April 1, 2010 – 5:43pm – Thursday (Haiti time)- Ruuska Village, Bon Repos, Haiti – Report submitted by Joe Hurston (Air Mobile Joe)

As you’ve probably guessed, the Hurston’s slipped into Haiti without a lot of fanfare. Our flight was great. I can’t tell you how good it is to have Juliet Joy (the Passport recipient from our Tuesday blog) and Peter James, my youngest son. 

Peter did a superb job of flying the airplane. I found out, that during some of his simulator training, he hand flew a 747 from Tokyo to Paris in real time (he said it took him all day and into the evening)! He has a wonderful touch on the controls. We discussed the systems and emergency procedures. He, like his Mom, is a very quick study! 

Upon landing in Port-Au-Prince, my phone was ringing. The “caller” knows who it is, and this shot proves the “Extreme” measures, one will go through to speak with me, even tracking me down in Haiti. It was a very good call! 

During yesterday’s blog, I mentioned that we received a good load of surgical supplies / instruments. Talk about perfect timing. There were 70 boxes and we were able to bring in 19 on this flight. There will be some happy surgeons in Haiti. 

Like most things we do, the problems are daunting, even monumental. The thought is always there, “why bother” or “what difference will this make” or “our airplane is so small and we have so much to bring”. We wrestle with these and many other thoughts. The fact is though, “we just keep nibbling away at the problem, doing a little bit here and a little bit there”. Our walk with the Lord is often that way. The main thing is “just keep walking with Him every day and asking Him what to do each and every day”. I will admit, some days are definately better than others. But remember, the things we see with our eyes are often different from the way things really are. Just don’t give up and keep on serving Him everyday! 

As we approached Port-Au-Prince, we could see rain everywhere. What a grim reminder of the millions of Haitians that are sleeping out doors, many under primitive conditions. We would like to get out to Les Cayes and place some water purifiers, but the weather may prevent the journey. Please pray our Lord to lead us in this regard. While at the Village, we will be organizing and inventorying the Voyager supplies and available units for deployment. So many of you have helped us with this vital project. Better close out for the day. Time to set up our tent. We’ll be sleeping out of doors like the millions all around us.

Please remember to pray for Haiti!

Air Mobile Joe 

PS – By the way, we fly over “Gilligan’s Island” every time we go to Haiti. It is actually a small island just east of Nassau on New Providence Island in the Bahamas. I had to put this shot up, because I have a friend named “John Gilligan”. This shots for you, John!

Joe