning we went out to survey the damage, a tree over the pigpen, but all 3 pigs were alive, a tree on the picnic table, and leaves and branches littered the yard, it almost looked like we had grown grass overnight!! We took a drive through town, and there was water pouring in places where water never pours, houses and churches flooded, and tin off of lots of houses! Some of our good friends lost their roofs and everthing in their houses got soaked!! The people in the mountains of Pays Pourri fared even worse... their have been people killed, lots of houses damaged, houses totally blown apart, animals gone, gardens gone, and all they lived for, GONE!! The people up there are so poor as it is, and now the little they had is no more. School is supposed to open in October and now most of the children up there will not be able to go to school. There is NO way for the parents to send them. BUT... if we all pull together and support the children up there, they may have a chance. It may not seem like a big deal but the school has only been there for a few years and so it is the younger generation now that can read and write. Their parents can't. Even most of the pastors up there are illiterate. Education is the hope for those people. Imagine their children can read and write and even read the Bible to them. If they have one. Some of those children walk barefoot 3 hours to school on very steep and rough terrain in any kind of weather just to come learn. Education is the hope of the new generation. There are no roads to go to Pays Pourri, just foot trails and so life is very hard and difficult. Imagine if you had one donkey and your way to earn money was hauling vegetables down to market. Your donkey gets swept away in a hurricane. Gone is your life's earnings and your business. Never mind your gardens that were hopefully going to be your next few months supply of food. Now you have no food, no animal, and of course you can't begin to think of 38$ USD for a school year for your child. Why would you send your child to school when the babies are starving at home? I guess a hurricane and its damage is so much more personal when it hits people you know and love. Please, if you all have any ideas how we can help, let us know. But most importantly pray for the ones who have lost so much and the parents who are still looking for their children that simply went lost in the hurricane. Pray that they will regain courage to live. And please pray for us that God would show us all how we can help. Truly it is only by God's Grace that we are still here and alive.

Thank-you all for your love and support,

Michelle and Sheila