Last night had to be one of my most miserable ever in Haiti. We returned to find one of our generator batteries not working which meant we couldn’t use the generator. Also, the electrician couldn’t come until this morning to fix it. To sum it up, we had no electricity in our house all night and the heat was stifling. John and I went up on the roof for a while until we couldn’t sit on the hard cement any more. I tried sleeping on the sofa in our living room and finally woke up in the middle of the night sweating. During the time it was pitch black and local warring gangs in the neighborhood came together to fight each other. Hurling broken bottles and rocks, they threatened each other and created quite a ruckus. It was the second time this week. The old man who works on furniture right across from our gate had his makeshift structure destroyed (again.) Another fellow who makes and sells concrete blocks stepped into the street this morning only to find the majority of his blocks broken up and strewn through the street.

It was hard to discern in the darkness where exactly the gang was located and it sounded as if they were hurling rocks at our front gate to get in. Finally, I heard two shots and thought it was our guard scaring them away, when in reality it was the police. The rest of the night, I had a nervous upset stomach. That, and the smothering heat left me exhausted. Of course, Prit slept like a log through it all and John slept on the cool tile in the hallway.

It’s amazing how one situation can cause your goals to shift completely! Now, all I can think about is getting a couple of solar panels to put on our roof to avert ever having to sleep in the dark again, not to mention the maddening heat. I will post the prices when I get them, but would you like to help us get started? If so, you can send a gift to:

The Lord’s Table
PO Box 11049
Goldsboro, NC 27532

** Please make your check to The Lord’s Table and earmark it HAITI / SOLAR PANELS

Meanwhile, we also ask your prayers for protection over this neighborhood. We were glad that our team from CBN had already returned stateside before the electricity failed us.