Pray without ceasing...

I am still in Lincoln, Nebraska at the Bryan LGH Medical Center. They have had trouble getting my mom's blood pressure regulated. They have given her some blood hoping that this will help stabilize the situation. Praying for a great day for her today.

Wilckly is busy in Haiti with on-going construction projects. The backhoe is being put to the test loading rock, gravel and sand, digging foundations and clearing brush. One main project right now is to finish the toilet and shower house up the hill.

He has been able to share packets of rehydration powder, basically sugar and table salt, to children in the school and many people of the area. This is a safety net that they have in their hands should they become sick with the cholera. They should immediately begin drinking this. They simply add the powder to a bottle of purified drinking water, shake it and drink it. This will help rehydrate them and buy them some time to get to a treatment clinic where they can be given an IV. Having this available already saved the life of one of our young construction workers.

Marc reports that the people from 0ne of our churches in Port-au-Prince at Nazon, came last Sunday to Carries. They participated in the worship service and then everyone followed them to the beach to witness the baptisms of nine people. Hallelujah!!! Praise God as the angels rejoice and the spiritual revival in Haiti continues. Won't you rejoice with us and join us as we pray for the revival to continue?! We ask you to pray for these nine new believers as they face the adversary in their journey to remain faithful to Christ until He returns.

Please remember to lift up the young people in my Sunday school who were baptized in May. I think of them often, knowing God has me here in the States right now for many reasons. I am so thankful to be here with my mom right now but as always, my heart remains in Haiti, no matter the circumstances. Stay FAITHFUL!

Please pray...

Tomorrow I will be taking my mom, Reta Diggs, to Lincoln, Nebraska for open heart surgery. Please pray for her that the surgery would go well, that they would be able to do all the repairs necessary and that she would have a speedy recovery. She will be in the hospital 5-7 days before coming home.

Continue to pray for the people of Haiti. It seems the aid given after the earthquake has been squandered or held for ransom or something...nobody really seems to know the scoop on that, all the Haitian people know is that not much has been done to provide them with housing more permanent than a few sticks and a piece of tarp. Most of the rubble is still where it fell on Jan. 12th. Now, thing that was feared most has happened. There is the outbreak of cholera which is not being contained. The death toll has reached 1,344. Monique's brother-in-law died from it at the very beginning before anyone really knew what it was.

Recently one of our masons came down with it. Wilckly had thought ahead to prepare for the worst possible scenario. We had bought a dozen bags of the IV solution used for treatment. Having these on hand along with oral rehydration solutution Wilckly had brought back in his suitcase, saved the life of this young man. They started an IV for him and made him start drinking the oral rehydration fluids immediately and took him to one of the treatment stations. They continued to rehydrate him but told us that our quick action to get him rehydrated, saved his life.

People as far away as my home town, Bedford, Iowa, made an impact on the life of this young man. They were not satisfied to read about it on the news without taking action. They couldn't go to Haiti to help and they didn't know how to stop the cholera. Instead, Mick Ware of Bedford, asked if it would help if they would make small packets of the oral rehydration powder to send with us. We told him yes. We said if people came and we weren't able to give them an IV, we could at least start them on the oral fluids. Mick and some friends put together five hundred of these small packets, according to what WHO (World Health Organization), recommended. It is plainly a packet of sugar and salt, even though I don't remember the exact amounts of each one. All you do is pour it into a bottle of treated drinking water, shake it up and drink it. The efforts of these people, who cared enough to take action at home, were able to help Wilckly save the life of a young worker in Haiti. Praise God for their willingness to take action.

Keep praying as Wilckly and all of our family and workers attempt to take precautions to drink, cook and bathe with water that is not infected. It is urgent that we get the two busses of supplies, that are sitting in Maryville, MO, sent to Haiti as soon as possible. Call 712-621-1464 if you would like to know how you or your family or oranization can help with this. Thanks.

Please keep praying...

October was bit crazy. October 9th, Wilckly finally got his passport that he had been trying to renew since June 23rd. Thanks for praying! October 23rd Wilckly and I arrived in Kansas City where we were finally reunited with our children. Wilckly had not seen them for nine months. We had decided it was best if they left Haiti after the earthquake.We didn't know if we would have enough food, run out of food, not be able to get food. We didn't know what sickness and disease might spread after it either.

Well, it has happened. The minute we think it couldn't be worse, cholera attacks Haiti, relentlessly. The disturbing part is how quickly this has spread and how many it has not only killed but also infected. The Haitian people are known for their "iron guts". They do have an immunity to things that would quickly kill you and I but no tolerance or immunity what so ever to cholera. Please pray. You see numbers escalating and reaching 1,344 but to me and my family we hear names and see people we know and love, dying of something we can't control.

What can we do to keep from getting it? Wash hands with soap and water. (Sounds simple but becomes difficult when the water you wash with needs to be shocked with clorox because that is where it is transferred.) Still sounds simple if you have a faucet with running water, which, in most households, is not likely. Treat water with clorox. (Problem: many people can't afford the clorox and are unsure, how much is enough.) Drink bottled water. (Most people can't afford it.) If you get the vomitting and diarrhea you need rehydration fluids immediately, preferrably through an IV but oral rehydration fluids will help buy time.

