And They're Off!

Following their moving sale and commissioning service during the first weekend of June, the Nikkels had a few days to get last-minute items, pack and say many difficult goodbyes. They left for Ft. Pierce, Florida, last Friday, June 12, and had 5 days of relaxation before leaving for Pignon, Haiti, today.

While in Florida, Will and Natalie spent lots of time swimming and loving it! They discovered that Natalie is quite the little fish! They even tried to catch a space shuttle launch while they were there, but it was cancelled due to a leak of some kind. (Stacey reported that Will thought they should have just done it anyway.) In addition to the fun, they spent 4 hours at Sam's Club trying to buy the supplies they think they will need for the next year. Imagine trying to figure that out! Stacey said the few days of down time was really good for them, even though it is difficult to truly relax with such a big change coming.

This morning they left bright and early on an MFI (Missionary Flights International) and should have arrived in Pignon about 11:00 this morning. (Side note: Haiti does not participate in Daylight Savings Time, so they are currently on the same time as we are here in the Midwest.)

Below is a snippet from an email Stacey sent yesterday, and below that I've pasted some prayer requests she sent as well. After a long time of planning, their journey in Haiti has officially begun. Please keep them in your prayers!

"Tomorrow is coming fast and we are anxious to get to Haiti! Jared made a second trip to MFI with our luggage and found out we would be accompanied on the flight by some baby chicks and ducklings, Natalie can hardly wait to see them. Our flight should be 'non-stop' to Haiti, meaning we won't be stopping for fuel in the Bahamas. We'll pick up a customs agent in Cap Haitien on the northern coast, then fly into Pignon around 11:00. If everything goes well, we should make it through the customs check, hopefully with some of our cash left in hand. We've been told it can get pretty expensive, depending on the agent. So please pray all goes well with the flight and with customs!

We will be in touch as soon as we can. It could take some time to get someone from Port-au-Prince to come install a satellite so we will have internet service. Until then we may be able to use a local internet cafe (sounds strange for a 3rd world country!) or possibly at the Campbell's, our friends from the orphanage. At any rate we will try to get a message out to someone that we arrived and are getting settled. First order of business is to find a tutor and someone to run to market and cook for us. After that, piece of cake, right? We're looking forward to what God has in store for us and more importantly the people of Haiti."

Please pray for the Nikkels:

• For Will and Natalie, anything the spirit lays on your heart; this is a big adjustment for them, and mom and dad need extra patience and grace during this transition as well
• Protection over our marriage
• Protection over our family relationships
• Peace, patience and grace in everything we do
• For there to be a set of truck keys in our hands soon!
• God's mercy and grace as we are not even slightly prepared for what He has in store (it's so good to know He uses the ordinary!)
• Anything else you can think of to add would be great....

Thanks for your continued support!