First Day

I spoke to Luke this morning and he said the neighborhood that he is staying in has been without electricity since last Sunday. They have inverters which they charge with a generator, but the inverter cut out around midnight last night...that makes for one hot night of sleeping without fans, and also leaves you to be a great target for mosquito's!

Luke said he did not sleep that well, but he only has a couple things to do today so maybe a nap later....MAYBE :). He has to drain the baptismal pool at the chapel because it is clogged. He started that yesterday, and will hopefully complete that project today. He also brought a computer down for a missionary and he needs to help transition him from a PC to a MAC, along with transferring files, pictures, and all that good stuff. Good thing Luke is so handy with that kind of stuff! Later one this afternoon he will go to another missionary house who had their house broken into (while they were all sleeping), and bring some supplies they requested, that were stolen.

I wish I could be there to squeeze everyone and fill my heart with a Haiti fix, but Luke is amazing and we are blessed with the opportunity for him to be able to go down there.

Quick trip next week

Just a quick note to say that I'll (Luke) be going to Haiti on Friday morning and coming back the following Thursday. This is a quick trip that has a couple of purposes:

1) I'm planning to take some time to sit down with an organization that has expressed interest in having Becca and I join with them. We're real excited about this and really need discernment we we begin talking with them.
2) I'm bringing a new computer to Pastor Karl and will be moving all the stuff from his old computer to this one. I'll also be spending some time with him teaching him how to use the new one.
3) I'll be delivering some donated sound equipment to Quisqueya Chapel.
4) I'll be checking in on a couple of business, income generating projects, that I started with a couple of men a few months ago.
5) I'll be arranging for the delivery of approximately 10,000 reading glasses that have been donated by some people from New England.

I'm excited of course to get back. Becca and I often say that we think about Haiti multiple times during the day and it feels more and more like home to us. We'd really appreciate your prayers for us while I'm there over this next week.

Newsletter

I just sent out the following email to our mailing list. If you did not receive the email and would like for us to put you on the list please email me at: perkins.luke@gmail.com

Hey Everyone!

Just a quick note to say thanks so much for your support of us and our ministry in Haiti. We truly couldn't do what we have been able to do with out you! We put out a last minute call for support and you responded so generously, thank you!

We've just finished putting together our latest newsletter that talks about some of the things we were involved in helping with while I was in Haiti after the quake. You can find that newsletter here: www.perkinsfamilyonline.com/Newsletters

As you can imagine, Haiti has been devastated. Please keep Haiti in your prayers in these next months and years while the rebuilding continues. There is a lot of work ahead.

We also ask that you pray for us as we begin conversations with missions agencies in preparation for full-time ministry there after seminary.

In Christ,
Luke and Becca Perkins

Haiti

Well, please forgive us the the lack of posting! Being in Haiti last week, I can tell why Luke did not have two seconds to himself never mind sitting down, praying for a strong Internet connection, and posting!

Like I said last week I was able to fly to Haiti (after lots of plane and ticket issues going and coming from Haiti) and see Luke after almost 2 months!! It was amazing to hug him, but the initial embrace was quick and off we were to the chapel. John Edwinson (a man from our home church in NH, he is like our second dad) came with me to build a " lean two" that was needed to keep dirt and stuff out of the water purification system. I have posted recently about this, and John's amazing work.

The week FLEW by and before I knew it Luke was dropping me off at the airport. He will be flying tomorrow from Port-au-Prince to Miami, spending the night, and then Friday returning to Dallas :) I am beyond excited to have him home! Haiti has stolen our hearts, we will return there again, and someday (Lord willing) we will live there. I am so looking forward to having my husband home with me!!

Below are some pictures that I took while in Haiti..I took almost 500 pictures and will try to post as many as I can the next few days. Thank you all for your prayers, and please continue as Luke makes his journey home!

This is JJ...he stole my heart this summer! He was rescued along with several other orphans from a village that was flooded by the hurricanes last year.

Just one of the many "tent cities" that consume Port-au-Prince right now

Everyone is in need of clean water!

disaster everywhere!

I really hope no one was in this car!

To the right of the picture is a small building which was at one point a great friend of ours store (Maxime)...he was in it when the earthquake hit, and only by inches made it out of his store!

