Update on Janice's Trip to Haiti

From an email I sent to Janice's email list regarding her trip to Haiti.

I’m going to do my best to keep you all updated on Janice’s trip to Haiti. She has an international Blackberry, and hopefully will be able to use it while down there. We agreed that she would email me updates. I’ll then pass them to you via email. Also, I’ll be updating our family blog at www.hidalgothamily.blogspot.com, and my Facebook account, so you can keep tabs there too.

We found out yesterday, that she’ll be flying this afternoon (Sunday) on a private jet to Miami. The plan is to hotel there, then head to Port-au-prince a day early (Monday).

She’s a little concerned that she brought too much, and needs to figure out a way to pare it down, so please pray for her to have practical wisdom in that regard.

Below is an email from our friend Nate who is leading the trip, just to give you some more insight.

Blessing to all of you…

Jay

--------

Hello again friends. Tomorrow I leave for 8 days in Haiti. I am leading a team of 14 RN’s, doctors, and paramedics. This will be our church’s 3rd team.

The reports coming from our returning teams are really heartbreaking. Whatever you see on CNN doesn’t do it justice. I encourage you to do whatever you can to help the Haitians! Pray, Give or Go! But do something. Don’t look on passively.

Our teams say that there are children orphaned by the earthquake just roaming the streets without a place to live. In many cases, 5 year olds are taking care of 3 year olds as they fend for themselves on the street. Others are being preyed on by traffickers or people looking to gain something from them.

Pray for us as we go. We are in this for the long haul! Part of my purpose in going is to scout out a section of the city that we will commit to rebuild from the ground up, much like we did in Sri Lanka after the tsunami. I need to connect with the right people and have the wisdom of God as I go! Pray for Jamie too as she’ll be staying behind.

Another desire of ours is to see if we can help the process of getting Haitian kids adopted. Jamie and I have offered to adopt, and we have rallied 11 other couples in our movement who have stepped up to do the same. I love the body of Christ! We don’t know where this will head, so pray for that too!

Just getting into Haiti has been an incredible effort. Two different Texas businessmen have offered the use of their private jets so we can get there. And the interesting thing is that neither of them are believers. They just wanted to help. I call that the FAVOR OF GOD! At this point we have no clear plan on how to get out, but that isn’t our concern at the moment. We just want to get there.

Thanks for praying!

Nate & Jamie

CORRECTION

Sorry to all, but I gave you the wrong Antioch Church. Janice is going with Antioch COMMUNITY Church, not Antioch Bible. Here' s the correct donation site: https://antiochcc.ccbchurch.com/app/trx_submit_bp.php?type=public_gift. Select "Emergency Relief" from the drop down menu.

Giving to Haiti

With Janice's trip to Haiti (see previous post), some have asked if they can give. Best thing is to give to the group she's going with: Medical Relief International. Go to https://members.abchurch.org/giving/index.html, scroll down to the third option.

A note from Janice

OK it is official I am going to Haiti next week. For some of you this is the first you have heard of it. So let me back the story up a bit. It has all happened very fast for us also. Last Friday night I was invited to go to Haiti from our good friend Nate Bobbett. His church in Waco, TX has much experience in going to places for immediate relief work in many parts of the world. They have had 2 teams dispatched to Haiti already. He knows I am a nurse and asked of I would like to go. Surprisingly it did not take long for a yes answer to come from me or my family. He had to work out the logicistics and then called us later last night and confirmed that I could go. I will be leaving on Saturday morning to Dallas to stay with family and then leave on Tuesday morning for Haiti. Nate's latest email says he "thinks we will be back the 8th of Feb." so we will see when I actually get home. I am not on facebook, but Jay is and I will send him info and he can take it from there. I don't have many other details. I will let you know what I know as things happen. Please just keep all of us in your prayers. Janice

Cruise

Janice turned 40 in October, so instead of trying to surprise her, I asked her what she wanted. Her answer was "I want to go on a cruise in January. And it was so...

The links below will take you to the pictures:

Cruise Pictures - Part 1
Cruise Pictures - Part 2