Our Way Home...

Saturday, November 7th, 2009

We got up bright and early, because we needed to leave at 5:30. Because we had quite a bit of luggage and people, the plan was to make two trips to the Les Cayes airport—yes, we are not doing the drive again, thankfully! It was important to be on time, because there is only one flight out of the Les Cayes airport. As planned, we were walking down the hill to the van with our luggage in hand by 5:30 am.

We were ready to load the van when Matt noticed the van had a flat tire…How fitting! We weren’t worried because we had just spent a week full of obstacles that we had overcome through God’s power. After our group prayer, we saw Pastor Louis show up with his big pick-up truck. We were able to fit all of our luggage and all of us, and only make one trip. Also, this was an answered prayer because Eric had been requesting we all take a “Tap-Tap” ride (essentially the means of transportation in Haiti, where a small pick-up truck is packed with people, livestock—some dead, some alive—and bags of whatever people bought at the market). Eric’s request was not received with as much enthusiasm, and we thought if given the opportunity to realize this dream of his, there would only be one person who would accompany him in this adventure: David!….after all, David has driven in the back of the truck all week, and is a pro at taking those evil bumps that have sent some us flying inside the van. But at last….Eric got his dream. Although not a real one, after we put all of our luggage and all the man in the back, it sure looked like a “tap-tap. ”

So we made it to the tiny, but very clean airport of Les Cayes. To give you an idea of how small the plane that we took was: our team of 13 and three other people occupied all the seats. Our luggage went in the back, and we had to distribute the passengers according to weight. There is no need, or space really, for a microphone or flight attendant. The pilot stands in the back and gives the initial announcement, which goes something like this:
“Thank you for choosing Tortug Air, not that you had a choice. Please fasten your seat belts and enjoy the 45 minute ride to Port au Prince.”
Pier rode with us in the plane and once in Port au Prince, he drove us to the airport.
We had about 2 hours in the airport and some of us decided to eat some sandwiches. Those of us who ate at the smaller shop, got what Craig so appropriately called “Aristide’s Revenge”….the curse of BAD food poisoning. However, the bad symptoms didn’t start showing until we arrive at the States.

Other than the curse and the flat tire, this day went smoothly and we are glad to be home safe, and to have experienced such a life-changing week in Haiti.

Following is a list of all the orphanages we visited:
Monday
1. Bigarouse: 60 children
2. Darivager: 70 children (In urgent need of water)

Tuesday
1. Cassa Major: 180 children

Wednesday
1. St. Louis: 48 children + other children and adults
2. Cavaillon: 93 children

Thursday
1. Arniquet: 56 children (In urgent need of water)
2. Port Salut: 48 children

Friday
1. Cambry: 220 children
2. Les Cayes: 90 children

Total number of Children seen: 865

La Hatte Orphanage was the only one we couldn’t make it to….which has 60 children.

Our Last Work Day

Friday, November 6th, 2009

Today our breakfast was oatmeal-finely grounded and with some yummy spices—bread, cheese, Haitian butter, and grapefruit.

We started our work here at home, at Cambry. For the first time we had an actual clinic and pharmacy to work at….and even a professional dentist chair. Even though we started early, and there was no traveling today, we ran behind in seeing all 220 children. We were supposed to pick up and travel to Les Cayes, to the big church, to set up our clinic there and see the 90 orphans there. However, because we were running behind, Pastor Louis decided to bring the children from Les Cayes to us. The medical team was able to see all of them, however the dental team couldn’t treat most of them—between them being too scared and the sunlight leaving us quickly, we treated about a 30% of the children and mostly treated the housemothers and adults.

During our lunch we were able to walk up to the house and had a chance to shop from some vendors that Pastor Louis invited. Some people bought handmade nativity sets, bracelets, and hand-carved paintings.

At the end of our work day, we packed up everything, said our final goodbyes to the children and walked up to our house. We usually get the power turn back on at around 7 pm, but tonight we didn’t get it until 10 pm. It worked out for the best because it gave us the opportunity to hang out outside, and admire the amazing sky and stars in all their glory…and we even saw the Milky Way! As we stood there, looking up, we could hear all the children praying, and then singing….it was just a beautiful end to our day and week in Haiti.

