Haiti Update

It's been a roller coaster of a 48-hour period. I think the best way I can summarize this time would be with bullets.

--Every Haitian I have spoken with had a family member or close friend die in the earthquake.

--There are so many victims at our clinic and the refugee camp near by who have lost arms and legs. It's hard to believe.

--I had a major allergic reaction to a bug bite on my ankle, had to stay off my ankle for a couple of hours, and take benadryl and steroids. It healed by the next day. Good thing I'm at a clinic. This is a lifelong problem.

--My tent was uplifted the first night, in the middle of the night -- with me in it. 2am tent repair with a Haitian hammer -- a stone. Now, I'm in a slightly better tent with a cot.

--My new friend, Beth "the prothetist", cut my leg with a prosthetic saw while using my leg for a cast mold. It's a minor cut up my leg, but that's crazy.

--I played football with some children in the refugee camp. If you know me, you know that must have been a God thing.

--I was recruited to give physical therapy to a patient. Really.

--I taught an 11-year-old Haitian how to play Tetris and Frogger on my iPhone while he was waiting for therapy.

-- I have taken down more tents in two days than in my entire life, and I was an Eagle Scout (a long, long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away).

--I'm on a trip through Children of the Nations, but the clinic is actually run by the Harvard Humnitarian Initiative on the site of a Christian orphanage. It's a very unusual education and faith-based collaboration that seems to be working, but definitely different than any mission experience I've been on.

--Best text ever from one cool dude: Psalm 41: "...blessed is he who has regard for the weak, the Lord Delivers him in times of trouble. The Lord will protect him and preserve his life. He will bless him in the land and not surrender him to the desire of his foes. The Lord will sustain him on his sickbed and restore him from his bed of illness. In my integrity, you uphold me and set me in your presence forever."

Best Things I Packed for the Trip:
benadryl
quick dri REI towel
Rei air mattress & pillow
Crystal Light Natural Cherry Pomegranate (mixes great with the odd tasting water here)
beef jerky

Please continue to pray for our team and I. We are discharging all the patients from the clinic while still doing treatments for them down the road at the refugee camp. A big part of our job is shutting down the clinic and helping the orphanage get back to business as usual. God Bless, Mark