We're on the road to Haiti.

I wish I could just snap my fingers and be there. But what could God teach me through that? Certainly not patience, perseverance, trust, faith...and more patience. God is definitely teaching us a lot through this whole process. Sometimes it makes me wonder just what is ahead that He is preparing us for. Maybe it's better if I just think about now and not the future. The now is getting our house ready to sell. We are hoping to list it by the middle of June. We have been busy replacing, upgrading, installing, repairing, removing and painting. We are sore and tired but happy with the progress and with the positive response from our real estate agent. We are hoping to sell quickly and at a good price (isn't everybody?) but a lot is at stake for us. We are committed to leaving right after labour day so we can get settled before the kids start school. We need a place to live until that time (anyone have room for 6 people and a dog?) so our closing is pretty firm. I am reminded that real estate is a gamble, there are just some things you can't predict, you can't plan for. But God has been faithful so far and there is no reason to believe He won't be faithful in this. We are on the path He has directed us to so He will take care of the details. Speaking of details...while all this craziness is going on with the sale of our home we are gathering furniture, appliances and just about everything else to put on a container to be shipped ahead of us. You see, we have a house in Haiti...an empty house. Some things are too expensive to buy there and some things you just can't get. The container has to be shipped by the middle of July to get there in time so we can't send all our belongings from home or we have nothing to live with for 2 months. We are also in the market for 2 ATVs to send. The Mission of Hope grounds where we will live are quite large with many steep hills. For Grant to get from our house to the clinic is a 15 minute walk. He wouldn't be much help in an emergency at that rate. It is even farther for me to get to the office and for all of us to get to church or to the orphanage. Thus the need for the ATVs. We need to raise about $4000 to $5000 to purchase 2 used ATVs. We also need to purchase a power invertor ($3500 ). Mission of Hope runs a generator at night, the invertor (and it's batteries) allow us to have power during the day. We also need to raise funds to ship our container. For this we will need about $4000 or more as we are sharing a container with FTC Canada who will be shipping some medical equipment to Mission of Hope at the same time. We are also trying to raise funds for the shipping of an ambulance that has been donated by Halton Region. We were hoping this would go on the same container but it is looking like it is just slightly too big to fit. The quote to ship this separately is $5500. Through all this fundraising we are also trying to find funding to support our family while we are there. Our positions are not as paid staff. We will be living simply but we do have to live. Relying on God to provide and to use others to partner with us in His work is an amazing (and humbling) experience. Knowing that He will speak to the hearts of others as He has spoken to ours is exciting to watch. He uses everyone in different ways. From the wonderful real estate agent who is donating all her commission to us to the guys in the FTC warehouse that are packing all our boxes and furniture on to skids to the people who have promised to remember us in their prayers. You are all a part of this journey with us and we know God will bless you for answering His call to help. If you would like to make a donation you can click on the "Donate" button on the right. If you can give monthly, please contact FTC Canada at 1-877-382-2262 or info@ftccanada.org.