A crowd of people waiting to see what is brought out from the cleanup. Please pray for these people and their overwhelming losses!

Dad’s Facebook status last night read, “Saw too much today – really overwhelmed by it all. Good night. I am, well…”  This made my heart really heavy for him.  On one of the pictures of the rubble he had posted, his comment said that they were starting to do some burning to cover up the smell of all the dead bodies.  It is very easy to write a blog post, say a quick prayer, call dad throughout the day, and forget quickly what he is going through as I pick up and go about my daily business.  But, then, I see the pictures and read the comments.  That changes my heart and my prayers.  It breaks me for the Haitian people, and breaks me for workers, like my dad.  The picture at the top of this post is just one of the many, many heartbreaking ones he has posted.   

They moved to work on the Presidential Palace and the police station.  Many groups are camping out on the roofs of buildings.  Before moving, he reported to my mom that they had been bitten by bed bugs and that the hotel was quite infested.  Lovely!  So, for those of you who read my prior posts and thought my mention of a “hotel” meant dad was vacationing in Haiti…  Ha!  Not quite the hotel most of us would envision staying in. 

Every time I talk to him, he is extremely busy.  You can hear noise in the background, and he says the whole city is buzzing, as everyone works really hard.  They have had trouble on and off with the chlorinators on their water systems.  Please keep this specific situation lifted up in prayer.  Also, they are working so hard and quickly running out of supplies.  He said the world is there- there are Chinese and Germans, along with others and the Americans, of course.

Again, you can follow dad’s updates on Twitter @52bharper or on Facebook- Bob Harper.  Here are the latest pictures:

Dad- the facial hair is growing

Clean water for the police station- 400 gallon tank

Notice it says "Self Heating" and "3 yr. shelf life"?! Looks like someone will need a detox when they get home...

Dad was able to translate for her, and got her into the doctor faster.

Federal Building. They pull bodies out and bag them, and search for tax papers. Taxes won't be collected. Citizens may be happy about this, but this means no means of income for island.

Here is an example of the handy work of dad's team.

Youth With a Mission tents- they are camping out in front of the Presidential Palace

Dad in front of the drip water bucket filtration systems. Texas Baptist Men sent them, 10,000 have arrived!

On a side note, for those of you who miss the “health” aspect of this blog.  Know what we sent dad with to make sure he stays healthy while in Haiti?  Colloidal Silver!  He is using it as his hand sanitizer, and spraying it in his mouth, ears, nose and eyes several times a day.  He also takes it orally.  Colloidal silver is great when you go on trips and when you come down with something at home.  So there is your tip for the day .

So often we watch the news or read the stories, and we don’t react.  We are numb.  I think it is good to put ourselves in these people’s shoes.  By the grace of God, I am not walking through this!  If I was, though, I would hope there would be a Bob Harper to minister to me!  I would hope people would pray for me, as if I was their family member.  I have a new perspective after reading “Crazy Love“.  I highly recommend this book, especially in light of all that has gone on in our world these past few weeks.

Dad left DFW Wednesday morning, and after a long day of traveling, he arrived in Florida.  He and his team were there for two nights, as they waited for all the paperwork and clearance to be on their way to help in Haiti.  A private owner of a jet allowed them to use his plane to get to Haiti.  People’s generosity amazes me!  Here is the article that made the Dallas Morning News today of them boarding the plane.  The news is down in Haiti following them too, so I am watching closely for other stories.  Also, CNN is there.  Here is a picture (he has a better one of him with her that he hasn’t uploaded) my dad took of Christiane Amanpour, a CNN reporter, who asked to board their plane as they were getting off so she could leave Haiti:

This morning, he said he woke up at 4:30AM to a group of Haitians singing praise and worship songs acapella outside of his tent.  How convicting is it that people are that devoted to the Lord that they would wake up to praise him amidst all that they have experienced.  He was extremely blessed by their faith and convicted by their dedication!  The heat was almost unbearable, and he had a headache all day.  They are working on water filtration for a children’s hospital and an orphanage.  Here are some other pictures he shared:

This is the station where they charge their phones.

This is one of their filtration system, it will provide 6,000 gallons a day of clean water.

My dad and his team (dad on far left)

 They drove through the capital tonight to survey all the damage.  They are staying in a hotel, tonight, instead of their tents.  Although the view out of their hotel window is definitely not what you would see on a typical vacation, as you can imagine.  He said that the presidential palace looks like something you would see in a “Ripley’s Believe It Or Not”; in fact, he said all the buildings either lean and look like this or they are simply rubble.  He told me there are 6 story building lying everywhere in shambles, saying, “there must still be thousands of people buried under all this rubble, Cindy.”  He met a filmmaker who lives in Canada but is originally from Haiti.  He told my dad that he had dreaded coming back to his country, but the Lord had really laid it on his heart.  He was so glad he had obeyed because he was able to pull 5 of his family members’ bodies out of buildings.  

Homeless Haitians camping out around the pool outside dad's hotel.

He also said he had to step over human feces in the street tonight as they walked to dinner.  A football field is nearby where they are staying, camped out on it are at least 15,000 homeless.  He said they are starting to sell off what little possessions they have left.  They are constantly experiencing aftershocks and electricity loss.  Generators run around the clock. 

Beam at dad's hotel, most of Haiti's buildings- if still standing- look this way.

Girls at an orphanage in Carrefour, Haiti

He said he spoke to a Haitian man who told him that he knew the Lord was allowing them to go through this tragedy because they are strong, hard working people.  “Tomorrow is another day”, the man told my dad, “and we will keep rebuilding.  We are going to get through this, so we can be of help if another nation has to go through something and needs us.”  Isn’t that amazing?  People’s faith and determination!  

Dad said the faith based organizations are working so hard, there are so many of them helping, and they are accomplishing a lot.  Unfortunately, he reported something that angered him and broke his heart.  This morning he said the UN personnel pulled up in their air-conditioned vans.  He said they pretty much sit in their airconditioned cars all day, not doing much to help.  One of the ladies was yelling back to her colleagues in the car, asking them what cold drink they would like to order.  My dad walked up to her and told her that she should strongly consider giving their drinks to the Haitian guards who are guarding their compound.  He explained to her that they are working so hard to protect the personnel helping, and that they do not have food or drink.  How sad to see this dichotomy! 

Survivor!

Normally, when they are not in the middle of the capital- like they are tonight- they are staying in a compound with other medical personnel.  They will be working on assembly water filters so that the people can have clean water.  They brought MREs with them to eat, and are camping in tents.  I asked if he had plenty to eat today, he told me yes but that he had not had enough water.  It breaks my heart as I type this:  He said as he experienced the effects from not drinking enough, all he could think of were all the thousands of Haitians who have little to no water, and what they do have is not clean.  Hopefully daddy can change that for them this week!  I apologize for the long post, but I am just so amazed and proud of him!  I love my dad, and miss him very much.  He covets your prayers.  This is definitely an experience of a lifetime!  I asked him to journal daily so that he could blog when he returns.  You can friend him on Facebook- Bob Harper- or follow him on Twitter @52bharper.  His journey will bless your heart!