Mya had prepared us some macaroni and cheese, but later got a pizza, Haitian Style!
We packed and went to bed in the dark…but later got power and therefore AC.

Powerful Reminders...

We had a wonderful time in worship and devotionals this morning.

Tom has been our worship leader all this week, playing his guitar and leading us into English and Creole songs. Today, he started us off with some humor. At the beginning of worship, he said: “If you feel led to stand…stand. If you feel led to raise your hands…raise your hands. If you feel led to dance…SIT DOWN…WE ARE PRESBYTERIAN!!” Tom

After devotionals, some of us shared our impressions of the last couple of days.

Jackie reminded us of Isaiah 43:1

1 But now, this is what the LORD says—
he who created you, O Jacob,
he who formed you, O Israel:
"Fear not, for I have redeemed you;
I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

Throughout the week we have been able to not only interact with the children, but also the housemothers who care for them. They have anywhere from 15 to 30 children under their supervision. You can see in their eyes the great responsibility each one of them carries, some of them too young to even understand it. And one can’t help but think how one person can manage to care, protect and provide for 30 little ones. How can one person know each and every one of those children by name, and provide all the touch and care they desperately need. Jackie worked with a housemother who perhaps was new at the orphanage, but she didn’t know the names of all the children. How sad must a child feel to realize that no one truly knows him/her. But the comfort comes from the word of God, where God reminds us that He knows us by name, that we are His!

Mitch also helped us to look at psalms from a different perspective…that of the orphans of Haiti. Read psalm 86, but from their perspective:

Hear, O LORD, and answer me,
for I am poor and needy.
2 Guard my life, for I am devoted to you.
You are my God; save your servant
who trusts in you.
3 Have mercy on me, O Lord,
for I call to you all day long.
4 Bring joy to your servant,
for to you, O Lord,
I lift up my soul.
5 You are forgiving and good, O Lord,
abounding in love to all who call to you.
6 Hear my prayer, O LORD;
listen to my cry for mercy.


There are so many people here in Haiti, and the need and poverty is so overwhelming that we might wonder if what we are doing can possibly make any difference. But Tom reminded us of 1st Corinthians 15:58:

58Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain.

We might not know what God will do with the work we are doing in Haiti, but we know it will not be in vain.

God's Creation is so perfect!

Thursday, November 5th, 2009

We learned last night from the blog that today is Dr. Scott’s birthday! We are planning on doing something special for him….maybe get a cake, and Jacky might cook something for us!

We had spaghetti for breakfast…no complaints here…the sauce is really good!

This morning we had the luxury to sleep in a little, and were ready to leave at 9 am. However, the van was having some issues again and we didn’t leave until 11 am.

We had an interesting ride to the first orphanage in Arniquet. We had been driving for a while and suddenly we arrived at a river. There was not a bridge or any road to cross over the river. The road that had brought us there had ended. Dr. Phil looked around….and we didn’t know it yet, but he was analyzing how he was going to drive through the river! We sat there in silence observing a man and his sheep walking through the river. The water came up pretty high… Jackie made a good observation when she said “This is not the Red Sea!” We all shook our heads and looked around in disbelief as we drove through our Red Sea! The scary part was when we made it across and looked back as the small, low-to-the-ground pick-up truck, that was carrying our medicine, began to make his way across. Thankfully the boxes of medicine had been tightly secured and we all made it safe….

The ambiance in the Arniquet orphanage was peaceful, and we skillfully saw and treated all 56 orphans.

On our way to the second orphanage in Port Salut, we had our lunch which consisted of hard boiled eggs and bread. Thankfully we didn’t have to cross the “Red Sea” again, because Dr. Phil found a road that had been recently built. This road led us to a mountain with an unforgettable view. We stopped at the top and took some pictures of the clear blue sky, with the palm trees and the amazing blue/green water as far as your eye could see. As we approached our destination, the streets looked cleaner and the surroundings more beautiful. Dr. Phil told us that the eggs we had had were just a snack. He said we were going to stop by at the beach and had some langostinos and fish waiting for us. And to think Dr. Scott had requested “Chinese Food” for his birthday…

We had amazing langostinos with a Caribbean sauce that was out of this world! The fish tasted super fresh, the rice was so moist, and the plantains were crisp and delicious! The breeze was so refreshing, and the view was spectacular….the blue water surrounded by beautiful green mountains!

Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay there too long. We headed to the second orphanage in Port Salut, and because we started late we were not able to attend all the dental needs of the 48 children in that orphanage. However, we were able to take Polaroid pictures of all of them, and again it was such a treat for all us to see their happy faces as they held their own picture!

Our way home was a little scary. We had left the orphanage at around 6:30 pm, already pitch black, and had to drive down a mountain in a van which, as you might remember, is not in excellent mechanical conditions. But God protected us the whole way down, and we made it safe into town. Since it was Dr. Scott’s birthday, we stopped at a supermarket and picked up some ingredients for Jackie to cook some Rice and Beans Puerto Rican Style. Then we stopped at a restaurant called “Le Cayanon” and picked up a birthday cake for Dr. Scott....Sure the cake was pink and we had to use a match in place of a candle, but Dr. Scott got a cake!

Our Set Up

There are two medical doctors: Dr. Scott, and Dr. Don—a Haitian doctor that joined us all week. Three nurses: Jacky, Tony, and Amanda—a recent nursing graduate And one dentist: Dr. John. Amanda has been working in Haiti with Dr. Don since October 22, and will stay until December 22! Dr. Don and Amanda were such great additions to our team and we definitely would not have accomplished what we did without their love and dedication for medicine and the Haitian people.

So we had 5 medical stations:

1. Dr. Scott with Tom as a scribe + a translator
2. Jackie with Eric as a scribe + a translator
3. Toni –no scribe…she is a pro! + a translator
4. Amanda with Cathy as a scribe + a translator
5. Dr. Don—no scribe needed

Then we had the dentist station:
1. Dr. John with Mitch and Cindy as assistants

And the pharmacy
Neatly organized and headed by Matt, who was assisted by Ed and David.

**Cathy also would spend time playing games with the children. Even though she says that is "Ed's gift...she did an amazing job!"

So our routine was to do a dental triage of all the children first, give them all a toothbrush and toothpaste and a little paper with their name if they needed dental work done. The dental work was not restoration or cleaning, but rather extractions. Then each child would go to the doctors to be examined, and finally collect their medication at the pharmacy. At the end, Dr. John would do a presentation about how to properly brush their teeth---unfortunately due to time constraints the latter was only done in one orphanage.

Pastor Louis and Pastor Donny: Explanation of Voodoo in Haiti

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Although proclaimed to be a Catholic country, voodoo is very much a part of Haiti. It is very common to see voodoo inside some of the Catholic churches. There are many symbols that serve to describe different things. For example, the house of a “witch doctor” will be marked with a flag. The color of the flag describes the different gods they serve:

A white flag: water gods
A red flag: vengeance

There is also a blue flag, but we are not sure what it means. However, the red + white flag is the most evil. Pastor Donny also explained to us how people get married to spirits, and voodoo seems to be more prevalent in areas outside of Port au Prince.

We witness one of these houses on Monday on our way to the first orphanage. The house, which was in close proximity to the orphanage, was marked with the red flag, and had a rope tied around a tree. The rope, Pastor Louis explained, serves as protection for them. And if someone who means harm to them crosses that rope, evil will be brought on to them.

For that reason, we are even more encouraged to know that Pastor Louis and Donny alone have planted 42 churches and three more are in progress—23 of which are sponsored by SRC. We know that God is doing an amazing work through His ambassadors here in Haiti. For those of us who have been here in the past, it is so encouraging to see that voodoo is not as prevalent on certain areas, such as Cambry.

Our most impactful experiences so far....

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

Today, after a long day, we all gathered around after dinner to share our experiences as a group. We talked about the most impactful experiences we have had so far:

Tom: “On Sunday, when we were walking to the second service at Cambry, some of the children were waiting for us at the bottom of the hill…they ran to us and held our hand. What an experience to walk with them to church”

Cindy: “On Sunday, I was sitting next to Gina, a little girl who I guess to be about 7 years old. She was wearing a beautiful white dress….and when she saw me sweating she took her little finger and ran across my face and throat as to get as much of my sweat off my skin…then she wiped it on her dress. The servant hearts of these children are such an example to me!”

