What it's all about!

If only I could explain to you what life and ministry here is all about. I am always at a loss for words to describe it. Especially being in a third world country like Haiti to begin with is a whole challenge by itself. I have had people who have been to countries all over the world tell me that they've never been to a place like Haiti. Haiti stands alone and is different in many ways. My opinion is that Haiti is like this because years ago, in celebration over victory, the people dedicated this island to the Satan in a special voodoo ceremony. It is to me the very reason that to this day it is so difficult for missionaries to work in this country. We have our work cut out for us but if you don't know this information it is difficult to ask you to pray for us, "for our struggle is not against flesh and blood enemies,but against evil rulers and authorities of the unseen world, against mighty powers in this dark world, and against evil spirits in the heavenly places." Ephesians 6:12

We have been working here at Carries for six and a half years. Saturday and Sunday were busy here because we had a couple of things going on. Saturday was a teachers seminar for our school teachers. They came from our five different schools: Carries, Legend, Cupois, Kunol, and Nazon. There were 23 teachers in attendance. It was led by our new school director Petit Homme and the kindergarden section by Sister Yvrose from our chuch in Port-au-Prince at La Saline. It was a day of excellence. It was an all day event and they spent the night to participate in a special service on Sunday.

Sunday morning was a special service. It is our dream to one day have our own little mini convention to encourage the brothers and sisters in all of our participating churches. There are fifteen involved in our mission and many more wanting help. It is a big deal in Haiti to have an annual church celebration for the anniversary of the church. We had something similar to this on Sunday. We can't invite all fifteen churches yet because we don't have enough room to house them all. They come a long way and must spend the night

Sunday morning was excellent with 88 people visiting us from those churches. It was a time of sharing, praise, worship, encouragement, preaching, and just amazing fellowship. We had 120 students from the Carries school and many of their parents participated in all. We had around 400 people in attendance.

There was something amazing going on behind the scenes. The women were busy preparing a special meal to feed all of these people. It is very difficult to plan to feed a group like this because the last thing you want to do is run out of food and not be able to feed them. Bioude and I prepared and planned and prayed that there would be enough. I left her at the helm in the kitchen.

It was finally time to serve. The problem is, at this point there are several walk-ins that didn't attend services but are ready to share the meal. The object is to do this quickly, carefully and tactfully. You can't just say get out, you weren't here for church, that would be a bad situation. We embrace them and find them a seat. I tell them anyone getting out of their seat for whatever reason will not get a plate of food.

I must tell you that this gets the adrenalin flowing for me. Children do not have much value in Haiti. They are a lot of times looked at as work horses. Many of them have a lot of responsibilities at a very young age. Mdme Kiki, that's me, decided that it was kids day and that all children would be fed a plate of food befoe the adults would be served. This is unheard of and many adults did not like it but couldn't do anything about it because Mdme Kiki said that's how it was going to be. I started with all the children from the Carries school. Some of them so small they could hardly hold their plate of precious cargo but they clung to it for dear life. It was a huge, gigantic, enourmous helping of beans and rice, a whole chicken leg, beet salad, fried plantane and pickles. They also got a cup of soda to wash it down. It was worth it all to see their eyes get as big as saucers when they saw all the food, just for them and a whole chicken leg. Usually their mom would use one chicken leg to flavor the sauce for her rice because that is all she could afford. You can imagine what a treat this was to them. It was worth it all to see all my kids eating to their hearts content with a huge smile on their face. That's what it's all about for me. It's what keeps me going despite the hardships, inconveniences, and confrontations of the ministry. Thank you Lord for allowing me to be your servant in a place as special as Haiti. We were able to feed all but about thirty people with the food that had been prepared. I took these thirty people back to the kitchen, sent to buy more food and the ladies prepared it immediately and we were able to finish serving everyone. Praise the Lord! Thank you for giving to make it all possible. May God recieve all the glory and honor for it. Dee

Things have been pretty exciting here at Carries! School has been open for about two weeks. We have one hundred and fifteen students at this point. Many of them are new students and we are very excited about that. The numbers are down and we have been visiting with parents to see what the problem is or why they haven't sent their kids to school. Many of them have told us that times are hard and getting harder and they simply can't afford it. They are very proud people and refuse to send their children to school even for a few days in plain clothes. They will keep them home until they can buy material to have their uniform sewn and buy their books. The thing is, we need more sponsors! It is one thing for Mdme Kiki to say, "Go ahead and send your children without books, without a uniform and without paying and we will take care of it." It sounds like a great gesture but they would be insulted by the thought of it. We don't want to give them handouts either. Even our sponsored children are required to at least pay the entry fee which amounts to about six dollars U.S. This is to help them feel like they are not just given a hand out. They have a lot more appreciation for us and for what we are doing because of this approach.





If you interested in supporting one of these school children, you may, for $40 per month.





