Safely home!

What an unimaginable 12 days we had! Sorry there hasn't been a post in 2 days, no WiFi on Saturday and a long day of travel yesterday. My team is very thankful to each and every one of you, who follow this blog and prayed for for us daily. We faced a few dangerous situations and God delivered us safely every time. We had challenges placed before us in our work at Radio Lumiere and God showed us the way to overcome them every time. We were put together as a team of 10 men from different towns and different states with a variety of different skills and abilities, because God chose us to go and do this work. As I read the chain of emails today between the members of this fantastic team, the message was harmonious, we were glad to be in Haiti together and we are glad to be back home safely! I pray some day in some remote corner of the world that I will again be joined on a team with these men and have your support on our journey.

Radio Lumiere will continue to broadcast to an area that cover 90% of Haiti's population and will continue to bring God's message to these people. Through hard work and dedication this land that dedicated itself to Satan worship and voodoo ritual will someday be brought out into the Light and become a Christian nation. We continue praying for their efforts and for the missionaries who have made this their life's work. We found out this morning that after Johnathan dropped us off at the airport yesterday and joined his family at church, his tap tap was stolen! So we offer up a special prayer for he and his family, as he was so good to care for us as he transported our team every day we were in Haiti.

Until the next project, thank you and God Bless!

Home Safe

Saturday night we stayed at the home of Ruth, right next to the OMS Villa Ormisa where we have stayed since the second night of our stay in Haiti. Ruth is a single nurse/missionary who has been in Haiti since the 1980's. Her home was very adequate for the ten of us. She provided us with coffee at breakfast, which we supplemented with the cinnamon bread that Sarah from OMS gave us on Saturday when we left there. Jonatan picked us up right after 6:L30 AM and transported us to the airport in his Tap-Tap. We were supposed to be going by bus, but the driver had been detained, so we piled our luggage on top and inside and squeezed in for the ride through Port au Prince from Carrefour to the airport. We arrived in plenty of time and had relative ease getting through immigration and were situated at the gate in plenty of time for the flight to Miami. Saturday evening in our devotional time we reflected on the past two weeks and what it had meant to each of us. We have all been blessed beyond any expectation. The people of Haiti are poor and many, but they are also very kind to us. We have developed a good relationship with many of the workers at Radio Lumiere and with Jonatan. We will always remember these fine people and hope that the small amount of work we were able to complete will be adequate to help this radio station stay on the air for much time to come. We have also grown very tight as a team, as we worked together and fellowshiped together. Our flights home were pretty smooth and on time and we were all home in time for a good night's sleep. The memories made during the trip will remain forever. Thanks for following and praying. Perhaps you will be along in person next time.

Project complete.......

Today we put in a long day, but we got the job done! There will always be more to do, and our scope grew as we were here, but we have completed heo tasks we came here to do. The inverters are working and battery life has increased. The primary circuits are supplying power where needed and Radio Lumiere is illuminated! Gary held a seminar this afternoon with the Haitian men who will be taking over when we leave, and things look very promising for the station's future. We have been sitting and talking as a team for the past two hours, discussing our accomplishments and reflecting on how blessed we've been in the past two weeks as we worked here in Haiti. Tomorrow after we wake up we will be moving out of our rooms and checking in next door for our final night, our rooms were booked for Saturday night before we got here. After the move we will head out to Grace Mission, north of the city across the bay from where we are now. This will be a sight seeing trip to check on the status of a former I-TEC project. In the afternoon we will make our final trip to the radio station to debrief, clean up and round up our tools. The rest of the night will be dedicated to packing up and preparing for our trip home Sunday morning.

