Facing the Unknown

Jan 13, continued

Jayden has rocked himself to sleep in the pack and play, placed strategically under the doorway in the kitchen. Since our kitchen has a wood ceiling and two exits we decide that it’s okay to sleep inside for the night. Many of the other MAF families are sleeping outside on the streets, too afraid that their houses might tumble down around them due to aftershocks. Trying to sleep on a piece of cardboard on a gravel street right above a ravine with a two year old just doesn’t seem feasible. Too tired, and too emotionally spent to fall asleep, Jay and I continue to talk till 1:00 a.m.. When we feel like we are ready to lie down we pull a rubber mat into the kitchen and throw on some comforters. Jason is still wearing the same clothes he was wearing the day the earth quake happened so I convince him to change. We also brush our teeth, if only for normality’s sake. After pouring our hearts out to God we lie down and fall in an exhausted sleep. Three hours later I’m wide awake and get the feeling we might be experiencing another tremor soon. I lay, eyes wide open for a long time, but nothing happens. Eventually I fall asleep again. At 5:30 I wake up again and this time feel a tremor several minutes later. I wake a sleeping Jason and stand up to grab Jayden. Thankfully the tremor is just a mild one and we soon lay down again. I can’t fall asleep after that but I don’t feel tired either. At 6:00 we all are wide awake and I make two sandwiches for Jayden, but he doesn’t feel like eating. I’m not hungry either, so I give the sandwiches to Nicholas and Sabboule. Not sure what to do next we walk over to the program managers house. There we are told that all but three pilot/mechanics and a mechanic/IT specialist will be temporarily relocated. Just getting connected by internet to the world outside is a real blessing. Although I don’t have time to reply to all the emails and comments, reading them and knowing that so many people are thinking and praying for us is a real comfort. Jason and Marc Williams head out to the orphanage once again to see what they can do. I walk back home with Jayden and get the final things ready in our house. I finish packing two suitcases, Jayden’s pack and play and little stroller and one backpack. It’s hard to pack not knowing for sure if we are able to leave and not knowing where we will be going, and not knowing how long. What’s even harder is telling Anoud and Denise we might be gone indefinitely. Anoud seems to handle it okay, but Denise keeps telling me she’s so sad we might be leaving. We give them money for the next few months and what’s left of our food supply. “I’m glad you are taking care of us by giving money and food”, Denise says,” but I’d still so much prefer you were here”. I nod sadly, not knowing what to say. At 1:30, three vehicles are ready to leave. This is my first time driving through the main streets of Port au Prince and the devastation is astounding. So many buildings completely demolished, vehicles crushed, people wandering aimlessly. Thankfully the bodies that had been previously lying on the sides of the streets have been removed and I don’t have to see them. I’m told later they were picked up by front loaders and placed in dump trucks, because there were just too many to know what to do with. I’m horrified at the thought, but some of the estimates are that 100,000 people died so I’m sure making that decision on what to do with the bodies was a difficult one. As we drive on I see many people walking with dust masks. Before long it becomes pretty obvious why. Jason already suffering from a chest cold prior to the earthquake starts to cough nonstop. What’s even harder to hear is Jayden’s little lungs trying to cough up all the dust in the air. My throat gets extremely sore and I wish I had thought to bring bandanas to wrap around our mouths. Half an hour later we arrive at the domestic terminal where the MAF airplanes are kept. The gates are locked and they don’t allow us in. Mark Williams, Todd Edgerton, and Will White are locked inside the terminal and talk to us through the gate. We all decide to go to the international terminal instead. They walk there via the runway and we drive around the outside. The control tower is damaged, the glass is missing, and the terminal has many severe cracks. Around the airport all kinds of people are sitting with backpacks and suitcases. It takes us awhile to get in and then we wait on the edge of the tarmac. The runway is extremely busy. Helicopters take off and land in 30 second intervals and military airplane after military airplane comes in. We see soldiers, UN Peace keepers and News Reporters. The place is just swarming with people. I put the pack and play down and try to find a place to sit. We can’t sit too close to the terminal building because it’s just too cracked and they fear the vibrations from the large aircraft could make it tumble down so I finally give up and sit on the dirty cement. After waiting two hours we finally receive news that Missionary Flights International was unable to land at the Port au Prince airport, to pick us up. Only military airplanes have permission to come and go. We pick up all our luggage and then walk back through the crowds of people to our cars. Time to head back again. Too tired to feel any emotion we silently drive back. Since our home has no water, the fridge is off and everything has been closed off we join the other MAF families for the night. After a supper of crackers and cheese and a couple mini chicken wings we crash out on the couch. As I close my eyes to sleep, I sigh, a couch has never felt this good before.