Exciting News

Once again, a lot has happened since the last posting and I've been delinquent in communication.
First of all, our last few days in Haiti went wonderfully. The kids at the orphanage really enjoyed the VBS and learned a lot. It was impressive to listen to some of the older kids answer theological questions!
On Monday, my cousin and I flew back to the States.The first leg of that journey, a flight between Cayes and Port au Prince on a tiny plane with Tortug'Air, is always exciting. There's invariably a couple times during the flight when you're sure you won't land in one piece. But it sure does have scenery.
It's wonderful to be home with my family and loved ones but I'll miss Haiti a lot, and not an hour goes by that I don't think about it. Surprisingly I haven't been experiencing a huge amount of culture shock for someone who spent over three months in a third world country - especially since nearly all of that time was spent in a mountain village four hours away from any native English speakers other than the Bustins.
Last Friday we received wonderful news from my sister, Jana. She and some others had been searching faithfully for a hospital or organization that would take on Steven's case and fund the surgery for his myelomeningocele (the outpouching of his spinal cord through his vertebrae). Through some contacts, she was put in touch with Mending Kids International, an LA based charitable organization that helps fund surgeries for children from all over the world. Mending Kids agreed to take Steven's case! This is an answer to so many prayers. We all hated leaving Steven up there in the mountain village with no medical care accessible should anything happen to him and it's important for his future health that this surgery be accomplished as soon as possible. After we found out about Mending Kids, the word was put out that we needed a family to house Steven and be his guardians through this long process of getting him the medical care he needs. At least 5 families in Orange County stepped up and were willing to host Steven. I was just humbled and amazed at this. So many people have been praying and helping him that have never even seen him. He will be staying with a wonderful Christian family that lives about 10 minutes from where I live so I'm pretty excited about the prospect of being able to see him regularly.
A few days after we found out about Mending Kids accepting Steven, we got word that another patient that the Bustins and some others have been trying to get to the States for about a year now was likely to be accepted at a hospital in North Carolina to have his surgery without cost. Jacky is 28 years old. Up until 2006, he was a school teacher at the Bustin's mission. At that time, he developed a large facial tumor. He had the tumor resected in the States, but it grew back about a year ago and is now large enough that it is squeezing his wind pipe. This picture was taken last March of Jacky with the neurologist who worked on getting him surgery both in 2006 and this time around, along with his daughter. Since then, the tumor's gotten so big that we got word it's starting to press on his eye. He's one that just breaks your heart to look at and imagine how painful it must be.
We are waiting on paperwork from both cases, but if all goes well, I'll be going back to Haiti in a couple days to work on getting their visas and returning with them to the US possibly as soon as next Saturday. There are still so many factors up in the air that could determine how soon we are able to get Jacky and Steven out, so we could use a lot of prayer still that things would be expedited.
God is good. I'll try to keep updating on our progress.