Hi from Haiti,



Last night I finally got to sleep about 2am. At 5am I woke up to a 6.1 earthquake. Okay, they call it an aftershock, IT IS AN EARTHQUAKE.

It lasted about 10 seconds and wow, was it scary. By the time I got to the yard outside-- in 15 seconds--my entire family was already there to greet me. The ironic thing was that I finally convinced everyone they could sleep inside again.

It was a tough night as our big generator was not working. We got it fixed today, Praise God. This morning was spent getting supplies and sending my team out. At one point I think we had 28 people out providing relief in some form. At 3pm, I was ready to hit the road and I took 9 of the boys and Linda, our board member who is "stuck" here. We went to see the men from the garbage dump and gave them water, rice and bread. Then we just drove up and down the road sharing our supplies with the poorest of the poor. We served about 100 men, women and children.

On the way home we saw a line of only about 4 cars at the gas station. I pulled in to fill up with diesel fuel and, while waiting there, a young man I know named Jimy, 16, came walking to the truck. Normally Jimy runs to my truck yelling, "Tom Tom" and I buy my phone cards from him. Today, a subdued Jimy came over and said hi. I asked him what was wrong. He said nothing, he was okay. When I said, "Come on Jimy, something is wrong", I found out that his mom was dead, and his dad was missing in Port-au-Prince, probably deceased, and he knew it.

I told him if he ever needed a place to stay, he was welcome at our house. He looked at me with pleading eyes and said "today?" I said, "Yes, right now." The boy had been homeless and climbed in the back of the truck, with a small back pack with all he owned. Jimy came here and ate and drank lots of water.

The worst part is, I pulled up to the pump and they were out of gas, giving the last to the truck before me. As I pulled away I thought, wow, came for gas, going home with Jimy. Not going to that gas station anymore. Of course I am kidding, like I was about God not reading my e-mails. For you new folks, you will catch my very dry, poor sense of humor.

Earlier today I felt the weight of the whole world on my shoulders. I got a headache and so badly just wanted to crawl in bed for a day or so. I cannot. We must keep pushing on. Today we were able to provide hope and supplies for over 200 people. We continue to await thousands of pounds of food promised on its way to the airport.

Thanks to all of you for making this relief effort possible. I heard someone say that if any organization says 100% of your money goes to the people, they are lying". I can tell you this in not a lie, at least for us. You see, we did not come just for the relief effort. I have been here 12 years. We have a system, trucks, supplies, and a staff and don't need to spend a penny to get ready to provide relief. We already do that, on a much smaller scale. So yes, 100% of your money is coming here for food, water, medical supplies and to help rebuild homes.

So much more but I will quit for now, keep praying, thank you so much,

tominhaiti