Memorial Day

Today marks the 2nd anniversary of the earthquake here in Haiti. It has been declared a national holiday this year and a day of memorial for the over quarter million people lost on that day. As we worked through our tasks today the radio station was filled with the songs of the local people, flowing in from the church next door, which was packed to the rafters and over flowing into the court yard with locals. It was comforting to see them thanking God for the masses that survived and for the support that has been given to them from around the world. The songs were in celebration as much as memorial and our team enjoyed listening as we worked. With one work day left a plan is in order to button up the loose ends tomorrow, and yes the sign is done and will be hung tomorrow as well! This evening we had a special guest here at Villa Ormiso, Paul Shingledecker our host at Radio Lumiere. Paul shared dinner with us then we gathered to hear his story and the history of Radio Lumiere. As Paul spoke and the story unraveled I think each us got a better understanding of the importance of our work here. The stations broadcast reach about 90% of the population of Haiti, bringing the gospel, news and special broadcast's to the people. There are 7 smaller satellite stations across the country that have the ability to directly target the communities they are in with news and announcements for their regions. Paul also shared how some of the staff have approached him with words of thanks for our team and an appreciation for our technical knowledge, which they would enjoy leaning. They have actually requested we put on a short seminar for them tomorrow afternoon so they can continue where we leave off when we return home. We all look forward to finishing our tasks tomorrow and leaving Radio Lumiere with an electrical system that will allow them to continue broadcasting for many years to come.

A successful Wednesday

As the team converged on Radio Lumiere this morning the tasks before us seemed unending. It seems like for every circuit we run or outlet we replace, there are a dozen more waiting for us to work on. There were groups of guys working simultaneously on all three floors today in what looked like an assembly line. One group drilled holes through the concrete walls, followed by another group mounting boxes, then another running the wire. There were still others in the inverter room laying out the main switches. The quality of work and the cohesion of the team is unlike anything I have ever seem in the construction industry. Working in a place like this, with the limited resources we have and achieving these results is truly miraculous. We have a few hard working days left to wrap up this project, which as usual has broadened in scope every day that we've been here. The lighted sign for the front of the building is about half finished being rewired with new light fixtures, it would probably be done if one of the electricians was working on it instead of me, but I promise it will be shining bright before we leave. Tomorrow is the 2nd Anniversary of the horrific earthquake and this year it has been made a national holiday. Everyone in the country is off tomorrow, except for the I-TEC team that is, which is great for us because we will get more done without interfering in the regular operations at the station. Please keep our team and the people of Haiti in your prayers as we celebrate this day of remembrance for all those lost 2 years ago.

Productive Tuesday

Well gang, the team has one week in and still going strong! Today we ran several new circuits and cleaned up a few more sub-panels. In the computer room and battery room progress was made with the inverters. The big boxes that once sat on stools with wires hanging from the are now mounted on the wall and wired to disconnects. Up on the roof, the rats nest of tangled wires (some of which were nothing more than cheap household extension cords with the ends cut off) were eliminated. In their place a new circuit was installed and a new lead for the lighted sign is ready to light Lumiere. We are in the middle of rebuilding the sign itself. It was taken down when the earthquake damaged perimeter wall was repaired and made taller. Now the light inside it isn't working, so we are making the necessary repairs. We will also be adding a dusk to dawn light over the driveway just inside the gate. As we wind down our day and prepare for bed it is raining. This is a relief as the humidity has been so thick the past few days you could cut it with a knife. So now we head off to bed listening to the rain drops on the tin roof instead of the normal buzz of the insects.

Monday and a Half

This one is from Gary. We want to than the many of you who have been praying for myself, Don and Gerard, who have been suffering from flu-like symptoms. Yesterday was a bit miserable for some of us, but after a good night of sleep and your prayers we are all feeling a bit better today. I am nowhere near 100% but functional and that is all I was hoping for. We are all working to get the "Priority Circuits" (those powered by the inverters rather than directly from the city power) fixed up. These circuits are critical to the operation of the station and in the process of "fixing" this wiring we will need to take segments of the radio transmissions off the air from time to time. We took the station off the air once yesterday due to a couple of wire nuts that just fell apart while we were working on some other things, and the phone rang within a minute, so I knew people out there listening noticed. Don, Steve, Shane, Bernade, and a translator spent over 5 hours yesterday trying to get us supplies that will keep us working the rest of the week and after spending nearly $1000, we should be good for now. The Lord has truly blessed us with many blessings this week and we are excited to see Him continue to work. There have been several moments that I would consider to be absolute miracles and nothing else. We will tell you all about these when we get home. Keep us in your thoughts and prayers as we continue to work with live electrical circuits all day long. Our team has knit together in ways I have never seen before. We have also seen the protection of the Lord in several rather scary circumstances that I really do not wish to enlarge on here, but we will be sure to tell you all about them when we get back home... Gary

