Working Together

I LOVE to see the networking that takes place between different groups and individuals to accomplish the most good. Here is a story about a flight that Will White (pilot pictured here) and Mark Williams took a few days ago.

This morning MAF had been scheduled to take a team of doctors to Pignon. The night before, someone called and cancelled the flight, so we were not expecting to do it and did not go in early. The doctors showed up about 9am and I told them they would have to wait until after a flight that was previously scheduled. We had arranged for a film crew to fly to the island of La Gonave. We were dropping off food supplies and picking up a team that was inspecting the Wesleyan hospital for damage from the earthquake.

When we arrived at La Gonave, Dan Irvine, the director of the mission, said he had a 9-year-old girl whose feet had BOTH been crushed in the earthquake. The hospital on the island had done all they could and they needed to find an orthopedic doctor in Port au Prince (PAP) for surgery. According to Dan her feet looked like "ground beef" and if infection set in would be fatal quickly. I agreed to wait for her to show up at the plane.

On the flight back, Dan was sitting next to me. Knowing the huge strain on the field hospitals in PAP, I was not hopeful of the girl finding an ortho unit to perform surgery. I asked Dan about it and he said he thought he had a contact that might help.

As I was flying back I started to think about the doctors that were waiting for me in PAP. I seemed sure they had said they were orthopedic surgeons. When we arrived in PAP, I taxied to my parking place and ALL of the doctors were standing right next to the plane with all their supplies. I told Dan I thought that they were an ortho team and introduced them to each other. In no time the team was examining the girl and making plans to take her directly to the Pignon hospital. We removed the girl from the plane to fuel it, and they were able to start an IV and examine her more thoroughly.

After loading the plane I was able to fly 3 doctors, the girl and her mother to Pignon. I asked the doctors to let me know how the surgery went and to follow up about her. It was so exciting to see how God worked the events of the day to bring these two groups together. I was humbled to be a part of it.

Will White; MAF Pilot, Haiti
January 22, 2010

Details.....Then and Now

When the earthquake hit....
.....Megan was in the neighbor’s front yard playing with their daughter Abby. Kyle was out sliding on the slippery cement around the pool. Jennifer was in the kitchen. I was up an extension ladder at a power pole installing split-bolts to improve our Program Manager’s electrical connection to his house. A neighbor grabbed Abby and Megan and hugged them tightly. Kyle started into the house but met Jennifer as she exited. I swayed like an inverted pendulum along with the transformer next to me. Fortunately I had a good, strong hand-hold before the shake started, and with Mark and Amber Williams holding the ladder I was able to climb down without falling (although I was afraid Mark was going to rip me off the ladder when I got down within his reach J).

The Damage.......and the Decision
The aftershocks were frequent and strong. Most people slept in the street or their yards for the next several nights. Damage to our house was minimal. A structural engineer is supposed to come and look at the MAF houses tonight. Damage to the contents of our house was also quite minimal. Books fell off shelves and stuff fell off counters. Our TV fell to the ground but seems to be functioning. Water sloshed out of all the toilet tanks. The only glass to clean up turned out to be a poor ceramic snowman in Megan’s room who hadn’t been put away from the holidays yet. The kids were troopers, very helpful, very flexible, and very well behaved as we sorted out the situation and tried to form a plan of action. The MAF staff took stock of our situation, the food on hand, water in cisterns, fuel in the vehicles, fuel for generators, propane gas for cooking. Unsure of how long it might take to open a supply line, and how quickly the stability of the general population could deteriorate, the decision was made Wednesday evening to “drawn down” our staff to just enough to fly out our aircraft if need be. I also was selected to stay behind to help make sure our communications system stayed open. Our satellite internet link remained online throughout the crisis, which was initially our only form to communicate with the outside world. It was so comforting to know that family had been notified quickly that everyone was okay.

Leaving Port
We reserved space with Missionary Flights International for 23 people to leave Port-au-Prince on Thursday afternoon. Because of the massive amount of air traffic that had begun to arrive, there was very limited space to park airplanes and the MFI aircraft was not permitted to finish its flight into Haiti. Those coming in on the aircraft spent the night in Turks and Caicos. MFI was given a new “slot” for Thursday morning. By the time we arrived at the airport, their slot had again been denied and they landed in the northern Haiti city of Cap Hatien. After talking our situation over with the tower, they agree to let us park in the general aviation area.