Matt: “On Monday as we were packing up to leave the second orphanage in Darivager, the children began to sing worship song. There was an older boy who was playing the drums and to hear the passion in these hearts, who have gone through so much, is just ethereal!”

Cathy: “It is heartbreaking to see the conditions of some of these children….There was a little boy in Darivager who must have been about 2 or 3 years old, who was covered with scabies. He had secondary infections pretty much all over his little body, from his ears to his private parts. The other heartbreaking fact is that this orphanage in particular, along with 7 others, DOESN’T have water. They have tried to dig a well 6 times, and six times it has collapsed. They only need about $4,000 to dig a deeper well and provide water to all 70 children”

Jackie: “It’s overwhelming to see how huge and propagated the need is here…And it’s not just a financial need…there is an emotional need for each of these children. It is so sad to see that some of them don’t know their name or birthday…or if they know their name, they just whisper it….some of them don’t smile, no matter what you try….”

Mitch: “We had a little boy on Tuesday in Cassa Major who told us he was 13 years old, but he looked like he was six years old….the malnutrition effects are astounding”

Scott: “It has been wonderful to see the awesome team that God put together for this trip….we are working together under very difficult circumstances but accomplishing God’s work.”

Working as a team...

Wednesday, November 4th, 2009

We had spaghetti and pink sauce for breakfast today. Mya, the wonderful lady who took care of us, prepares this sauce with tomatoes, onions, spam and a little bit of milk. She must add some spice to it, because the sauce has a kick to it.

We had our daily devotions at 7 am and hung out until our transportation arrived at 9 am. Some of our team members rode with Pastor Louis and the rest in the van. Our poor van seemed to have had enough… it was making a loud “clac, clac” sound, as Dr. Phil described it. We pulled over, and next thing we knew they were lifting the van with us still in it! Apparently the sound was as a result of a flat tire. It took us a while to realize it, but indeed the place where we had stopped alongside the road was a “tire kingdom” with a collection of old and new tires. It didn’t take long, and with our new tire we were ready to head to the first orphanage of the day in St. Louis.

The temperature was comfortable and we decided to set up the medical stations outside for the first time. The trees provided a nice shadow for us to treat the 48 orphans and some of the children of the village.
By 1:30 pm we were done treating all the children but were unable to continue our journey because the van had a more serious problem than we had thought. While we waited for the van to be fixed, we decided to take Polaroid pictures of the children. A special thanks to Connie Bowers from SonCoast Community Church for donating the Polaroid camera and film for 130 pictures. While the rest of the group sang worship songs, Eric and Cindy took pictures of each child. It was beautiful to see them looking at the picture and realizing it was them. They don’t have mirrors or have not own a picture of themselves, and it was such a special gift to leave them with! Thank you Connie!

For lunch we had hamburgers! It was such a treat to break from our “Chinese Food” and have something different. They were really good! And today, we even had dessert for lunch: macaroons and corn muffins!

We were supposed to go to three orphanages today, but we didn’t start heading to the second orphanage until 3 pm. When we arrived at Cavaillon, we decided to all set up in a little kiosk in the middle of the orphanage. Good thing we did that because soon after we arrived it started pouring!
So we all squeezed into this little space and worked until about 6 pm. Even though we had to use the help of flashlights, the headlights of cars and even cell phones to fight the darkness, we continued to work until we saw all 93 children. And even Dr. John, who is doing surgery without suction, running water, a clean environment and on an office chair, treated all but 3 children! Praise God!

Our day ended great…especially after we were able to read some of the messages in the blog from some of you! It is so great to know that you are praying for us and for the people of Haiti! Thank you!

There is nothing more beautiful than the songs of praise to God from the mouth of a child....

Tuesday, November 3th, 2009

“So neither he who plants nor he who waters is anything, but only God who gives the growth. He who plants and he who waters are one, and each will receive his wages according to his labor. For we are God’s fellow workers. You are God’s field, God’s building.” 1 Corinthians 3:7-9

Today’s breakfast was full all kinds of juicy fruits…Dr. Pat would have been so happy!

We were supposed to go to three orphanages: La Hatte, Cassa Major, and Saint-Louis, each housing 60, 180 and 48 orphans respectively. Our first, and only stop actually, was Cassa Major.

