To the left is a picture of Haiti that was taken over Christmas break. The view is truly amazing.

Many of you already know that an earthquake hit Haiti on January 12, 2010 at 4:53 p.m. I (Susan) don't know what this particular valley looks like post earthquake, but I do know that many places in Haiti no longer look like they did pre-earthquake.

Many have lost loved ones. Many have lost homes and places of employment and many have lost hope & peace. At least this is what they believe when they look at their circumstances. Thankfully, we don't have to judge our hope, peace and our future by our current circumstances. Paul writes, "Now may the Lord of peace Himself continually grant you peace in every circumstance. The Lord be with you all!" 2 Thessalonians 3:16. God is able to grant peace in the midst of our circumstances and many in Haiti are searching for that peace now.

Sometimes it takes an event in our lives to open our eyes to the fact that we are in need of a Savior. The earthquake that hit Haiti is that event for some.

As the ground began to tremble beneath our feet on January 12th, confusion set in. What is going on? Why is our home tossing us to and fro? Why are my children calling out for help? Why are things falling all around us? Why do I hear breaking glass hit the floor? Many questions bombarded my mind as the earthquake began. In the next breath, we all headed toward the door and then hit the floor. I am not sure if it was because we lost our footing or because we were trained to hit the floor in the event of a tornado, all I knew was "process - Susan -process - what is going on - figure it out - help your children." These were the thoughts that I remember thinking. In the next breath I can remember saying, "get out, everyone - out of the house," and we started scrambling for the door.

As we headed out the door, I can remember seeing the vehicle bouncing back and forth. All of our children were with me. The ground was still moving, but we huddled together in a circle. Tears began to roll down their precious faces. Fear was plastered in their expressions. Then they realized they didn't have their dog with them. Zoe was still in the house. They began to yell out for her. They verbalized their fear. The ground stopped. Twenty-three seconds doesn't normally seem very long, but when you are caught in an earthquake, time seems to stand still. I told them to pray and I would look for Zoe. I rushed back in to find Zoe. She was found trembling on one of the beds. I grabbed her and back out of the house I ran. Hugging the children, we were safe outside again.

I (Kevin) was in the middle of a leadership conference here on our compound. A team from Kentucky came for the week to teach the Haitians about leadership. The day seemed to be a normal day here in Haiti. The sun was in full shine and hot. As the day progressed everyone moved to one side of our open chapel trying to escape the sun. 150 people were all sitting on one side of the chapel as the ground began to move. It was very faint at first. The Haitian sitting next to me said that it feels like the ground is moving, then I realized what was happening and I began to yell, "Get out! Get out!" It really seemed like a dream. My immediate thoughts were to get to the house, the children are in it. I then saw Susan and the children running out so I knew they were okay. I began to run around our compound trying to find everyone who was living here or staying here. As I made my way to the pool I could see five foot waves slamming against the sides spilling water onto the pool deck. The Kendall kids running out and towards their house scared to death. I could here the screams of terror coming from the villages near by and I thought the worst. I soon made it back home to check the family and investigate the house. Stuff was thrown from the cabinets. Furniture had been rearranged by mother nature. What a mess that can be made when the ground decides to move like the ocean. I know this seems like a lot of time but most of what I just said took about five minutes as I ran from here to there.

About 15 minutes after the quake we were swamped in our little clinic with casualties. As our clinic floor began to become a sea of people from 3rd degree burns to compound fractures to broken backs, God provided all the help that we needed for that night; from doctors to nurses to us, who had just enough training to splint fractures, dress wounds and pray. Our lives will never be the same again. It is amazing what trauma can do to a person and no one will ever know what they go through until one experiences it themselves.

Every time the ground moves even from the vibration of a car, we're taken back to that moment in time when God moved a portion of His earth. When the wind rattles the window you stop and wait and wonder could this be the next big one. I don't know if Haiti as a country could survive another big quake. I don't know whether or not we could survive another big quake. One of my daughters said that she will never live in California, it was too much for her. But life must go on as long as God keeps us here to do His will. As Mordecai told Esther, "...And who knows whether you have not attained royalty for such a time as this?" Esther 4:14. Many of you have told us this same thing, "A time such as this."

It's Susan again. So, this brings me back to hope. "And now, Lord, for what do I wait? My hope is in You" Psalm 39:7. Where is my hope? Where is your hope? I pray that it is in the Lord - maker of heaven and earth.