Mom called yesterday & said that theres a group of 10 doctors from Kansas, who are sleeping in their yard. During the day they go out & treat people. Abby has been helping with bandaging & shots. Sounds like they will all have stories to tell when they come home! :)
Sara

We got a welcome call from Mandie yesterday again...There's 6 girls left at the home now...they're talking about finishing out their school year with a Haitian teacher.

Mandie's kept busy with washing and cooking. This weekend they'll be switching work crews with a couple hours of quiet in between. The crews will actually be seeing each other at the D.R. border, switching vehicles and moving on to their destinations. They have so appreciated the men that were there...they added so much spice..work got done...and most importantly brought HOPE to go on! A HUGE thanks to all you wives and children out there who sacrificed!!! She is SO looking forward to her homecoming in the beginning of April...and staying for 3 weeks!! PRAY ON...there's still decisions to be made,and a lot of work to be done..pray for stamina esp. for the menial tasks! Thanks to ALL for your caring and supporting us here and the mission staff and work at Leogane!!! GOD"S GOT IT!!
Mary Ann King

Google Earth Image Date January 21, 2010

Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this is the location of the girls home.
Also found this site with 100+ photos from Leogane after the quake
http://www.flickr.com/photos/carelp/sets/72157623093421961/

High Five!! Dave got a call from Mandie after Winter Bible School last night and actually handed the phone around to some of her friends! It was so good to hear from her...we had been telling each other that it's about time again!

She said there was another big tremor Yesterday morning (Tues) again,and then a much smaller one later in the day. It left her feeling on edge...The work crew is leaving this weekend, making room for a new one coming in.

She's still sleeping outside on a mat..that would be for 2 weeks now.She sleeps well though, which is amazing under the conditions.

There's still 4 girls left at the home along with 2 yard ladies. They will be taking month-long shifts, since some of them live a distance away.

She's still anxious for us to come down, and we're still just waiting to see what happens! Pray that we would be ok with God's timing And trust Him in all of this!! We were scheduled to leave Feb. 10th. Pray for the staff too as they come up with a new schedule...new roles...and yes, a new normal!
By: Mary Ann

Cristen Mullet's Photos of Leogane and scenery in Haiti.

For those of you who wanted to see some pictures of Leogane, and also family members who are there.... these are for you.



These photos were taken by Cristen Mullet and are photos of Leogane as well as some scenery (quotes by Cristen Mullet). Damage on the inside.

Damage to the back-right corner of the house

Helicopters flying over us all day, planes with e-relief land on the road not far from the compound
Rock slides, many of these
Final meeting before the first girls leave for home
Fixing the water tank
Supper at Dwayne n Heidi's

Rubble, rubble, and more rubble!!!
What do we do first? What do we do next???
The back wall by the pastor's house.

Call from Nashville????

Tonight the caller ID announced a call from Nashville, TN. I answered and it was Mandie. She was calling from her cell phone and is still very much in Haiti!

Her, Ang, Trish and her Dad and Cristen Mullet are spending the night somewhere in a town she wasn't sure how to spell. They took 8 girls home today. The one they might be taking along back to Leogane due to a bad home situation not related to the earthquake. Mandie said they'll be sleeping outside there too. I'm still trying to figure out who this girl is that keeps calling and mentioning sleeping outside like it's no big deal!

The cell phone connections are getting much better. It was very clear tonight! We got cut off several times but she was able to call right back.

Mandie said they might stop at an internet cafe tomorrow morning. Mandie if you're reading this you had better identify yourself and leave a comment!!

building update

I talked to Mike. He said they are working on getting things cleaned up &
going again. The wiring was messed up, water pipes were leaking & the
list could go on. They had a fellow stop in from another mission who is
a structural engineer & he said the main house is safe to work in but not
to sleep in. The corners don't have cracks but there are quite a few
cracks other places that will need to be reinforced somehow to make it
safe again. Getting the front wall fixed though will be their first
priority. They are still having tremors, just this morn. they had
another one. They are able to buy fuel again which we are very thankful
for. Please pray for wisdom & protection for the ones there. Joy Yutzy

news from the land of tremors

Abigail called last night! We talked for a long time with clear connections.
She thought these next days looked interesting with Samaritan's Purse coming to set up a water purifier in their compound, a 500 gal. tank. They(Samaritan's Purse) want to distribute it out of the church house then.Also this morning some are going to help/watch food and water distribution in Leogane.
She thought it was a pretty sad time when the girls had to leave yesterday. She enjoyed going along and seeing some more of the country.
The tremors keep coming several times a day. They had a pretty hard one before she called.She's looking forward to being on "solid ground" again before long.
So we'll keep praying and trusting. :)
Thanks for starting the blog and those who contribute,we check it often :) We second the thanks to the families of those who went to help.