We had 5 different doctor stations and one dentist station, but unfortunately we were unable to see all the children. And by the time we left that orphanage it was too late to go anywhere else. When the sun sets here, at around 5:30PM, the light goes out quick.

Pastor Louis took the opportunity to give us a tour of the orphanage and the bakery.

We had a wonderful time listening to the children singing praises!

When we returned to the guest house, the sound of singing welcomed us. We learned that the housemothers have devotionals with the children before they go to bed and part of their devotionals include singing.

We finished our day with some nice “Chinese” food, of course!

Overcoming Obstacles...

Monday, November 2nd, 2009

“Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm. Stand there, having fastened on the belt of truth, and having put on the breastplate of righteousness, and, as shoes for your feet, having put on the readiness given by the gospel of peace” Ephesians 6:13-15

Today we started our day early packing and sorting through all our medicine for the day. We were told we were going to have a light day to give us a chance to get used to everything…so we went to two orphanages. The first one houses 60 children and is called Bigarouse. The second one houses 70 children and is called “Darivager”. Both locations are Spanish River Church plants.

Both orphanages are located in very remote areas and we had to travel through unpaved and very primitive roads. Our van got stuck on our way to both orphanages, and we had to do a little bit of walking through the mud in order to get to our locations. Pastor Louis showed us a “Voodo Center” that is located near the first orphanage. But we trusted in God’s power to help us overcome these difficulties to be able to do what He called us to do.

Our hearts broke when we learned that there have been 6 failed attempts to dig a well to supply water to the Darivager Orphanage. The closest source of water is 30 minutes away!! The unfortunate news is that there are 7 other orphanages lacking water.

Overall the kids are in good health. Most of them had scabies, especially in the second orphanage. We treated over 130 children between the ages of 3 and 14. Dr. John did about 11 extractions and gave a presentation to all the children of Bigarouse about how to brush their teeth. On our way home, we were blessed to have Eric, a city planter in Boynton Beach, shared his perspective of the city. Some of his interesting observations were the markings of the boundaries of the land with cacti, the drainage runs alongside of the road, there are no paved driveways, or many paved roads for that matter. Hardly any building is greater than two stories, is finished or has power. And an overwhelming majority of the areas we have visited lack running water. Also, there are a lot of “entrepreneurs” run from kiosks alongside the street. Finally, the extreme poverty is overwhelming!

Dr. John put it so well and sums it up so well: “Some of these children don’t even know their birthdays...or names! They have missed out on those very important first years of spiritual, emotional and physical nourishment, and that is so evident in many ways!”
Our day ended with a grateful heart for being able to overcome all the obstacles, and for that we give praise to God!

Of course we ended the day with a good plate of “Chinese” food!

“This goes well with my prescription…it says: Take with a meal and shake well” Tom Turner

Sunday, November 1st, 2009

“The wicked wait in ambush for the godly, looking for an excuse to kill them, but the Lord will not let the wicked succeed or let the godly be condemned when they are put on trial. “ Psalm 37:32-33

Our first night was a little chilly…such a blessing to have AC!! We all had set our alarms for 5 AM so we would have time to get ready for the 6:30 am Sunday service at the church in Les Cayes, however when we got up, we found out there was no water….just one more opportunity for us to be flexible, make do with what we have….and also for some funny remarks to come up with:

“Go now…..flush later” Craig, after finding out we had no water.

Since we got in after dark on Saturday, we were not able to appreciate the amazing view we have from this guest house. But this morning we did! The first introduction is the sound….the sound of the cow—affectionately named by Tony “Ranasal” because it sounds like she has nasal problems-- mooing right next to our window, or the rooster crowing (no, not just in the morning…through the whole night). There are roosters, chickens, pigs, dogs, and cows all hanging out outside of the house in the morning. The house is on hill, overlooking the countryside of Les Cayes. We are surrounded by beautiful green mountains, and we can even see the ocean! The house has security…one or two men with a very intimidating shotgun (loaded with blanks). Our house has a kitchen, a meeting room, 4 bedrooms with 3 double bunks each, a bedroom “suite” for the married couples--in our case Ed and Cathy--and even the call center, a source of revenue for the church where they post advertisements on the internet. Down the hill of the missionary house, the ice/bakery factory is located, as well as the orphanage, school and clinic. This is a newly-renovated house, which used to house the older orphans, but has now been transformed into the missionary house (in the past, the missionaries would stay at Pastor Louis’ house).

