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14 February 2004First of all let me say that Jodie, Jessica, and I still feel very safe and secure in this truly “wild” country. True, there are things going on now that you wouldn’t expect to see in your home town. But what’s a violent political demonstration or the overrunning of the headquarters police departments in five towns in one day between friends?Actually anyone who ever thinks that they are safe in Haiti at anytime has little understanding of the country. Even though we are just now making the news in other countries there has been much going on throughout the fall and winter. Much of this includes but is not limited to the robbery of homes and vehicles, the taking of hostages for ransom, and other random acts of unkindness. A family of our closest friends were taken hostage at gunpoint in their home last August and stayed at that gunpoint for five hours during a very long Sunday afternoon. Although they have a very strong Christian witness about those hours, I’d rather pass. What I’m saying is simply that yes, Haiti can be dangerous but it simply has to do with where you are at the time. We do realize that there are dangerous places here but we trust that the God who called us to work here would give us the sense to be able to stay safe. If we don’t stay safe he will give us the GRACE. Please don’t think I am kidding about that. I know very few people who get the chance to live out their faith and enjoy it as much as Jodie and I have had the opportunity to do. We get to live on that exciting edge. All you get to do is stay in a safe place and pray for us. We do thank you for those prayers because there are times when they are the only thing that keeps us going.I can see how possibly this paragraph might lead you to believe that I think that I am above harm, hurt, or danger due to the fact that I am called to be here. Please don’t see it that way. I believe that I am in as much danger as anyone else around here. But even though people from the outside see Haiti as just a bunch of very confused, violent people who have no sense of morals, I see them as the very early beginning of possibly a really neat culture. I feel honored to be able to be a very small part of the introduction of the concepts of responsibility and honesty, things that severely are lacking here but concepts that we work very hard to be a living example of. Thank you for allowing and supporting me and us in doing this by staying when many, including many with the embassy, are deserting these people when they need us now more than ever.We plan to stay in Haiti unless we are led to believe that we are in more danger than the average person here in Haiti or unless God gives us a really strong indication that he wants us to leave. Until then we will try our best to stay safe. I don’t know of any better way to say that.Now, with all that seriousness aside I want to tell you that the clinics are continuing. We did have a short down time after the Christmas holiday due to the breaking of more parts in the cars. But the parts are glued together and are back on the roads and so are we. School for Jodie and Jessica continue with the occasional day that fewer children show up because of fear from one side or the other. The traffic is maddening just now. It took me almost an hour and a half to take Jess to school today while it usually takes about forty five minutes.Do continue to keep us, our friends, and especially these poor Haitians, who have no chance to get on a plane if things get dangerous, in your prayers. One day you too can believe that you were on the cutting edge of a really neat culture.Thanks for listening.Because of Christ,John Ackerman for Jodie and Jessica.
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