Praise the Lord! Praise the Lord! I just heard from my friend Montreuil Milord, a Haitian who lives in Homestead. One of his sisters got through to him on a cell phone, and finally I have some news for all of us who have been so anxious!

• Pastor Gesner Paul, the new bishop of the Haitian Methodist Church, is alive and unharmed!
• Pastor Maude Hyppolite, my dear friend in Petit Goave, is alive and well!
• Montreuil's family in Petit Goave is alive and unharmed!

These people have been the focus of my own concern, and this is the first news I have had from them. Montreuil was laughing in his joy at this good news this morning! We know that the road ahead for repairs and recovery of the area is going to be long and hard, but how we praise God that these folks have been spared.

Montreuil's sister had no news of Carrenage. Perhaps I can get it now, and as soon as I do, I'll tell you.

There is damage in Petit Goave. Montreuil's family's home collapsed but no one was harmed. Some damage also occurred on the property that his family owns, but again, the families are all right.

The need for supplies and help is huge, but we cannot send money yet because many of the banks collapsed. I'll find out as soon as I can if the bank that I can transfer money to for Maude is still in existence.

The sister told Montreuil that the damage in the area is extensive and that it will take weeks and weeks to return to some sense of normal; however, about 70% of the cell phone towers have been repaired, so we should be able to get through by phone now.

All the aid appears to be going to Port au Prince, and I guess that is understandable. My church is taking a love offering for our friends in the area in which we have been working, and we will hold that until I am told how to get it to them. Montreuil says that we should NOT mail money to Haiti right now because it will probably be intercepted. I am such an innocent that I think if the check is made out to a person only that person can cash it. He assures me that is not true in Haiti. I tell you this to let you know that I am being very careful about any money that I am given to be sure that it gets to the place the donors intended.

One other bit of good news that will not only be a help to Haiti but will give us some contact with the people there is this. Dale Evans is our custodian, a man I love very much. He has two sons, one a youth pastor in Covington, LA, and the other in the Coast Guard. Jonathan is taking fifteen men from his church to Haiti next week to work wherever they are needed. Andrew is being deployed this week to Haiti. Please pray for these men and their ministry there.

All our plans for a trip this year to Haiti have now been put on hold indefinitely. This is a terrible disappointment to all of us, but it is the only thing to do. As soon as we can regroup, we'll determine where we are needed and we will go.

Please pray for our friends in Petit Goave and Carrenage. I'm glad they are not having to cope with the media frenzy in Port au Prince, but I am praying that they will not be overlooked in their monumental need for help in recovery of their damage--even though it is considerably less than than in Port au Prince.

God bless you, each one who reads this. I am so grateful for your prayers. We think we are the ones who "do" things, but it is really God who is at work. Your prayers make huge differences in the lives of the people in Haiti. I'm still not sure how prayer works, but then I don't even understand electricity and I certainly don't understand radio waves! Prayer is many times more powerful than either of these two.