Brad received another call from his father. The team arrived safely in LaCroix around 2pm. They actually made really good time.

Although everyone is extremely tired and overwhelmed, everyone is doing well.

As feared, the Kenner's and the medical crew are 5 totes short. Unfortunately, all their totes were full of medical supplies. There is another American Airlines flight coming into Port-au-Prince today, so they hope their totes will arrive with it. If they do, a few people from the team will travel to Port-au-Prince tomorrow to gather the needed supplies.

Email from Cheryl:

Hello from Haiti:

We have arrived, safe and sound, only missing a few totes.  Unfortuately, if was the medical supplies.  The doctors are hoping we get them tomorrow.

The building crew is already at work.  Trying to find all the materials they need.

Keeps us in your prayers!!

A major earthquake has hit Haiti. The epicenter was located about 14 miles west of the capital Port-au-Prince. The village of LaCroix where our mission team is located is about 90 miles to the north of Port-au-Prince.

Although we have not been able to be in communication with the team, their location that far north of the epicenter should have kept them safe.

I will be at the office all evening trying to get information. Please be in prayer. Remember we serve a great God!

We received a phone call from Karen Kenner's daughter stating that she received an email from Karen. Everyone is OK!

The team felt the earthquake, but everyone is fine.

We don't know any additional information at this point. Once we know more, we will let you know.

Here is the email from Karen:

Don't know if you will get this. Hope so,  We felt the quake but are okay.no cell phone service. will send more later.

love you 

mom and mike

Email just received from Jeff and Cheryl:

Dear Family and Friends:

We'll have a complete update tormorrow.  But since you may have heard about the earthquake we wanted to send you a quick note to let you know we're fine.  It aparently hit the hardest in Port-A-Prince.  We were already in LaCroix.  We felt it an it shock with compound but nothing serious.  Don't worry - everyone is safe and sound.

Love Jeff and Cheryl

Here is an email from Jeff:

Dear Friends & Family:

We arrived safely,  Four totes that were suppose to come with the Kenner's containing mostly medical supplies did not.

The flights were smooth and uneventful.  God was good to us!!

Not much sleep in Miami airport due to the cold and a women's voice that came out over the intercom loud and clear announcing every single quarter hour.  We've gotten a lot of mileage out of that already.

Other than totes which did not appear, things went well at Port-A-Prince  airport.  We had a sky-way instead of a staircase from the plane to the tarmac, a salsa band greeted us, the luggage conveyor worked, the terminal and the bathrooms were much cleaner, and we passed through customs easily.  At first they acted like they were going to make us open all of the totes.  But Steve showed them the master list Brad made up and they waved us through.

The drive from Port-A-Prince to LaCroix was much less imtimidating.

   1.   We came out of Port-A-Prince in daylight instead of at night.
   2.   The road has had major resurfacing work all the way to St. Marc.
   3.   The people appear to be engaged in a clean-up effort.  We actually saw one garbage truck in operation and people sweeping the garbage along the road but not nearly as much as last year.

In took us two hours to get from Port-A-Prince to St. Marc and another two hours from St. Marc to LaCroix due to the road conditions from St. Marc to LaCroix.

It's good to see Pastor Pierre, Pastor Delomey, and Denny again.  I met the translator (Reginald) who has taken Shilove's place.  He seems like a good guy and I'm sure we'll get along great.  But I do miss Shilove.

Unlike Miami, it's in the mid-80's and humid here.  The accommodations are different this year as Pastor Pierre has constructed several rooms for married couples.  He's also torn down the elementary class room building and is constructing a new one.  This is an amazing work and I'm so proud GNG is partnering with Pastor Pierre.  It's such an honor to be a part of the Kingdom of God.

That's all I have for today.  We'll probably hit the sack early since none of us slept much last night.

Love,

Jeff

Email from Cheryl:

Dear Friends & Family:

Yesterday was an eventful day and we didn't realize it until much later in the day.  The earthquake hit Port-A-Prince at 4:53 P.M.  Our decision to arrange to be on the earlier flight this year was a blessing.  There are only two flights into Port-A-Prince from Miami each day.  Last year we took the later flight and stopped at a hotel between Port-au-Prince and LaCroix.  Due to our experiences at the hotel, we decided to take the earlier flight so we would not have to stop en-route.  This decision saved us from being in Port-A-Prince when the quake hit.  The later flight was scheduled to arrive shortly after 4:00 P.M.  We would have still been in the airport getting our luggage together at 4:53 P.M.

As it was, we were already here in LaCroix when it hit.  We felt it here for less than a minute, but had no idea how bad it was until much later in the day.  Some members of the Team felt aftershocks later but these were not as severe.

As the extent of the devastation has become more clear (our phone and Internet was sketchy last evening), we've made a decision to try to exit Haiti as quickly as possible.  It is unlikely that we will be able to fly out of Port-au-Prince as scheduled.  While the airport may be up and running by next week, getting to the airport could be dangerous.  The pictures we are seeing show streets blocked by debris.  Haiti has no military to speak of and very little police.  The U.N. peace keeping troops were apparently caught in the quake.  The chance of unrest developing in a city the size of Port-A-Prince is high.  Taking 18 Americans into that environment could be risky.

So, we're trying to exit by way of Cap Hatien (northern Haiti) or the Dominican Republic.  Again, we are safe at the present time.  Brad, Terry and Doug Seipelt are hard at work trying to make alternate flight arrangements.  LaCroix is 85 miles North of Port-A-Prince.

The government has just issued an order closing all schools (including LaCroix), banks and the government.

We now have a plan to get the team out of Haiti!

Tomorrow morning, the team will head to the Dominican Republic border where it has been arranged for a bus from a resort in Puerto Plata will pick them up. This will be almost an 8 hour trip total.

Arrangements have been made for the team to stay at the resort. (God is good). Brad has booked them flights out of Puerto Plata on Friday, January 15th at 5:30pm. They will arrive in Miami at 6:50pm.

Due to shortage of American Eagle flights out of Miami, the team is schedule to return on their orginal flight into CVG on Tuesday night. Once in Miami, they may be able to book eariler flights. If not, the team will party it up in Miami.

Please pray for safety as the team travels in the coming days.

Brad received a phone call from his father. Everyone is doing fine. They are getting bags packed and getting ready for an early morning.

We may not hear much from them tomorrow as they are traveling. Once we do hear something, we will make sure it is posted. Please prayer for them!

The team is now in the Dominican Republic! They have cleared customs and are in a van heading to Puerto Plata.

It should take about 3 hours for them to arrive at the resort. It will be an uncomfortable ride as the van only seats 12 people and they have a total of 18 people with them.