Going

Cleared to go!-One day to get ready!
-Mabel

Correction

Mandie called me today while I was at Costco. She wanted to make a correction from last night. She did not go along today and they went somewhere else than where she said. Of course I don't remember where and I'm not even sure who all went but I know Ang went and Cristen Mullet. They expect them back this evening.
She said it was almost like a funeral around there this morning as the girls were getting ready to leave. Some of them will probably never see each other again.
Tomorrow she's going along and they won't come back until Saturday.
I could hear helicopters in the background. I asked her if they're seeing soldiers. She said yesterday one stopped in and was looking for the 700 others from his unit/country. She found it pretty funny that he was lost!
She mentioned again how good it is to have the group of men there! So to the wives/families here at home Thank-you for your gift of letting them go!!
Pray for their safety as they travel taking the girls to their homes.
The call she made today was clear most of the time. She was almost as surprised as I was when I answered! She said she only had to try 4 times before it went through. We got disconnected once and she was able to call back immediately.

Reassuring Contact...

Talked to Dwight and the girls & with his help found my passport, thankfully, after panicking! Had to ask one of the church men to come unlock the safe-goodness!
We'll find out tomorrow if we can for sure go Saturday.
The tremor this morning lasted 8 seconds; by the time Dwight sat up and looked around for his glasses, it was lessening. One of the guys ran out the entrance of the umba piece (thier contrete gazebo), the other over the low wall. Mike never did get up. :) It was Duanes' first night back in their house, they were out fast....They all have my sympathies.
One group of girls are going home tomorrow, Kijak. They seem happy to be going home.
Samaritan's Purse is coming with lots of tarps.
They said a soldier walked into the compound today and said that Argentina is sending about 700 soldiers in, just to keep order, etc.
Thank you for your prayers, keep it up!
Mabel

Mandie Called

Mandie called!!! We huddled around the phone to catch every word!! The earthquake this morning was in her words BAD, but not AS bad. The work crew was in the thatched roof area and Mike just stayed laying but a few of them came running out and Trish's Dad could feel for the girls and understand why they freak out! We soon got disconnected (like after 5min.), but she called back some minutes later and then we talked for long, but she couldn't hear ME very well, till towards the end it got better. She said to keep trying...she tried OFTEN today now got thro after trying for about 10 min. She said we should try calling oftener, we might be able to get thro better than they can. She asked if we're still coming and expressed her passionate desire for us to...IF our flight isn't canceled and this country is still safe.(Our 3 oldest and I have tickets for Feb 10 that we've had since Christmas).

They looked around in Leogane, maybe today...and she described it as "not near all the houses are down...contrary to reports they'd heard, but stuff is crushed! All the schoools in Leogane are flat! They're actually seeing aid coming in to Leogane! "we see airplanes and helicopters all the time 20 times a day and more than that!"

They land on the road.

They're hearing that there may be riots starting, and if that would happen they would possibly be sent home for a couple months. Their wall is part way down and so people could just come on in. She said it's probably down to her height.

Future tentative plans...I think she said Tim and Jo are coming back for a couple weeks and Dwayne's will go home to have their baby. The girls would take turns coming home for a while to catch their breath. Mandie herself would possibly come home the end of March, staying till the end of April.

They're starting w/ transporting the girls to their homes, leaving tomorrow, staying overnite and coming back Friday. Cristen Mullet, who was under CAM for 3 yrs and knows the language will be their driver. Ang, Mandie, Trish and her father will be accompanying 8or9 girls to their homes in Pisali, about 2? hrs away. They'll leave around 9 in the morning(Thursday), so you can pray for their safety!This is the general area that Dudu is from. At first the girls were quite ecstatic to be going home, but now today they were grouchy and hangy! A couple girls will come back after a couple weeks because of their home situation. Sat. more girls will leave and I think Mon. a 10 hr trip. She said they'll hang out w/ the girls tonight. It's very comfortable weather wise to be sleeping outside...she sleeps well, partly cuz she's so tired by the time she gets there!The mosquitoes are bad but they now have tarps to sleep under and helps keep the dampness away.

Heidi's in charge of cooking, while the rest of the girl's focus is on getting the girls ready to go home.

I think it gets a little thick around there...no personal space, and people around all the time!But she has all good to say about the work crew that's there...A really great group of guys!!! They say the house is repairable..there's a couple really big cracks on the inside and out. They say it's OK to be in there. They are now using the shower in there. They were thankful to have some welders in the crew..they fixed the lil truck so they could take it tomorrow. They're working like crazy!!..fixing the lil 'girl's bathroom figuring how many blocks it's gonna take to fix the wall, two of the guys went out too PAP for water-related errands.

They talked about getting a SAT phone. The men get frustrated because they can't get through to their wives! It tickles the girls because they know with board members there there will be results!!

