January 26, 2010
Greetings Friends and Family,
To some of you part of this is old news, but I am expanding the listening audience to include my friends in Haiti that might not have heard our story and I want them to know what is going on.
The Earthquake that hit on January 12th did minor damage to the homes on the Global Outreach Haiti compound, and even though there was a leadership conference in session at the conference center and us having a work team from the US, NO ONE was injured on our compound, Praise the Lord that even in earthquakes our place is an Oasis. The Haitian Academy next door to us sustained heavy damage to structures rendering most of them uninhabitable. Included in the lost buildings was their clinic. The Flourmill down in La Minotri lost their main production building. As the 9 story structure collapsed the displaced flour dust caused flash fires that severely burned several of their employees. Within minutes of the quake the ambulances from the mill started arriving with not only the burned victims but also those injured in the collapse. Our medical staff (Sheryl Brumley and Susan Bruns), as well as members from our work team, got thrust from a simple burn clinic into an ER Trauma Center. With their facilities gone the doctors and nurses from the Haitian Academy came over and assisted our staff in triage and treatment of the patients brought to us. The clinic at Hope Mission on the other side of TiTanyen was also over run by patients and the medical work team that was there at the time worked around the clock to treat the injured.
Ann played mother hen and gathered all the children on the compound together, loved on them, hugged them and reassured them that God still loved them and was watching over them. Through out the evening and days to follow she did what she does best loved on the kids and fed the staff.
The Leadership conference decided to cancel the rest of their session and Tim loaded a group up to try and get them into town. Not sure what the condition of road would be but he carefully ventured out. The road faired well with only a couple of places the showed signs of cracks forming. As he entered in to edge of Bon Repos he began to see buildings that had been damaged in the quake. The streets were full of people, both trying to get into town and those trying to get out of town. He was able to get the group all the way in to a major intersection and drop them off. On the trip back home he picked up a truckload of people trying to get to the TiTanyen area. As he left town the traffic was building and getting into town was becoming extremely difficult. When he arrived back at the mission the second load of people wanted to spend the night and go into town in the morning.
The next several days were a blur. Making multiple trips into Port-au-Prince and the airport. Picking up supplies being shipped in, sending teams out and picking teams up. The number of people on our compound swelled as aid teams used our facilities as a staging area for their work in the city. At one point we were feeding over 100 people. Bread became our first crises food. None of the bakeries were functioning so Ann started making bread and soon taught some of our Haitian staff. We had 3 ladies doing nothing but baking bread so that we could send sandwiches out with our teams for lunch. After about the second day we out grew the cooking capabilities of our volunteer quarters and so it was moved up to the conference center.
Early on after the quake talk in the adoption world turned to how to get the kids out off the country. Many people, including us, starting letter writing campaigns to their legislators trying to get their kids out. We had heard that our adoption lawyer was not injured in the quake and her offices were not damaged. Therefore her copies of our files were intact even though the government offices were our files were had been destroyed. Our biggest hurdle was communication. Immediately after the quake our cell phones quit working. As the days progressed service returned to parts of the city. On my first trip to the airport on Thursday the 14th I could call the US from my phone but couldn't call TiTanyen. So I would relay messages for David (in TiTanyen) through Judy (in Owensboro, KY). No one could call me but I could check in and pickup messages. By the first weekend the state department had implemented the "Humanitarian Parole" act to cover children in the process of being adopted, for which we qualified. Monday I went to find our orphanage director (Chris Nungester) and get copies of our paperwork. The only paper she didn't have was the decree from the Haitian bureau of Social Services, granting their approval for us to adopt Krislena. On my way home from visiting Chris I was able to reach the lawyer and she said she would send the document with her husband the next morning when he went to work (near the airport, were I had been spending my days anyway). Tuesday I had tried all morning to get a hold of the lawyer but couldn't, finally at noon her husband called me and gave me directions to get to his office. Earlier that morning Chris had told me that she had started the paperwork to get all her kids out of the country and Krislena was included in her list. Wednesday evening I got a call that Chris was trying to get a hold of me so I could have Krislena at the embassy the next morning to finalize the paperwork. I was able to get through to her and arranged to meet them at the embassy. Wednesday morning we arrived at the embassy but Chris and the rest of the orphanage kids were delayed in getting there so we went ahead and went into the embassy and started our paperwork. Three hours later we walked out with her Parole packet.
I had been trying to keep tabs on the flights in and out with Samaritan's Purse (who had begun moving onto our compound as a staging area for their humanitarian relief effort), Missionary Flights International (MFI) and Agape Flights (our mail service). All three organizations said that they would be willing to help get us out of the country if they had seats available. Agape at that time was flying only cargo flights with the 3 planes they were using. MFI had cargo and passenger service going but didn't think they would have anything on Friday, but thought they would have on Saturday. Most of these organizations didn't know what flights they were going to have until the day before or even the night before (partially because of the vast load of airplanes trying to get into the Port-au-Prince airport). The work team that we had with us at the time of the quake got about 4 hours notice of a flight out. Because of this uncertainty we had the kids pack a backpack with 3 changes of clothes and a church outfit. These set by the door for over a week. Ann and I thought that having Friday to finish packing up the house was a good idea and try and get on a flight out on Saturday or Sunday. During this time God was orchestrating having people in country that could step in and cover for us. Paul and Joyce Scott arrived Wednesday evening with a team from North Carolina, traveling across the border from the DR by bus.
We had sent an email to one of the missionary vets, she had expressed an interest in having our Jazzy (Ann’s Chihuahua), letting her know that we were about to evacuate and she could come and pick her up. When we got back from the embassy she came down the driveway. She hadn’t seen her email, as most of us checking email wasn’t real high up on the priority list, but had stopped by to pickup some aid supplies from Samaritan’s Purse and came over to see how we were. Just another of God’s divine appointments. We asked her if she could put Avril down, (Our 10 year old Shepard that had some health issues) we just didn’t want anyone else to have to deal with her. Dr. Kelly said she did have the meds to do that with her, so the family gathered around and said their goodbyes.
