A DAY OF MIRACLES!

This morning before 7:00, I got a call from Pastor Maude Hyppolite, the dear friend whom I have worked with and about whom I have been so concerned since the earthquake two weeks ago. She is indeed alive and well. I was elated at the sound of her voice, to know first-hand about her and the situation in Petit Goave.

The people there that I know and love all survived the earthquake. Not a child was lost at the school. For that I certainly praise God. But the situation is dire. Little, if any, relief has reached them in the town. There is little food available, and what there is has such inflated prices that no one can afford to buy it. Almost everyone is hungry. Pastor Maude is sleeping outside on the ground, without any covering, because the Mission House is not safe. The fire that occurred at the time of the quake caused serious damage in the kitchen. The structure itself has not been declared safe for her to return. They continue to experience after shocks, and according to news from our relief organization, UMCOR, there is a possiblilty of a third quake.

I told her that food is on the way, being loaded onto a container as she and I were speaking--good news to her, of course. I asked what we could do that we are not doing, and she told me they needed a tent to protect them from the weather. Right now it is not raining, but the rains are expected soon. I promised that somehow I would find a tent and get it to her.

I hung up the phone and literally cried out to the Lord. I didn't know how to find a tent. I certainly did not know how I would get it to her. I can't put into words all the emotions I felt as I imagined that lovely, little woman of dignity sleeping on the ground out in the open. I told the Lord I had no idea either where to find a tent or how to get it to Maude.

Later at my office, I surfed the web looking for tents and began making phone calls. That is when the miracles began! I reached a man in South Florida whom I did not know, told him of my need, and he promised me not A tent, but tents! I told him of my prayer this morning and that I was sure he was an answer to that prayer. Then he told me of his morning prayer. He needed the name of someone on the ground in Petit Goave whom he could trust, someone to whom he could direct the containers to Petit Goave. "You," he said, "have given me the name of the person I needed."

And so, God has arranged for the tents not just to go to Petit Goave but to Maude Hyppolite, along with a whole container of food! When I hung up the phone, I cried again! How like our God! I cry for a tent for a woman in Petit Goave. My new friend asks for the name of a person in Petit Goave. I call, and God puts the need and the name together! Only God could have arranged this!

The container will leave south Florida the last of this week. Pastor Montreuil Milord will go to Petit Goave in time to meet the shipment, and he will arrange for the distribution of goods. Soon food--and a tent--will be in the hands of our friend Maude Hyppolite and our friends there.

Tomorrow, concerned members at the church will gather at 3:00 to pray for the protection of our container, for the safety of the men who will move the food from the ship and give it to the needy ones, and for the on-going help needed for Petit Goave.

I thank you for your prayers! And as you say them, please remember to thank him for the amazing answers of those spoken this morning.