April

Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think… to Him be the glory…

Ephesians 3:20 & 21

Dear Friends in Christ,

What an exciting month we have to share with you! Our Savior has done more abundantly beyond what we could ask, and we give Him ALL the glory!! Although the school is going well in Haiti, we will focus this newsletter on Woodson’s journey so you can rejoice with us in all that God has done! 

On Wednesday, March 25th, we received word from the US Embassy in Haiti that Woodson’s visa was ready and he had been cleared to travel! Although we have been praying and preparing for this for months, there were many details we were not able to have in place until knowing the exact time he would be cleared to travel. It was a busy weekend logistically for us, scrambling to clear schedules, book flights, and make all the necessary travel arrangements. Many friends and family were involved in helping us prepare and providing supplies for Woodson. Our daughter-in-law, Laissa, spent countless hours on the phone with staff in Haiti planning. Our daughter Holly flew into Florida to be prepared to get on MFI’s early flight, Tuesday, March 31st. She planned to fly into Haiti, pick Woodson up at the air strip in Pignon, and fly back out on the same day and same flight. We hoped to have him already at the airport waiting on the plane before she left Tuesday morning.

Meanwhile, in Petion-Ville, where Woodson was staying, Edgard worked tirelessly to get Woodson safely to Pignon. This was a challenging and dangerous undertaking. We hoped to have Woodson in Pignon by Sunday so that we were sure he was there and he had time to rest from the travel. However, because of gang activity, Edgard was not able to travel with him on Sunday. Monday morning, Edgard attempted to travel by bus but was not able to go. The gangs control the fuel and decide when they want to allow people to travel or not.

Monday, no one was allowed to purchase fuel, and the gangs did not want anyone on the roads. Edgard was able to take a motorcycle with Woodson and find back routes through the city unnoticed. Our prayer team was praying for God’s protection as we kept them updated through this whole chaotic and dangerous process.

Nady, our school administrator, and Amadeau came down from Mirebalais to Croix-de-Bouquets and met Edgard to take Woodson from there. Nady rode with Woodson on one motorcycle, and Amadeau went ahead on another to scout out the best and safest route to travel. It was a long and tiring day for them, taking back routes and mountain trails, dealing with rain and mud. They hoped to arrive in Pignon on Monday evening, but were not able to because the roads became too treacherous from the rain.

Although they didn’t quite make it to Pignon, they were in Hinche, only about 45 minutes south of the airstrip, which was close enough for them to still get there on Tuesday morning in time. Holly arrived with the MFI flight to the grass airstrip in Pignon, went through the legal paperwork with Nady & Amadeau, and was back on the flight with Woodson within 15 minutes for the flight to depart again. Everything seemed to be going well till they made the stop in Cap-Haitian to clear Haitian Immigration. After waiting nearly half an hour for an immigration officer to come to the desk, a woman finally arrived who was not happy. She quickly glanced over Woodson’s paperwork and said, “No, he can’t go”. Although she would barely look at or talk to Holly, we understood she wanted a different guardianship paper than the one we had, which the US Embassy had cleared. It was very disheartening to have the US Embassy clear Woodson to travel, and St Jude offering free medical assistance, only to have the Haitian Immigration officer say, no, we want more papers, a different version of the paper you already have.

Some of the Haitian MFI staff helped Holly and Woodson get to a hotel, and Nady & Amadeau got on the road from the airport in Pignon to join them. They arrived late that evening, covered in mud from the journey. The paperwork the immigration officers wanted required Holly and Woodson to go before a judge. They worked all the next day, going to what felt like every legal or government office in Cap-Haitian, trying to get a paper notarized; no one wanted to help them. They had hoped to get the paperwork done quickly and be on MFI’s Thursday flight at noon out of Haiti. Finally, late Wednesday afternoon, they decided to send motorcycles in to get Woodson’s parents from Mirebalais to come up and join them. They arrived sometime in the middle of the night. Wednesday morning, they left Holly at the hotel with Woodson as they decided having an American with them was stopping people from signing the paperwork, and they were right. As much as we all love MFI, we were praying for flight delays that morning, and God granted us favor. At the time she was supposed to be at the airport, Holly and our staff were driving through a flooded river to avoid a demonstration, still trying to get the final paper from a judge. After many more delays from the judge, they were finally handed the paper and began to backtrack through the rivers to get to the airport. The flooding was so high that they had to pay men to walk in front of them to find the routes they could drive through.

MFI staff were waiting for Holly and Woodson, who arrived at the airport muddy and dirty, and quickly escorted them through immigration and on to the flight with no further problems. It was quite a relief for them to finally board the flight! The MFI staff were just as excited to have them boarded! Woodson loved looking out the window, but soon fell asleep for his first flight off the island of Haiti. We are so grateful to the MFI staff and Debbi’s family in South Florida, who were very generous and hospitable, helping Holly and Wood-son after they arrived there, safe yet exhausted.

Debbi and I drove up to Memphis to meet Holly and Woodson, who flew there the next day to arrive at St. Jude. We were grateful to finally meet Woodson and so many people at St. Jude who have walked through this journey with us! God is so good, and He uses His people all over the map to accomplish His purpose! All glory to Him!

St Jude was ready to go as soon as we arrived, starting labs and exams that very evening. They covered every possible need for us and then some, and treated us with so much kindness and patience. We were nearly in tears to find out, after retesting and many exams, that they did not think the mass in Woodson’s kidney was cancerous. We met with Woodson’s surgeon, who was amazing and so caring. He had been briefed on Woodson’s story and was eager to meet him and prepare for the upcoming surgery.
Woodson has now already received surgery.

The operation went very well. The mass in his kidney was the size of a basketball and was pushing on all of his organs. They were able to successfully remove the mass along with his left kidney, which was destroyed and appeared to potentially never have functioned. The mass has been sent to pathology and was confirmed not to be cancerous. Praise the Lord! The first few days post-surgery were quite challenging to control Woodson’s pain. Holly stayed with us to help with translating for Woodson, and Laissa has helped through countless calls. Along with our prayer partners, this has truly been a team effort. Woodson is gaining more strength each day and seems to be recovering well from his surgery. He is walking on his own, just needing occasional rests. He is now with Holly at her home. The medical team said he was doing so well that he does not need any follow-up visits. We plan for him to stay in the US with us until he is fully recovered. Eventually, he will come to TX to be with our family, along with Laissa’s parents, Lussade and Yanik. Lussade is eager to meet Woodson and continue sharing Jesus with him. Many of the people in our area, who have diligently prayed for him, hope to meet him also.

God has done a mighty work and we are praising Him for His greatness! We hope you enjoyed hearing of His goodness and power this month. Please continue praying for Woodson physically and for salvation for him and his family. His Mom checks in by phone with Holly or Laissa each day. Laissa has been sharing the gospel with her. She had tried voodoo to heal Woodson and is now seeing what the Power of Jesus and what His body, the church, can do through Him! God is working, and we are grateful to be a part of it, seeing so many miracles this month. Thank you all for your love, support and prayers for Woodson, us and OSM!

Serving our Savior with you,
Ken and Debbi