Open Doors
This began what has been a pretty good system for getting MFI relief flights (workers and cargo) in and US Citizens out. Hendrick Motorsports (NASCAR) has been a phenomenal help as they have partnered with MFI to bring relief workers in and so many people out. Today they will complete their 12th and 13th flights into Haiti with their 45 passenger aircraft. Besides MFI’s own DC-3’s, we have unloaded a DC-6, a DC-4, and a C-130. Lots of supplies are coming in. It is gratifying to see our staging area pretty much empty at the end of the day as partner organizations such as Samaritan’s Purse and Operation Blessing keep the distribution going. With MFI’s consent we have held back a small amount of food and water which we distribute to the many people inside the airport who have approached us for food to eat. We also have been able to provide MRE’s (the military’s Meals Ready to Eat) to some of the police and security around the airport. Hopefully this has allowed them to do their jobs better, especially since these were the first meals some had been able to find following the earthquake.

Todd's Role
My initial role in the operations has been as the MAF liaison with the Air Force personnel in the tower. As our system has become more finely tuned, that role is no longer very time consuming. I have today off so that I can start up with MAF aircraft maintenance tomorrow. We’ve not done as much MAF flying as we might normally, since our staff has been pulled in a lot of different directions coordinating all of the relief flights coming in. We are trying to ramp that up, however. Avgas, the type of fuel that our airplanes use is in short supply, so our flying may continue to be limited. We are hoping to fly in some barrels of avgas with MFI. We are also expecting the arrival today of one of the new MAF Kodiak airplanes, which uses the plentiful Jet Fuel. As I type, they have arrived at MFI in Fort Pierce.

As someone “on the ground” in Haiti, I’ve been able to be the eyes and ears for several people trying to contact others here in Haiti. A friend from my years living in Ecuador works with HCJB Global, which offers consultation and technical assistance to Christian radio stations around the world. They had an engineer here helping out with Radio Luminere’s Stereo92, and had limited contact with him. My friend was able to give me the location of this engineer and the two people from Taylor University who were also working with him. I met up with them and was able to leave them some water and a bit of food in case they ran out. They eventually got back up the mountain to stay with their host family. Over the next few days they were able to coordinate the departure of their engineer on one of the MFI flights, thanks to the help of Baptist Haiti Mission and a medical team from HCJB Global. Taylor University also recommended that their two people (a professor who had previously lived in Haiti and a student who had come with him) exit as soon as they could safely and practically do so. When they were able to get back down to the radio station, MAF connected up with them and gave them a ride down to catch an MFI-coordinated (Hendrick) flight out.

God's Timing
The other people that I’ve been in contact with are a couple who are with the Navy, living in Italy. They’ve been in the process of adopting two Haitian siblings for a long time. The adoption was finalized but they had not yet received the passports. I met the family back in November when they were visiting the children, after Jennifer sat next to the sister of one of the adoptive parents on the airplane while flying up for Hannah’s wedding (Jennifer’s sister). Two days ago Julie, the adopting mother, was able to get into the country and I saw her at the airport. The last I’d heard around noon yesterday she still had been unable to actually connect up with the children. Keep praying for her as she finds/comforts the children and tries to get the necessary permission to take the kids back to the U.S. She mentioned to me that it has been exciting to see God work out the details for her to even get to Haiti. She was proceeding with boldness, knowing that God is in control.


*Picture captions:
1 A home ripped apart--not ours!!!
2 The four of us together as we were waiting to leave on MFI's flight that did not come in....nice to have a little more time together
3 The 23 MAF staff/families who came back to the US for a time, standing in front of the Hobe Sound Bible College bus after going through customs in FL
4 A Hendrick Motorsports flight crew gets ready to depart Port-au-Prince
5 MFI chartered a DC-6 to bring supplies in for Samaritan’s Purse
6 Will White taxis for departure to La Gonave carrying food
7 Food for an orphanage is loaded onto a pickup. We met the gentleman in the foreground while on deputation in Alum Bank, PA