That evening after supper the comptroller for Samaritan’s Purse, Angie, came up to me and said that she had 7 seats on a flight leaving the next morning, did we want them? I went to Ann and asked if we could be ready to fly out in the morning. She didn’t miss a beat and said YES. Later we would both question the decision, but not God’s timing and provision. That evening we kicked the packing and sorting into HIGH gear. Our boys worked diligently into the wee hours of the morning with Ann and I and went daylight came the house packed as it could be. The plan is to ship our furniture and totes back to the states when the ports open back up and container begin moving again. For the time being what we could carry was it.
Our staff came down and prayed with us, and everyone said their goodbyes. Then I went down to pray with our Haitian men one last time and say my goodbyes. After loading the bags in the truck we made the rounds of all the Haitian ladies that were working to tell them goodbye. Not really goodbye but until we see them again, it might be there in Haiti if God ordains, but most definitely in Heaven in the grand reunion.
Goodbyes finished and tears shed we headed to towards the gate. Only to be met by Angie, with a look of concern on her face. What was up? The flight scheduler in Houston for the plane and I had been emailing back and forth into the wee hours of the morning concerning Krislena’s paperwork, the fact she didn’t have a passport or visa, and my passport which had expired. The embassy had told me that day that they were not renewing passports during the crises just to travel. The flight service wasn’t sure. I tried to reassure them that the embassy was fine with the state of my passport and that MANY children were currently traveling with just the Humanitarian Parole paperwork and immigration in the US was not having a problem with it. At 1:00am the flight service had relented and submitted the paperwork for us to travel, giving us the green light. At 9:00am the crew of the plane threw up the red flag and put a stop to our travels. They wouldn’t agree to take us on board, since I had committed to Ann to travel as a family then that flight was off. We headed back down the hill to the house and unloaded the suitcases. I gathered my stuff and was preparing to head into town to try and get us on another flight (you guessed it the phones still were not working). As I headed up the hill away from the house I met Angie running down the hill, shouting, “It’s on, it’s on.” As we would find out later Houston, the flight crew and immigration in West Palm Beach had a conference call. Immigration reassured the flight crew that neither my passport nor Krislena’s paperwork would be a problem. So back down the hill I went, we loaded everything back into the truck and we went looking for David to drive us into the airport.
The trip to the airport was uneventful. There was some initial confusion about which ramp the plane was going to arrive at. But even that was God ordained as it gave us the chance to say goodbye to our friends at MAF and some other missionaries that were evacuating on another flight with MFI. Once we were back at the main terminal we waited for our flight to arrive. While we waited my boys enjoyed seeing the sights of all the air traffic. Finally our flight arrived and after reassuring the flight crew that Krislena’s paperwork had not been tampered with was allowed to board. On arrival at West Palm Beach the staff in the Immigration office were most helpful in processing Krislena’s paperwork and we were allowed to pass into the US. Where she stands concerning her citizenship is unclear at this point since she entered under a Humanitarian Parole. But what we do know is that we have up to 2 years to figure it out. Once we get settled, God’s the only one that knows that for sure at the moment, and we’re ok with that because He sees the big picture, we will contact INS and try and figure it all out. We will also start the process of a US adoption, which surely shouldn’t take as long as the Haitian one was. For right now we are rejoicing that our sovereign Lord and Savior has brought us out of Haiti together and has great things in store for our future.
Our first night we stayed at a hotel in West Palm. We weren’t sure exactly what time we would be arriving or how long it would take to clear immigration, so it seems wise not to plan to travel anywhere that first evening. Besides we just needed to catch our breath. It was fun introducing the kids to: Elevators, self serve ice machines, water fountains, automatic flush toilets, traffic that flows orderly to name a few. Saturday afternoon we caught a train and traveled to our good friends Dale and Jane Heule who live outside of Tampa, FL. They had to evacuate from Haiti in 1994 so understand some of what we are going through and have been very supportive during this time of transition.
Tomorrow, Wednesday 27th, we will be flying up to Atlanta and connecting with friends and supporters in the area before catching the train to Hattiesburg, MS on Friday.
Where do we go from here? Katherine, our eldest daughter, is in college in Hattiesburg. Last week before we left Haiti she had been working with her supervisor (Tim) at the BSU on campus trying to locate a house that we could use for a month or two until God opened the next door. A couple just outside of town had an apartment upstairs of their house that they allowed people in ministry to use. One morning the Lord laid on their hearts that they needed to do some thing for a family ministering in Haiti. Later that morning Tim called the couple to see if they had anyone in their apartment at the moment. They said no, Tim said that he had a missionary family that was evacuating from Haiti would they be willing to let us use their apartment, they said YES. It is SO fun to watch God work. Ann’s mom had already been locating bunk beds for our boys, so over this past weekend Ann’s folks moved them into the apartment. After a time of rest we plan to travel and visit many of you that have supported us over the years. So stay tuned for the Kendall Klan may be coming to your area.
Time and time this past week I’ve been brought back to the verse: “And we know that in ALL things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.” Romans 8:28. We have seen the good that God has worked in this Haitian tragedy in our lives. My prayer is that my Haitian brothers and sisters, as well has the missionaries we’ve worked with over the years will be able to see God’s good works in their lives through this also. I also pray that they will be reminded of what God told Joshua as he took over leading the Israelites, “No one will be able to stand up against you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you.” Joshua 1:5. Knowing that God will not let us stand-alone is comforting.
Continuing to walk in the grip of His grace,
Tim & Ann Kendall
