On our way to Haiti

On June 4th, Barbara Crossman and I departed Nashville to begin our journey as co-leaders of the Visiting Orphans Haiti Mission trip. We left Nashville incredibly early in the morning and flew to Atlanta and then on to Fort Lauderdale. Our flight left at 5:30 am and we were both sure that the airport would be like a ghost town that early so we only went 1 hour before. We almost missed our flight - it was the busiest I've ever seen the Nashville airport. The wonderful guy at the ticket counter let me check in for Barbara as she parked the car cause we only had 6 minutes to check in. The security line was long and then my bag had to be run through twice. Barbara said "I'm going on to tell them we're here and to wait". I got my bag a minute or so later and looked at my ticket to find the gate number. It was early and I knew it was a letter and then the gate number was 6. Well, I glanced at my ticket and saw C6 so I went walking super quick to that gate. Got there and realized there was no one at that gate. Looked at my ticket again to realize I was looking at my seat number instead of the gate number - seat number C6, gate number B6. What are the chances it was the same number? I mean, really. So at this point - I literally ran from gate C to gate B to catch the plane. As I'm running, I hear my phone ringing - knowing it's Barbara but not wanting to stop and answer. I come running down the isle toward the gate and I see her waiving at me. The lady was literally about to close the gate and Barbara told her "I see her" and kept her waiting for one more minute for me. So I barely made it and boy, what a way to wake you up at 5:30 am. I was sweating and out of breath. Whew. 

So then, the plane didn't depart on time cause we were in a long line of planes taxiing out. So we got to Atlanta late and were pretty much running to catch our next flight. And of course, it was not in the same terminal - it was a train ride and 3 terminals down. We approach the gate running and saw a line of people and started to slow down. Then we hear the gate attendee say "if you are on this flight, you better get moving - we're about to close the door." We never did figure out why the line was there but it was obviously not for our flight. We barely made it. But we did. Thank God!

We arrived in Fort Lauderdale, Florida at 10:30 am. After several times running that morning and a crazy busy few weeks leading up to the trip - Barbara and I had a much needed day of rest in Florida before the rest of the team arrived that night. We stayed at a lovely hotel and after we got picked up by the shuttle, checked into our rooms and changed clothes - we took a trolley down to the beach and finally relaxed for the first time in weeks. It was such a blessing and so what we needed before heading on to Haiti with a team of 12. We had a few hours at the beach to really share our stories and get to know each other. We'd met lots of times but hadn't really gotten to know each other. This was a great way to start the trip. Right as we decided we'd had enough sun and we wanted to go grab something to drink at a restaurant near the beach, it started to rain. It was a really great thunderstorm. What a perfect day. 

One of the girls on the team, Noelle, arrived around 7:30 pm so we waited for her and then went back down near the beach to grab some dinner at Bubba Gump's Shrimp restaurant. Yummy! 

I had left notes in each persons room to meet us downstairs for breakfast and team meeting the next morning at 8:30 am and that we were taking a shuttle to the airport at 10 am. That worked out well because they all got in quite late. Met the whole team of amazing women Saturday morning in the Hyatt lobby and our journey to Haiti began. 

We took the shuttle filled with all of our luggage filled with supplies to the airport. And we found favor with the guys at curbside check-in who checked us all in together and made sure we had everything we needed. That day, a brand new rule about not checking boxes was implemented (how would we have known) and 3 of our bags were big boxes filled with medical supplies. We waited about 45 minutes while one of the guys worked hard to get the airline to allows those boxes to go. At one point, we were told we'd have to transfer all the contents into big bags we'd have to buy from them for $35 each. And we had already paid $120 for checking those 3 boxes and 1 suitcase from Nashville to Florida. We prayed and waited as this guy from curbside went to bat for us. He talked to many managers and explained we were going to help orphans in Haiti and we were so thankful when he came back over and said he finally got it worked out and this time, they would allow it. We will know for next time that we cannot bring boxes but thank the Lord we didn't have to pay extra or transfer contents for this trip. So much favor on this trip! What a blessing. 

We had gotten to the airport plenty early so it was no big deal that all of this took a lot of time. I was so glad we opted on going that early. We made it to our gate in plenty of time and our flight left about 2:15pm. Our other co-leader Bethany Haley flew in that morning and met us at the gate to head to Haiti with us right before departure. Our whole team was together and we were on our way. 

We arrived in Port au Prince, Haiti at 3:15 pm Central time. We got through security and were getting our bags when I looked over and saw a gentleman waiting inside by the door with a sign that said Visiting Orphans. Praise God - we had found someone to direct us to our ride. The place we were staying - The Heartline Guest House - was there to pick us up. So we found this guy and headed out the door with him and into pure chaos. We were not quite expecting the mob scene we encountered and mind you, we didn't quite know where we were going and who was with the Guest House crew. So it was a little crazy trying to squeeze 12 people with tons of luggage through a huge crowd of people, many of whom were trying to grab our bags and take them for us with hopes of getting money and trying to sell us stuff. It was crazy and I was trying to get through while also making sure our whole team made it through. Chris, who runs the guest house, walks up and starts grabbing bags. I knew what he looked like from the website but the team didn't and they were like "who is this guy taking our bags?" It is hard to describe the craziness of trying to get through that crowd. We made it to their truck in tact. Noelle got shoved by a policeman chasing a guy and that was a bit scary. Thankfully she wasn't hurt. When we all finally got in the truck - we breathed a sigh of relief. Whew! Welcome to Haiti. 

We were taken about 30 minutes away (with traffic) to the Heartline Guest House which is an amazing place to stay and such a safe haven for us to come home to at the end of each day. So thankful we found this place and they had room for us. We didn't plan anything for that night - we just hung out there, unpacked, spent some time in prayer and and prepared for the week. 

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