Todd's Earthquake Notes--First Impressions

As the shaking and the roar of the earthquake subsides, the cries of thousands of people rise. At the end of our street two houses down is a ravine with hundreds of houses built in a maze. I expect to see many of them flattened as I run over to look. In fact, none seem to have been significantly damaged. "That must not have been as strong as I thought,” I decide. Before long the dull roar of people excitedly chattering is drowned out by wailing and screaming, coming from all sides. We survey the damage to a neighbor’s house. Several of the perimeter walls around his house have fallen. His cistern is still quite full, but his fears will come true as over the next few hours fissures will drain it completely. We look up the mountain and see great clouds of dust. Down the mountain are more. Word begins arriving. “Caribbean Market has collapsed!” No, surely not. That’s where we do our main shopping. At 5 pm it would be packed with people. The story must be exaggerated. Then come aftershocks. The yells and screams crescendo. Soon, the sound of hymns being sung can be heard. Members of a nearby church have gathered and are singing praise to God. They probably sing their praises for a variety of reasons. I am sure they are just happy to be alive. Some probably sing because it brings a tiny bit of calm to their spirit. Most sing because of hope. They have faith that God is in control. They have faith that even if they were to perish, their eternity with Jesus is secure. Faith with expectations is hope. Jesus is our Hope.

The reality for the bulk of the suffering people is that they do not have hope in Jesus. Some just hope for food this day. Many hope that their missing family and friends might miraculously turn up. Others hope that government can begin to function and control can be established. These hopes might be fulfilled but they will ultimately be empty. Please pray for the millions in Haiti, both Haitians and foreigners, that somehow through this tragedy they might find Hope.

*Pictured here is our former grocery store, Caribbean Market, quite flattened.

Each of the MAF guys who are down in Haiti right now has a different job they have been assigned to help coordinate. Todd has been working with the guys in the "tower" to get MFI aircraft into Haiti. Not much of a tower, just a table in the grass. Today Todd delivered a couple packs of donuts to keep them happy. :)
Here are some pictures taken by Will White showing him working with the military guys who are in charge of all of the air traffic at this point. These are pictures of Todd, but I know Will, Mark, Michael, and John & David are all doing a great job coordinating the logistics of the flights into Port and then the MAF flights into different areas of the country.
Please keep praying for their strength, wisdom and peace and they function on reduced amounts of sleep and increased amounts of stress. I talked to Todd this morning and he still seems very positive and upbeat and mentioned that the other guys seemed to be doing well, too.

Recognize this first little guy????

Here is a video about MFI's first 72 hrs of disaster response, mostly showing the MAF families leaving Haiti. Since then they have been coordinating with different groups to get supplies down and evacuate other families.

http://www.missionaryflights.org/field-reports/146-mfi-haiti-relief-the-first-72-hours-on-video

How to Help

Thanks so much to all who have called and written in the past few days. Our hearts are heavy for the people left to pick up the pieces after everything was shaken and so much was destroyed in moments last Tuesday.

A few easy places to help with earthquake relief in Haiti.....

MAF has established a satellite communications center at the Port-au-Prince airport, allowing relief agencies to effectively communicate with those in and outside of Haiti. The MAF hangar has become a logistics point for aid organizations bringing food, water, medicines, and other relief supplies into this devastated country. MAF relief flights transport teams of medical and relief workers to remote areas. You can donate toward the MAF Haiti Disaster and Recovery Fund and see on-location pictures at http://www.maf.org/news/earthquake-haiti-2010.

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Needed supplies can be ordered at this Amazon Store http://astore.amazon.com/olivknolparec-20 and sent to Nazarene Compassionate Ministries at the following address: Nazarene Compassionate Ministries “Church of the Nazarene – Haiti Earthquake Relief.” Obed Santiesteban 310 E. 5th St. Miami, FL 33010

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Mission Flights International (MFI) who brings our mail to us in Haiti each week is using their huge hangar as a clearinghouse for all of the donations that are being routed through them. For those in the Florida area (especially around Fort Pierce) check out MFI's supply list and where drop offs are located: http://www.missionaryflights.org

Medical Assistance--Community Coalition for Haiti

MAF Assists the Community Coalition for Haiti in Bringing Medical Care to the Injured

From Karen H. Carr, Director, Community Coalition for Haiti
Via John Woodberry
January 19, 2010

With the help of MAF, CCH's (Community Coalition for Haiti) trauma team and medical supplies are in Jacmel helping heal the injured, hurt and hopeless … MAF has been a constant source of hope for all of the relief organizations trying to get supplies and medical personnel into Haiti. For the Haitians who are suffering and those bringing help, hearing the MAF flights overhead gives us more reason to believe that things will recover here and that more help is on the way.

On the ground, gas is running low, but available. There are few medical supplies here except the ones we brought in by MAF. There are several medical teams here, but they are facing treating over 2,000 patients at the hospital and clinic. In the rural areas, thousands more need assistance. Aftershocks were felt this morning and at 3AM. People are still sleeping outside.

