Happy Monday (August 18), we have exactly 30 days until we head home, which seems both a long time away and right around the corner! Last Friday we said goodbye to the UK team. A wonderful group of great kids (and one "seasoned guy"), who really demonstrated Christ-like love and character throughout their stay. Bud & I felt right at home "parenting" them and truly fell in love with them all. The day they left, I told Bud I was sure I was "called to Northern Ireland" as the majority of the group lives in and around that area! We also invited them to the states, so hopefully they'll be able to take us up on that offer sometime. Each night their team leader, Tred, scheduled a time of praise & worship and had one team member share their testimony. Bud & I felt priviledged to be a part of that time with them. There were several evenings where tears were shared. Considering none of them knew one another before meeting up to travel here, it was so amazing to see God "meld" them into a wonderful team. Little did they know that when they left Cap Haitien on Friday for an overnight stay in Port Au Prince before departing for the states the next morning, that storm Fay would strand them for two extra nights. At one point, we heard they might return to Cap for another week's stay and while we were sorry for their families, we were pretty excited at the thought of having them around again. Fortunately (or unfortunately for us), they got a flight out Sunday afternoon, so by tomorrow should all be safely home.

Storm Fay gave us a night with a lot of wind and rain, which changed our Saturday plans to take the Alabama Prayer Team to the Citadel for the day, making it a day of "hanging out". That's when Bud had the chance to make Haitian banana chips...which are truly WONDERFUL! I'm hoping he'll be able to recreate them when we get home! Ask anyone whose been here...they are so very, very good!

Sunday dawned bright and sunny again (as did today). Our trip to church ended up being in the back of the truck for 1-1/2 hours (one way)! It was a long day in the dust and sun, but the church was very nice and the worship was good. I will say that all of us "North Americans" verbalized that we would NEVER complain about a "commute" to church again! Trust me...it was a long, long, long trip and day!

I've been asked about "bugs, spiders and creatures", so here's a photo of our good Haitian friend, Wadner, with a tarantula he "hunted down" for us. In all honesty, without searching them out, I've never seen one (which is a very good thing)! We have had a few nights of trying to chase down a rat in the house where we're staying. So far the score is Rat - 4, Humans - 0. The trap doesn't seem to be doing the trick and Bud's attempt with the broom wasn't successful (so far), however...there's always tonight!

Thank you one and all for your emails, encouragement and prayers. We are praying for you too and look forward to seeing you all very soon!

In Him,

Bud & Cindy