May 23, 2010 – 5:59am – Sunday (Haiti Time) – Ruuska Village, Haiti – Report submitted by Joe Hurston – Air Mobile Joe 

 There is a light rain falling in our village this morning – no signs of big storms (for the moment), just a drizzle, the sun is just rising. Yesterday was a good day. Our team was up early. Keyon and I arrived at the airport bright and early, loaded and fueled our aircraft and took off right on time. Our cargo – medical supplies and a Voyager water purifier. Clean water and medicine…..good stuff! Oh, here’s a cool thing that happened just before take-off. Our GPS (Global Positioning System) did not have Les Cayes, our destination, in the data base. Also, my aeronautical charts did not give me enough detail of the Les Cayes area. 

A very gracious MAF (Mission Aviation Fellowship) pilot, Jason, loaned me his super duper, special detailed, Haiti chart and….offered for me to fly along with him as he too was going to Les Cayes. Perfect timing. We took off just 1 minute apart and flew side by side right to Les Cayes. Keyon got a couple of good aerial shots of his bird. We’ll send it to Jason him later. Our other “water mule”, Rob, linked up with Dave Phillips of Samaritan’s Purse to do some food distribution. Upon landing we were met by Madame Samdi, a long and dear friend of Barbara. We were here to place a Voyager in her community. We also had made arrangements for the medical supplies to be picked up for Virginia Bell, a long time missionary working in Les Cayes. Once all was secure, we headed to Torbeck for Voyager training. The deeper we went in this tropical region, the more beautiful things became. I saw the largest mango trees I have ever seen in Haiti. The mango, like many trees often falls victims to the Haitian machete and is cut down for firewood. The tragedy is that this tree could provide a family with a nice income for life. Oh well, that is another story. These trees were alive and well and HUGE! This community reaches out to hundreds of children and there is new construction for a school and a bakery (to provide employment). These are the kinds of organizations we love to donate Voyagers to. They are doing something and producing fruit and most important, they Love the Lord!! 

The training went well. My “students” were very sharp and really grasped the operation of the Voyager. I stressed just how much money the unit would save them by calculating the cost of “bottled water” they had bought this year alone. They were astounded. My hope and prayer always is that the recipient of the Voyager will truly appreciate just how wonderful this little machine is. The community also had a beautiful stream running right through the middle of it and it rarely ever ran dry. 

After I tasted the water myself, the students lined up for a taste. This experience never gets old. Not only is the water very, very clean and pure, it tastes good!! The final remark I made was “LOVE & CARE FOR THE VOYAGER – IT IS YOUR GOOD FRIEND”! 

After the presentation, we headed back to the airport. I could see huge buid-ups forming and we got in the air in time to work our way back to Port-Au-Prince. After returning the chart, it was back to the “Village”. It was a long day out on my leg and it sure let me know. I must tell you, though, your prayers are really working. The leg is healing beautifully. THANK YOU! 

Today, we will be heading to a community that I know extremely well. Cindy and I lived there for many years. It will be good to see old friends and discuss their situation and see how we can help. I’ll also be able to share the Word of God, as Cindy and I pastored in this community for years. When we return to the U.S., we will be bringing back a lot of delicious Haitian Coffee. Cindy is arranging a “Coffee Tasting” at our headquarters later in the week. Did you know that Haitian Coffee is some of the finest coffee in the world? If you are local (Brevard / Orange County, FL), consider coming by for a GOOD cup of coffee and excellent fellowship. More details will follow in the blog – or phone me for details at 321-544-7757. We’ll also be giving a detailed report on Haiti and the current conditions. Hope you can make it. 

I want to thank Keyon for the excellent photography and willingness to do whatever needs to be done to accomplish the “mission”. He’s turning into a fine “water mule”. Better get ready for the day.

God Bless and THANKS again for your prayer and love!!

Air (almost completley Mobile) Joe

 PS – IF YOU’RE NEW TO THIS BLOG AND FEEL LIKE YOU’RE JUMPING RIGHT INTO THE MIDDLE OF A STORY, YOU ARE! KEEP ON READING DOWN TO SEE HOW WE HAVE GOTTEN TO THIS POINT OF THE STORY – IT’S FULL OF GOD’S AMAZING GRACE!! Joe