“If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.” Psalms 139:9-10

Recently I found myself reading in Psalms, which is not oddity and I’ve been there before, but I normally read or study one of Paul’s letters. One of my favorite verses, and what I call my travel verse, is Psalms 139:9. When traveling to Haiti, I normally fly into Miami in the evening, overnight there and leave on the first flight, which leaves right at sunrise, “the wings of dawn.” After flying several hundred miles over water, I land in Port Au Prince and “settle on the far side of the sea.” I can tell you for sure this verse came into mind after the earthquake and I said to God, “You really do have me in your right hand.”

But, when reading further, I came to Psalms 142, and after reading the first few verses, I had to stop because of what the last verse I read said to me. I had stopped with verse 4 and the last part of it says, depending on the translation you are reading; “no one cares for my soul”. Wow. What a situation the writer must have been in to feel that way, that they would feel that no one around them would even care about their soul, or life as some translations say.

Terry and I talked about this and how this verse came to us, right after we mentioned the need to provide Bibles for our school kids in Haiti. Naturally no one there has said anything like this to us and all of us know how much we care from them. We — all of us — help provide for the medical care they receive. All of us help provide for their daily nourishment, through the feeding programs and/or daily vitamins. All of us help provide for their education; some directly and others indirectly, but we have never directed anything quite so important to their spiritual bodies as a Bible.

To date, just over $700 has been given to purchase Bibles —  more than enough to buy for our smallest school, but we still need at least $2300 to buy for the rest of the school kids. In one month since we first mentioned this, we feel this is a very good start and are very thankful for those of you who have given and we are just asking that you pray and continue to pray for this.

The cholera epidemic there continues its run though the country, pretty much unabated. Estimates are that 200 people are dying each month. Most of the medical care that was there because of this has either left or is running low on money and have had to cut back on what they can do, so really, there is no end in sight.

In a report posted January 27, 2012, Sandra Mignot quoted a study done by William Bakun of the US Geological Survey, saying that the “2010 earthquake that devastated southern Haiti may have opened a new era of seismic activity and residents should brace for more massive temblors“. It goes on to say, “The 2010 Haiti earthquake may mark the beginning of a new cycle of large earthquakes on the Enriquillo fault system (it runs through southern Haiti) after 240 years of seismic quiescence.” To say the least, this is not what anyone wants to hear and will most certainly be in the back of anyone’s mind who lives or goes there. In the past week there have been at least 3 earthquakes in the Dominican Republic that ranged from a 5.2 to 4.1.

In February 2011 we wrote that there were over eight hundred thousand people living in tents or whatever they could live in or under. Now a year later, it is estimated there are still over five hundred thousand living in the same conditions. To say the country is still in shambles is an understatement.

With those things in mind, we and they are very grateful for your help in what we are able to provide in our villages. Without the assistance you provide, none of it would happen.

Please continue to pray for this country, about the Bibles and as always, thank you for all you do for our friends in Haiti.

Serving HIM together,

Steve and Terry