Make your check payable to: BLESSING HEARTS INTERNATIONAL memo:SPONSOR

Send to: BLESSING HEARTS INTERNATIONAL

C/O Chris Brennemann

5923 CR 324

Palmyra, MO 63461


We are excited to have a new director in our school this year at Carries. He comes to us from Port-au-Prince. His name is brother Petit Homme. He is really serious about his business and a blessing to us. Especially having only one vechicle makes it very difficult to be at the school and see how things are going. We, once again, have to step out on a limb to trust someone. This is always scary. Pray that he will be a blessed addition to our staff.

Follow Along, Come join us!

If you have enjoyed following Another day in Haiti, I want to give you a way to follow us on our various adventures. Crash and Shaina are here with us from the mid-west. Crash is helping us in the administration department. Shaina is teaching Ashley and Kelsey. Ashley is ten years old, in the fifth grade and a missionary kids. Sometimes the little windows of insight she gives me are absolutely hilarious, truthful and eye-opening all at the same time. Today she asked, "Mom, can I have a blog spot too?" Shaina and I both thought this would be a great idea. Look for Ashley's up and coming blog spot addition. Somewhere in these you might find famous quotes by four year old Kelsey. For example: We were in the ocean swimming and Kelsey looks up and says, "Mom, does God know how to swim?" I said that I am sure that He can. She said, " Well, wouldn't He get stuck?" because she is aware that God is so big that even the ocean is too small to contain God as He takes a swim. I am excited that my four year old knows that we have such a great big God. I think there is a huge lesson there to be learned by some of us adults. Just how big is your God? You can be entertained by these ideas and more by checking out Crash's Blog Haiti, Shaina's Blog Haiti, or High Hill Haiti Blog at any time by clicking on them. They are linked to the bottom of my blog page. If that doesn't work for you, here are there blog spot addresses:

www.luke41819.blogspot.com Crash

www.shainainhaiti.blogspot.com Shaina

www.hhcchaiti.blogspot.com High Hill


Thank you for your continued prayers and support for our ministry.

Don't ask why!

Hello from the "Wild, Wild West Indies!", as we have now dubbed our chosen field of service. Sometimes life here defies all logic. For example, this morning we got up with a program to return to Port-au-Prince to finish some mechanic work on the truck. A trip to town, however, is never wasted. There were plenty of errands to run. Money needed to be exchanged, groceries needed to be bought, Shaina, Crash and I needed some chocolate, we needed to check prices on uniform material, and books and of course several other things that we would remember when we got there or on the way. The plan came to a halt as our driver, El-ves showed up for work. He told us that he had a dream that he was in a terrible accident with the truck and therefore he would not be driving the truck anywhere today. Since Wilckly had other business to take care of here he couldn't drive us and so our plans will remain to be executed at a later date, remaining to be determined.

Fortunately, I was warned a long time ago by my very perceptive mentor, David Orr, how I could still live in the midst of this kind of craziness. The two tidbits he gave me that have carried me through sixteen years in Haiti without going crazy, are these: Don't ask why? and Everything takes longer than it takes.

He said don't ask why Dee, contrary to everything you've been taught. There will never be a logical explanation . You don't have time to waste trying to figure it out so if you just learn to accept it and go on you will be able to accomplish a lot more.

Don't be discouraged by things moving so slowly, just always remember that everything takes longer than it takes. This way you won't get quite as frustrated by it. For example: when you go to the store and you want to know the price of something. First,you ask the person who looks like they work there, the price of the item. They will look at it, get a number off of it and disappear. They return after some time with the price in Haitian gourdes which you have to translate into Haitian dollars. You then decide you would like three but they only have to on the shelf. Thirty minutes later you have finally secured the third one and you proceed to the counter to pay. You hand the item to the person with the money. They hand you back the money and collect information from the items. They keep the items and hand you a three-fold copy of the items and their prices. They send you to the next window where you then hand them the bill. They figure the total and ask you to pay. You then pay and they give you back two copies of the bill and you go to the next window. You hand the two papers which are stamped paid and they finally hand you one of the papers and the item you bought and you prepare to exit the store. A man stops you and asks to see your receipt and look at the items in the bag. He then makes a check mark on your receipt and you can finally be on your merry way! Patience is definitely a virtue in this country. I am embarrassed to even tell you how long all of that could take. All of this brought into perspective by the fact that, Everything takes longer than it takes.

Next time you are frustrated by that slow, fast food service; those poky people in the check out line;that traffic light that seems to take twenty minutes to change; and that crazy microwave that can't get the food cooked fast enough........slow down, take a deep breath and enjoy those conveniences and think of us, your missionary friends who need you to continue to pray for them to have patience, endurance and understanding to further God's kingdom here in Haiti.

Tas Kafe Cho - A Cup Of Hot Coffee

What a Sunday! Today marked the 2nd anniversary of the 4a.m. prayer meeting, called Tas Kafe Cho which means a cup of hot coffee. This morning in particular, on this special occasion to celebrate such faithfulness and dedication to the task, earlier comers were served a cup of Haitian coffee with a little milk and a LOT of sugar and a piece of bread. This was a royal treat for everyone as well as a pleasant surprise.