Without MAF, our ministry here to those in need in Jesus' name would not be possible. For the lives that have been saved, we owe MAF an eternal debt of gratitude. For those who will hear and see Jesus touching them through our medical volunteers and MAF's efforts, our appreciation on their behalf is infinite.

MAF Communication Team-Disaster Response

I will be posting more information about the earthquake and response to that. This is a little report from the MAF Communications Team in Haiti, written yesterday, January 19, 2010.
Todd is fine. He is working with four of the other MAF Haiti guys and then a couple others from Nampa Headquarters to coordinate flights into Haiti and then around the country to distribute relief supplies.

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Today, David Hoffman and I removed the GATR system from the World Concern building and brought it back to the airport. The World Concern folks still as yet do not have an infrastructure in place to keep the VSAT system inflated for the night. With the price of gas reaching $10 a gallon in the city and even that is watered down, they don't have the finances to keep the generator going. Each time the GATR system deflates, it must be reinflated and recalibrated which is up to an hour process.

But more importantly, there are more pressing needs of the VSAT system elsewhere. We positioned the system today in the midst of the Search and Rescue groups and are working with Instedd (www.instedd.org). Some of their information about what they are doing is on their webpage. But in a nutshell, they are receiving information in from the Haitians via SMS messages or literally by workers who are roaming the streets and typing in messages. These messages are then encoded onto electronic maps for the UN Disaster Assistance and Coordination (UNDAC) group who then sends out the necessary relief or
Search and Rescue (SAR) teams to the neighborhoods.

Miraculously, two more people were pulled from the rubble today. However, even as I write this, the majority of SAR teams are packing it up tonight and heading back to their respective countries. In the morning, Dave and I will move the VSAT system over to the UNDAC area as they have an urgent need with their Map Action group. Hi resolution satellite images have been collected of the area that they need to download to help plan for the transition from rescue over to relief. We plan on being stationed in the UN compound for the next few days until their own systems can be flown in. We hope that at that time, we can then move back to the World Concern office to assist with the "internet cafe" for other NGOs.

Christmas Letter-2009

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Merry Christmas!

Joyeux Noel! Kontan Nwèl!

Wow!!! What a year of newness 2009 has been for our family!! I love new beginnings with all of the joys and challenges they bring. We thank God for His mercy and faithfulness each step of the way. Last year at this time we were out in the province learning Haitian language and culture. We met many wonderful friends and were able to experience village life first-hand. Part of me now misses the freedom the kids had to run all over the camp discovering creatures, the night sounds and sky full of stars, hot and fresh bread when we could get it, driving the little Rhino (about like a golf cart) to town, the boys playing soccer each afternoon, picking grapefruits right off the tree, living simply with about 5 totes worth of stuff in 3 rooms..... Lots of wonderful memories. Now I am thankful for things like a washing machine, a big cistern, floors and a bathroom that I feel like we can scrub clean, SCREENS!!!, a church home, wonderful neighbors, stores, and a car that runs!!! All of the challenges have served to make us appreciate our many blessings.

At the end of February, we returned to Port au Prince to begin city life. Since we were gone to language school for three months, we had left everything in boxes until we returned and were able to paint. With the help of my parents and sister Hannah we were able to complete the task and finally unpack!!! The kids finished out the school year at Quisqueya School, and Todd began work in MAF's hangar at Haiti's national airport. There he stays busy with inspections, parts ordering, and giving the airplanes the TLC they need. Whenever he is home, though, he has a very long list of projects to keep him out of trouble. :)

This summer our whole family visited the States, just at two separate times. The Church of the Nazarene's General Assembly (every 4 yrs.) was in Orlando this year, so the kids and I got to attend. We saw LOTS of family and friends there!! :) Just after we got back, Todd and Michael Broyles ferried a plane across the ocean where they rendezvoused with Frank Gibbs (retired MAF mechanic) in FL to do an engine change on

HH-PTL. Most of the American families with kids around here spent the summer in the States. We missed them but enjoyed the down time to make Haiti our home. Kyle and Megan spent most days in the water, playing together or with other neighbor kids. It was very healing and relaxing for them to wake up "at home" each morning. This fall they were ready to begin classes again, and I was more ready to get involved in the life of the school.