We headed to the “big church” (the one in Les Cayes) for our first church service at 6:30 AM. We feel so honored to be able to worship and sing praises to our Lord with them!! Their energy and passion during worship is amazing and contagious. The music has an islandish undertone, and they are not afraid to dance and move around while they celebrate our God! Their voices are not only amazing, but powerful! And everyone who steps on the altar sings, at one point or another, with beautiful voices! As a special treat, there was a young woman who sang “This is my story” …..her voice was beautiful and captivated all of us.

Pastor Louis welcomed us in front of the whole congregation and gave Craig the opportunity to introduce us as a team, explain our mission, and share the message of the good news with them.
We were absolutely blessed to hear Pastor Louis preach from Leviticus 19:2 about sanctification—he did the sermon in both Creole and English. Pastor Louis reminded us that we need to be separated from “all the trash the world brings”….and that the only way to remain holy in this world is through the word of God. He used a great analogy of a man who used to work in a septic tank facility but now works in a perfume factory, and because of that he could never go back to smelling or even hanging out with his old buddies from the septic tank ….”His eyes are open now.” But we must also remember that “once we become holy, we become God’s servants, and we are called to go back to the septic tank and STAY there with our fragrance….not an easy call, but God will reward us.”

What a great, empowering message! We felt charged up and ready to start our week!
As a team we partook in communion and saw 5 people in the church come forward to accept Christ as their savior after Pastor Louis’ sermon! Praise God!

After the service, we came back to our house and Dr. Phil drove us up the hill…however the ride up that hill was not easy. It’s very steep and full of rocks. It shakes you pretty good… Of course by now we have learned to expect a funny commentary from Tom after things like these. Some of his remarks after driving up that hill have been:

“You know, in some places you have to pay for rides like these” Tom

“You go ahead…we are still trying to get our pieces together” Tom

“This goes well with my prescription…it says take with meal and shake well” Tom

After our first car ride adventure we had a wonderful breakfast with eggs, bread, bananas, and peanut butter. And now we were ready for our next service, but this time in the Cambry Church, down the hill from our house. We were walking down the hill when we noticed all the kids at the bottom waiting, and then they ran toward us and grabbed our hands. We were blessed to walk them to church, and sat with them through the service. This time we didn’t seat together, but spread out and sat among the people and the orphans. There are 260 orphans in this location, and they all reach their little arms to feel our touch. One hand is not big enough to hold the five little hands wanting to be touched and loved.































Pastor Louis did not attend this service and so there was no translation. However, the presence of the Holy Spirit was so tangible that there was no need for translations! We shared communion as a body again and enjoyed two hours of beautiful, energetic worship. It’s overwhelming to realize that despite everything, these children have such a loving and serving heart: the little girl that I walked to church and sat with, had such a sad expression, was extremely slim, and didn’t look healthy…yet when she saw me sweating, she ran her little fingers through my face and neck and wiped off the sweat, and then used her dress to clean the sweat! She did this a couple of times throughout the service!

Tom was sitting behind a little girl, and was admiring how beautiful her hair looked ….but when he looked closer he noticed the bows that adorned her hair had writing on them. Puzzled and now curious he tried to distinguish the letters without being too noticeable and then realized they were actually the satin tags from clothes made into bows…the writing was the description of the clothing size….

After the second service we went to downtown Les Cayes to Nami, a Chinese restaurant, and had some rice and beans, chicken, goat, and plantains. In the restaurant, we met a missionary couple from Michigan, and their three children , who have been living in Haiti since February and are also doing medical work here.




At the port of Les Cayes
























We all came back to the house and hang out for the rest of the afternoon. And when the power went out again, Tom grabbed his guitar and we tuned our voices and enjoyed some worship time in the darkness of the night with just a few flashlights and the moon lighting on us.

Craig went to the Sunday evening service so that he could meet with Pastor Louis and pick up the medical supplies which were in the storage room at his house. He was blessed to hear an incredible service with an hour and a half of worship music (including dancing in the aisles) and a continuation of Pastor Louis’ sermon on holiness. After church he picked up the medical supplies and returned to the guest house where the team organized the supplies for the coming week.