A typical Monday

Today, like most Mondays had a bit of Murphy's law playing along. I along with Don and Steve went to the supply house on the north side of Port au Prince. The 18 mile trip took us 2 1/2 hours each way thanks to traffic accidents and detours. Back at Radio Lumiere the rest of the team stayed busy. While a couple of the guys worked on the generator and made the power transfer "officially" automatic, the others worked on pulling new circuits. The major objective of the day and moving forward this week is cleaning up wiring. Over the 50 year history of the radio station the service in the building has been added to and spliced in a thousand different directions. We will be tearing out most of the old, degraded wires and connections and replacing them with safe new ones. There is a newer addition on the building that will be used for TV production, however there isn't a single wire or plug in the whole studio. By the end of this week that new studio will be ready to go!

Our day of rest

This morning started early as we woke up with the chickens and got ready for church. The service started at 6am, we were a little late but took our seats by 6:20. As the honored guests of Radio Lumiere, we were seated just to the side of the main alter next to the preachers. During the service we were asked to stand up so we could be introduced to the congregation. The service lasted till 8:30 and was spoken in Creole, so it was a bit of a challenge for our American crew, but very rewarding as we witnessed the devotion of the Haitian people in their dedication to the Lord. After church we returned to the compound to change our clothes before heading out for a day of sight seeing. Our first stop was a 2 hour drive to the top of the mountain just south of Port au Prince. At an altitude of about 3500 feet, the view was amazing, with the entire city below us. While there we also looked at the transmission tower for the radio station, which could use some electrical work as well! The day continued with lunch at a local cafe and a tour of the areas of the city hardest hit by the earthquake which hit 2 years ago this week. It was an eye opening experience for all of us, to see how the people here are still living after 2 years, still trying to pick up the pieces and put there city back together.

Returning to the compound we had a relaxed evening around the pool. After dinner we have spent the rest of the evening reflecting on our time here in Haiti so far and discussed the work that is yet to be done.

Saturday in Haiti

This morning started with a bit of a "Bang". As the team gathered at the compound gates to wait for the Tap Tap, Gary's cell phone rang with a frantic Paul Shingledecker, the project manger for the radio station, on the other end. A few breakers tripped and the station was without power. As soon as we arrived on site the trouble shooting began and the power was soon on. The day progressed with programming the automatic transfer switches and clamping the rest of the new wires on the exterior of the building. We had a visit from the City Utility to perform some line work on the main transformer to the building. It was interesting seeing our high voltage lineman interacting with the Haitian lineman, just the difference in tools was shocking. We watched the Haitian strip a high voltage line with a steak knife! After some negotiation and helpful translation from a passer by who lived in New York for 30 years, we got new connection wires installed from the transformer to the radio station. Tomorrow we have a day of rest, after we attend church service at Lumiere at 6am. We plan on visiting the mountains above Port-au-Prince through the day, then coming back to the compound for a cook out in the evening.

Haiti day #3

We crossed a milestone today and the team came through with flying colors. Radio Lumiere's power was switched from the old jumble of wires boxes to the new service panels and automatic crossovers. The air conditioning is now running on dedicated circuits and the generator is tied into the system. Some of our Haitian counterparts were a bit nervouse as the work progressed. Our modern equipment and techniques were a bit foreign to them, but in the end...when everything worked, there were very happy with the result. Smiles could be seen all around the station on both the Lumiere staff and our I-TEC team!

The weather has been great so far, if you like 88 to 90 degrees. But hey, it beats shoveling snow. The Hatian crew at Radio Lumiere are keeping us well nourished with a variety of local foods including rice, beans, millet, chicken, goat and native vegetables.

Day by day we are growing stronger as a team and enjoying the work we are doing together! Gary has told us to be prepared for the hard work ahead now that the "easy" portion of the project is done. So please keep us in you prayers as we continue working tomorrow.