Two years ago today we got on an evacuation flight from port au prince to Paris set up by the French government. When I write these kind of things it feels surreal, like how did this ever happen to us!
Anyway two days before this was truly an awful day. We were told at 8.30pm the night before be at the airport at 10am, this is your last chance to get out of Haiti. The world was shutting down and no one had any idea how covid was going to affect people.
After hours of phoning embassies and waiting for them to find a way, we couldn't wait any longer and our whole OMS team left and we were not able to go. We said goodbye to the people we had been living alongside for the past 4 years in the airport thinking we would see some of them again in August when we all returned to Haiti or so we thought. We also said goodbye to the Ayars who we knew were not returning to Haiti. It was terrible not at all how we imagined our last day in Haiti together.
August came around and we couldn't go back, some of our team did, some didn't. At this point I really did think we will probably never see them again and our last time together was that terrible day in the aiport.
Now fast forward to today, today almost two years to the day when travel has not been easy, when life has still been turned upside down for so many people because of covid we have managed to spend time with almost all of those people we said terrible teary goodbyes to at the aiport.
We saw Janeen and Dave in Haiti (Marilyn we missed you!)and Kacie&Miken who left a couple of weeks before us. We spent a week with the Ayars, a week with the Grosses and today we saw Colleen. We have even got to see a few other missionaries who left during our time, Kate, the Loves and the Michels.
The lesson I've learned first is that God is good. He knows what we need and when we need it. He knew it was going to be important for us to spend time with all of those people and talk through that day and say goodbye well.
Now we had a second evacuation, not as dramatic but definitely not planned. We didn't get to finish all the things we planned in Haiti. We didn't get to see everyone we wanted to. We didn't get to visit all the places we wanted to. I have a list and I am confident that one day, I have no idea when, that we will get to return to Haiti and do all those things and visit all the people.
Secondly we never ever know what is around the corner. Although we would not have chosen to leave Haiti in December it did give us time and opportunity to see most of our OMS team. I've even see Dr Rodney since leaving in December at board meetings!
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