I like others have many memories of this building called "one stop"! Everyone in the store made it our alive!

Life goes on in the streets, with ladies selling their daily goods.

This is a pole on the ground and connected to the pole is our transformer for the electricity. Those wires are also used to bring the electricity to the houses....it is not working. The "electric company" came to cut the live wires and just left everything there for a couple days. We did eventually get electricity again :)

John and his crew after completing the "lean two"

Luke....trying to fix everything :)

Almost there...John had this much done in one afternoon!

Karl and Joseph unloading the truck full of food.

Luke and Karl explaining to Maxime how to cook the food.

The packages of food upclose...I believe this is beans.

Unloading the truck of food

This little guy was hanging out...I have never seen a snake in Haiti before, so I thought I would capture the moment :)

Still unloading food...Praise the Lord from whom all Blessings flow!

So far.....

So here we are..... John and I have been here for 24 hours so far and LOTS of things have been done. Yesterday shortly after we arrived John went over to the chapel to see what his project looked like and develop a game plan for the next morning. While Luke, Karl, and John were discussing the "lean two" a truck load of food showed up. It took quite a few Haitians and Karl to unload the food and water, but it go done!

Unloading the 2,000 pounds of beans, huge bags of corn, and lots of bottled water (that came out of their packaging and were rolling all over the floor of the truck) :)

Karl, John, and Luke looking at the supplies and taking about what else they need

The big black container in the back here is the water tank and the thing wrapped in a tarp is the filters. This needs a roof over it to keep out dirt, junk in the air, and leaves.

Here are a couple of pictures of the destruction from the earthquake...

A Church

Apartment building

As you can see there is still TONS of stuff around to remind everyone of the earthquake. Luke and I just returned from driving around and gathering more supplies. While we were driving you cannot miss the tents that are up everywhere. Some are in parks, some are in fields, but these "tent cities" stretch so far in some places. Other tents you see in people's yards. They are still afraid to sleep in their homes so they are sleeping in their driveways.

Here

No wonder it is so hard for Luke to update this thing! I haven't been here that long and Luke has been running around doing tons of stuff, and every minute it seems the guard is pulling him away because someone is at the gate for him. Wow, poor Luke!

John and I are here, and praise the Lord we had no problems getting into Haiti (John had a hard night flying from Boston to Florida last night, but he is here) and we got our bags! It was awesome to see Luke, "awesome" actually doesn't describe it! We got to our "Haiti home" and had lunch then John, Luke, and Karl got right to work with the "lean two" thing for the water system. They have plans and already started the project. I do have pictures, but not sure if I will be able to post them on here. Those of you who have a facebook I did post some pictures on there.

While at the chapel a truck came to deliver food. There was 2,000 pounds of beans, tons of water, and even corn. There was a lot to unload, but what a blessing to have food to unload! We have a wonderful breeze blowing in through the windows and some clouds, not sure if it will rain, but I am going to post this before the Internet goes out, and then try to post pictures. Thank you all for your prayers, and hopefully I can update tomorrow! God Bless!

4:45

Good morning!!! It is currently 6:00 here in Ft. Lauderdale,FL where I stayed the night last night and continue my adventure today to Haiti. I woke up at 4:45am very excited to see my husband and actually hug him for the first time in almost two months. I am VERY excited! There are military and other relief help that have been in Haiti since the earthquake and have not had the opportunity to talk to their family never mind being able to see their loved ones; for this opportunity I am thankful!

Luke and I were talking last night and he was reminding me again that Haiti is not the Haiti that I remember. I have spent the last couple weeks thinking about this and trying to prepare my heart. Luke has been nonstop since he touched ground there, and I can just imagine the weight of being on the go, and seeing all the sad sights around you. We have close friends in Haiti, that have been greatly affected (like all the Haitians) and I am sure that will be hard to see them in their current situation.

I am hoping to post more when I am in Haiti, and post pictures as well. I do not think I will be as busy as Luke is and that should allow me to post more, but I also need to Internet to cooperate. So keep checking and hopefully I can update soon! Thank you for your prayers and support! I am feeling so much better and ready for this trip!

4 MORE HOURS :)