Pete Parting

Haiti Trip September 2022 Review: Part 3

When we last tuned in Pete and Phil were on the edge of a dilemma. (Be careful not to do that too long you can inflict serious damage to one’s self.) What should they do? Protest, gangs, storms, and shortages seemed to challenge the timely decision. Ultimately James cast the lot. He thought he could make the trip safely to the airport on Sunday morning. He even toyed with the idea of not using a police escort to minimize the possibility of a schedule leak.

The cushy life on a tropical island soon soothed our ardent adventures. That is fancy talk for they sweat like crazy, improvised at every turn and had fun doing it. Phil relayed the story of setting up the batteries. He had installed a second batter to the solar system before they were reprogrammed. The inverters would not recognize the new addition. The inverter tech specified the exact order of flipping switches to make the inverters work. But that was to no avail. Phil tried a different order. Viola, everything worked. Don’t tell the experts, they might be out of a job.

Remember the three totes of supplies. They did not arrive on time. In fact, at the time of the writing they are still in negotiations to reduce the fee per tote from $1000 to something more affordable. Without those supplies the persevering pair chose to come up with alternative tasks.

Phil wired outlets, fans and lights in the team center that ran off the solar system.

Pete turned air brake specialist and tried to replace an air tank on the yellow bus. He was circled by eager adolescent advisors but lacked the brass to finish the job. (As in not having the right brass fittings.)

Pete & Phil reattached the plastic slide on the swing set.

Phil installed the main electrical supply wire from the Pavilion to Dorm 2. Pete helped by finding the only piece of UV plastic conduit at the orphanage. Surprise, it was just the right length. God had provided it 3 years ago.

Pete and Phil calibrated the water filter system. A 10-minute job took 3 hours to figure out that Pete and Phil could not fix the water flow gauge. But did such impossible obstacles thwart our awesome adventures? NO! THE ISSUE: They needed to set the system at a flow of 1 gallon per minute without a flow meter. God’s creativity won the day when they took a 5-gallon bucket and a stopwatch to determine the flow. Jacklyn found a funnel and a gallon jug to perfect the measurements. It took four trial settings and the system was set exactly where it needed to be.

That is not all. Our hot heroes played games with the kids. They meet with the staff to affirm and encourage. They listened to stories of faith and perseverance. They help break ground for the new school for 500 kids. They prayed lots. All in a couple days work.

Then the course of the story changed again. On Saturday, James reported that he would not be able to drive to the airport on Sunday.

Option 2 was to drive part way and take motorcycles the rest of the way to avoid roadblocks by protestors.

Soon Option 2 became Option 3 which was hiring one of three tactical assault vehicles to take the dangerous Americans to the airport.

Option 3 fell through when Option 4 was settled on. Pete and Phil would be escorted in James’s vehicle by two police cars, maybe. (Phil related it was odd to be in a room with people negotiating what your life was worth.)

Turns out Option 4 gave way to Option 5. Option 5 was a police pickup with 4 armed and armored policemen. James followed the escort just like in the movies.

The rest of the trip was mostly mundane. God guided the radical rascals pass the dangers in the streets, through the check points at the airport and across the continent to Dallas.

It was in Dallas that Pete was reminded of how God works. Pete did not sleep well Saturday night. He had been up 21 hours after a long and demanding week. Plopping his carcass down on the Hotel Shuttle seat Pete was done in. He was focused on a long nap. That is when the lady next to him in the shuttle began to talk. From the fog of his consciousness Pete began to relate God’s story about the orphanage and school. He focused on being polite and not slurring his words. As the tried travelers neared the place of repose, the lady asked, “How can I give to this project?” God used Pete’s weakness to raise funds for His Orphans. Never underestimate what God can do. Show up!

...Oh yea, at the Hotel, Pete tipped the driver with the last of the cash he had. Pete had spent $285 more than he had taken for all the costs and fees of the trip. How does that work? God had stuffed Pete’s vest pockets with extra cash from previous trips just for a time like this.

Praise the Lord!

Tornado Pete