Tas Kafe Cho was started by Bioude. Most of you know that she is my right hand everything. This woman stands about four feet two and a half inches tall. Don't let that fool you as she is a real powerhouse of love and dedication. She loves the Lord and she takes her task very seriously. The prayer meeting starts at 4a.m. and ends at 6a.m. If that is not dedication then you show me some. I am awed by it. I am humbled by everything about this woman. Chapo ba or Hats off to Bioude Dorce! Keep up the good work!



It has made a remarkable impact on Carries. Not only is there a great amount of dedication on her part to make sure the services continue, but she has crossed all boundaries from different denominations in the area to people known to be totally immersed in voodoo. After the service each morning, if there is anyone sick who has been attending, the whole group goes to visit them and pray for them. She goes prepared with ibuprofen and several home remedies. If they are really weak she may go home and make soup to take for them or buy whatever is necessary to gave them care. She would also, personally return to visit them again during the day to see how they are. The care and concern at this level can't be replaced by anything else. This is what our ministry is about. Pray for more people like Bioude who would join the team with that kind of dedication. Truly ready to deny themselves everything for the advancement of the gospel and the cause of Christ. Her dedication is to be commended.



These people made a gigantic, huge, enormous piece of progress. Bioude gave envelopes to everyone fully expecting their participation to make the party happen. The amazing thing is that they responded. I don't know how many envelopes were given but the results were unbelievable. They gave a total of $1,555.00 Haitian. It was a great day! This money was used to prepare a meal of fried chicken, rice and beans, beet salad, fried plantane from our garden and special Haitian picklees to top it all off. Everyone also had a nice ice cold coke. They made such an effort towards giving which made it a pleasure to add the money needed to complete the party. There were at least 150 people served. Praise the Lord! What an amazing day it was.

Please pray for these babes in Christ and many others who don't yet see a reason to have Jesus involved in their lives. It may seem very small and insignificant to you but is something as small as this that we look to for encouragement to continue the task. Usually they would not give anything or a very minimal amount, like $20 for 150 people, because they put in their mind that is the work of the mission and the mission has money so they shouldn't have to contribute. Rejoice with us in the little things!

Dee

God is concerned with the details.

I awoke at 4a.m. this morning to the sound of a preacher friend who had spent the night with us, praying his heart out in at a fairly loud volume. He had brought me some pumpkins for soup so who was I to say anything about praying so loudly at that hour. I do mean at that hour, for an hour. He was very detailed and as I listened to him I wondered if there wasn't a lesson to be learned instead of everyone just getting annoyed. God loves us so much that he is definitely concerned about the very minute details of our lives but how many times is it that we share those with him. How many times is it just the surface stuff or the things at hand? Too often for me and I would imagine maybe for you too.

If we, as Christians really embraced prayer and all of its power, Jesus would have already returned because the task of reaching the lost would have been accomplished long ago! Why are we like that? We have that much power at our disposal and we choose to do things the hard way so many times, on our own. Forgetting to even invite the Lord to help us with the task at hand. The one thing I appreciate about Haiti is that it has opened my eyes to the power of prayer. Haiti has taught me the meaning of pray without ceasing. In this land of darkness where there is constant spiritual warfare, prayer is a way of life. It has to be to stay alive spiritually and not throw the towel in and go elsewhere. Haiti was dedicated to satan in a special service by her ancestors. It is why to this day, I believe, there have been many missionaries who started here and finished here.

Imagine trusting someone for years with your most important things and one day you get up to find they took it all and went to the Dominican or their trying to get to the States. Imagine pouring hours of teaching, love, spiritual nourishment into children and adults to find their main goal is to get whatever they can from you. Imagine training excellent workers, putting hours of time, training and money into them to have them leave without notice to go work for someone else. Such is life in Haiti. How can we go through that without getting totally discouraged again and again and again? Well yesterday in the middle of all of those different scenarios, we had a visitor. Her name is Danita. We raised her from the time she was two years old. She shows up at my door, where I was gloved and digging deep into the thick dusty mess in our storage, with the most precious, adorable three month old baby girl I've ever seen. It was at that moment I reminded myself, as I cleaned up so I could hold this precious little one, that all my time and effort put int those people doesen't really matter if they can't see Jesus living and loving through my life. I held her for quite a while, praying silently all the while for her whole life. Praying that she might be the one that God would really use to change Haiti. Hope came flooding back into my veins with a rush. I was okay again, though worried about the very well being of this little one. How would she survive? This was totally out of my control but she could be the one to help make a difference in Haiti for Christ!

Please don't take prayer lightly. Pray for us that we would be strong physically and spiritually. Pray for opportunities to live out Christ's love for us on a daily basis. Pray for this precious little one that she might become a shining light in a land of darkness.

How concerned are we about our prayer life? PRAY WITHOUT CEASING