Mandie said: "right after I lifted my head this morning, I hear: mandie are you planning to give lollipops today?"
by: Mary Ann

Text From Mandie

Received a text message from Mandie saying: "Love and Miss you all"
Also gave a number she wanted us to try calling. We haven't been able to get through yet but we'll keep trying!!

Canadian Sailors Reach Leogane

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/s/capress/100119/national/haiti_earthquake_cda_leogane

http://thechronicleherald.ca/Front/9014887.html

another earthquake.

Earthquake Details

Magnitude	6.1
Date-Time	Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 11:03:44 UTC Wednesday, January 20, 2010 at 06:03:44 AM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	18.428°N, 72.875°W
Depth	9.9 km (6.2 miles) (poorly constrained)
Region	HAITI REGION
Distances	60 km (35 miles) WSW of PORT-AU-PRINCE, Haiti 95 km (60 miles) ENE of Les Cayes, Haiti 160 km (100 miles) SSW of Cap-Haitien, Haiti 1110 km (690 miles) SE of Miami, Florida

Leaving for Haiti

We talked to Dwight & the girls this morning.
Emily says the little girls are doing good. Also keep praying for them as they continue to make desicions.
God answered our prayers for Ada. On top of that, I get to go along as well- how amazing! Dwight had urged me to come- there was a spot for me with Ada Stolzfus, going with a C.A.M group, leaving Saturday, the 23rd.
Praising and thanking God for His amazing protection; Laurie says there is story after story!
Thank you for praying!
-Mabel

Angela says the first personnel with aid arrived last eve @ Leogane. Traffic is now going and they have gas out in town so that feels good. They made the decision today to take the little girls back home to the country beginning the end of the week and into next week because of construction workers being around there now would not be practical for them being there. She said it really is beginning to feel a little more normal now with the men taking care of their more basic needs around the place. Such as flipping breakers for lights & the generators etc. that probably all got messed up during the quake. They are now sleeping under tarps that the men brought along down. They are very grateful for their well in the yard with the pump to get water. With mason skills & the combination of other workmanship they got right to work on the house. They are taking one day at a time before making any further decisions. Thank you for praying! Leona

Pray...

Please pray for Ada Stolzfus as she looks for a way to go to Haiti.

We praise God for the safe travels and timely manner the men were able to get there. We keep realizing more and more how devastated the rest of Leogane is. Lets keep praying for all those working to make a difference.
The Florida Haiti auction is coming up this weekend, let pray for things to go smoothly and efficiently, as they have had an overwhelming response.
We are still thanking Him for many miracles in the lives of His children all over Haiti. The Mast family

They've Arrived

I'm listening to Mary Ann talk to Mandie on the speakerphone. The connection is fairly good. The men arrived this afternoon around 2:30 and according to Mandie went right to work. Praise The Lord that they were able to arrive so quickly. Mandie said they're was a lot of shouting and her and Ang went and sat in the corner and wished their dads were there too.

Mandie says they had a hard time making them stop working long enough to eat supper. She said it's just so encouraging to have someone come in there and just take charge and start working!

Mandie sounds good! I hear hope in her voice. The tremors are still relentless! The ground just keeps shaking.

She really requested prayer for wisdom for decisions that need to be made in the next several days.

Prayer Requests.

Pray for smooth transaction for the men at the border, sounds like there's a back log.
Also safety for travel; Concerns about road blocks and robberies.
To be able to get there as soon as possible.
And for grace and grit and compassion.

We heard it made national news that the town of Leogane still hasn't had help.
We pray they get help soon.

Sara...for the Mast family

from the mast family

We did talk to Em tonight. My dad has this Penny Talk thing that you
can call for only like 2 cents. He tried and tried and tried to call &
it just wouldn't go through. Then FINALLY it went through and he talked
to her for like 20-30 minutes then it cut off. Then he tried again and
talked for only about 10 min, maybe not even that. But Em said there's
nobody out there. Not even Red Cross. She was kinda disappointed,
but she was VERY glad that my dad & the other guys are coming.
She said they walked through the streets a little today and saw feet
sticking out of places and i think they cleaned out their rooms today
and they did find their passports. thankfully.

Sara....for my mom :)

A group of men
Elmer Stoltzfus, BRIC member from Dwayne and Heidi's church
Mike Yutzy, BRIC member from Dundee, Ohio
Nelson Gingerich, father of Heidi
Dwight Mast, father of Emily
Marion Mullet, father of Trish
Cristen Mullet, he just came home from a 2-yr. term of serving in Haiti and is returning

They plan to fly out of Pittsburg Saturday and into the Dominican Republic. They hope to arrive at Leogane on Sunday sometime.

new blog.

because those who are so dear to us are far away and in an intense part of their journey.
we created a blog to keep the family and friends of the Leogane Girls Home informed.
for more information or too add something please contact me at notomes@gmail.com
Thanks. Anita