Kyle and Megan have been such little blessings and so much fun to interact with at each stage of their lives, but I feel like we somehow enjoy them more each day. Kyle is still a kind yet adventurous explorer who loves animals and all things related to the study of science. During this past year he has made marked progress in reading and several sports, especially swimming and soccer. Megan enjoys all of the creatures around our house, but she also loves girly things like princess dress-up, dancing, playing dolls, painting her nails and squealing with her friends. :) At the moment, Kyle and Megan have two pets: a turtle named Sunshine and a Beta fish named Fire Prince.

Todd and I practice our Creole every chance we get, so it is rewarding to look back and see how much we have learned this year. You can survive with English here, but our goal is to be able to speak in the “heart language.” I attend both an English and a Spanish Bible study most weeks. It is fun to meet with some ladies who have been following the Lord for a long time and others who are just beginning their journey with Him. We all have something to learn and something to teach. Speaking of learning, I will begin taking online Master's classes in the spring as I work toward becoming certified to teach Spanish. I took the GRE when I was back in the US for my sister Hannah's wedding last month. I got to meet her husband Willian and had a good visit with my family.

We enjoy both our English and Creole churches each Sunday and are thankful for the sermons that our Nampa church posts on-line. More than just filling our week with church services and Bible studies, though, our desire is to grow closer to the Lord each day as we wrestle with how to best show Christ's love to those around us.

We are so thankful for the different churches and Sunday School classes and families who pray for us often and want to send a very special thank-you to all who have taken the time and effort to keep in contact this year whether via email, facebook, letters, care packages, chatting/Skype, or best of all a personal visit. :) Of course we are very aware that without the support of so many back home we would not be able to minister here, so another huge thank-you to all of you who have given to MAF on our behalf. God has been faithful, and we continue to seek Him for direction and guidance in the New Year.

Love from our home to yours.

The Edgertons

Happy New Year!!!

I have not written anything for a while, so I have some back pedaling to do, but I did want to mention some of the highlights from our Christmas break so far. Of course we LOVE the Christmas break, because it is great to have some time to spend as a family without all of the normal tugs of work and school. Kyle and Megan got three weeks off for their break, and Todd has taken 2 weeks, too. We have done projects around the house, taken time to play games and spend some time as a family; we went to the beach with our neighbors for a night; the kids had a sleepover with friends, and they have enjoyed lots of time playing with the neighbor kids.

We ordered a Christmas tree (fake, "prelit", low-maintenance, PERFECT!!!), and we put it up the day it arrived back in November. K&M were very excited about opening presents weeks before Christmas day (typical). But we decided to do things a little differently than normal this year since the kids are getting bigger. Usually we read Luke 1 & 2, have a short devotional and open presents on Christmas Eve night. However this year I went against my nature (wanting to open each package even before it is under the tree), and we actually waited on presents until Christmas morning.

Christmas Eve night we went up onto our roof and read the Christmas story. Kyle and Megan acted it out under the stars in the quiet night with only our flashlights. There was no rush or anticipation of the next thing. We were able to reflect and really focus on the reason we celebrate. When our heads hit the pillow that night we were thinking of all of the prophecies fulfilled, the Redeemer, the Messiah come to earth...for us. It was refreshing. I think we will do that again.

Todd has taken advantage of the vacation time to build racks for our solar panels so we can harness some of that free energy our sun produces instead of dealing with the headache of our local electric company which provides power 4-8 hrs per night, most of the time, and charges two arms and a leg. :) Yesterday (Dec. 31) he worked on that and I painted on our back walls. Crismen came and made the traditional Haitian pumpkin soup for us (basically a vegetable soup), soup joumou. Around 6 last night we went to some neighbors' house to play games and visit. About 20 of us played Outburst!! Fun!!

At 9 I went with Crismen to a New Years service at her church. I took a camera, but of course it was out of battery power when I wanted to video tape. They sure did rock the house with their singing!! Loved it. Besides the singing, people told things that God had done in their lives through out the year and we had a time of prayer. We finished right after midnight, so it was exciting to experience all of the sights and smells and sounds of the neighborhood in party mode as we walked home. :) I am SOOO thankful for our car for safety and convenience reasons, but we miss a lot when we are in our sterile bubble of glass and metal floating down the street.

When we got home, Todd had just put the kids in bed, so we all got to wish each other Happy New Year. We thank the Lord for all of the joys and challenges, the peace and the lessons learned in 2009. We anticipate that 2010 will have more twists in the road that we do not necessarily anticipate. But through everything, it is good to know that He can change sorrow to joy, curses to blessings....