Fortunately, Wilckly is always thinking ahead and trying to avoid a disaster. We bought a dozen bags of IV fluids and antibiotics before we left Haiti in case someone got sick. While in Bedford, Iowa, some people from the church were wondering how they could help. They took action. They found the amount of salt and sugar neccessary to add to a regular bottle of water. They prepared and labeled 500 of these packets. Wilckly was able to take all of them in his suitcase.

Returning to Haiti, this week one of our masons become ill with the cholera. Having the oral rehydration fluids and IV fluids on hand saved his life. Thanks Mick Ware and those who helped you fill the packets. You made the difference of life and death in Haiti because you were willing to be active instead of passive as far away as Iowa. Thanks for making a differnce! Keep praying!!!

Where do Haitians get their drinking water????

The outbreak of cholera in Haiti is a very real and scary thing. It is hard enough to take all the precautions to drink clean water, cook with clean water and bathe with clean water on a normal day. Well, what would you do? Walk an hour farther both ways to get clean drinking water or just take your chances with the water that is closet? I know your answer but if you were in their situation you might choose differently. Tons of children like these get there drinking water every day from sources like those in the pictures I have shown below. Tonight, many are
dead. The cholera acted so quickly, no one even had time to warn them. The voodoo beliefs cause them to question seriously whether someone is out to destroy Haiti by poisoning their drinking water. This is a common practice to get
rid of the enemy in Haiti, poisoning food or drink. Needless to say there are many who are
suspicious and can't understand how or why many are sick and dying.
We are told that if you act quickly and get the person started on an IV and antibiotics that it can be treated rather quickly. The hospital at the town of St. Marc is the one we would normally go to. It is about twenty-five miles from Carries. The doors of this hospital have been closed and police are guarding the gates. This is for three reasons: they don't have enough space to put people and they are laying people on the floor because there aren't enough beds, they don't have enough staff, IV fluids and medicine to treat everyone and they don't want those who aren't contaminated coming in and running the very high risk of contaminating themselves and others.

We do not use river water or water from the canal at Carries. Our source comes from the mountains. However, on both sides of us, they use the river and canal water. Preparing, we have bought IV fluids to have on hand and antibiotic injections. We told our school children about all the precautions to take in washing their hands and boiling their drinking water. Please, I am asking your prayers, once again for the people of Haiti. We ask for God's hand to remain on us. We pray for protection against this and that God would keep us all in good health. We pray that this would be contained very soon and that there would be an end to the suffering.

If you could just pray about this tomorrow, maybe everytime you go to do something that involves water, drinking, taking a shower, etc. it would be very much appreciated. May God bless and keep you . dee

"Running water", Haiti style...

"Running water", Haiti stlye is the talk of the village, when I, Mdme Kiki come flying down the path on my red, Yamaha Rhino!!! Dogs, people, goats, cows, horses, guineas, and a duck with seven little ducklings behind her, scatter like flies with my approach. The boys, Bob and Lele, quickly fill the gallons with water from our huge reservoir that Wilckly built and that provides water for most of the community. Today my task was to carry water up the hill for the masons who were laying some cement blocks in preparation to cover one of our buildings. Fortunately I only had to make two trips.

Maybe you are wondering why in the world would I be carrying the water in these gallons. Our water truck is broke down at the moment. We have no source of water up the hill where we are establishing. We will have it we just have to "hurry up and wait for it", because that is what we do in Haiti. In the mean time, any water I need for washing dishes, mopping the floor, taking a bath or flushing the port-au-potty, has to be carried up from down the hill.

You could say there are things in Haiti that are a little less than convenient. For example, imagine the misery of watching people take hours, days and weeks to cut some weeds or clean the whole yard by hand instead of mowing. Now, however, thanks to my husband seeing the need, we now have a push mower. If you saw what we had to mow, you would say, "She's kidding, right?". No, I am not but I thought you would at least enjoy hearing about how I mow my "yard". I have five of our boys/young men, who are 15 to 20 years old. They walk in front of me with a long machete and hack at the tall weeds. Another one is responsible to remove any sizeable rocks from my path as to not ruin my mower blade. Another is responsible to remove any plastic, trash, bottles, cans or other unidentified objects from my path. It's quite a sight to see the line of us "mowing" as I come along from behind with the push mower. I must say that it is looking pretty decent around here. The boys are hard workers if I can keep them on the task and they've been doing a good job of it lately.

Just another day in Haiti. dee

New shoes for the Ilris family

Elves, pronounced Elvis, is our hired driver. Many times Wilckly is occupied with the mission work and is not able to stop and drive people where they need to go to take care of important things. For example he may be meeting with preachers who have traveled from the mountain churches, sometimes eight hours or more walk from Carries and even though they didn't have an appointment he can't just tell them to come back tomorrow. It is necessary then for us to have someone who can drive the truck and do other things. He has been a faithful servant. He was in the back of the truck when we had the accident. He injured his collar bone. He is doing fine now. He came home from the hospital and Wilckly brought him straight to our house to make sure he was taken care of, had his medications, had plenty to eat and was able to go back to the doctor for follow up. He was an okay worker before but he has become one of the main people we can depend on now. He said the way he sees it, God preserved all of our lives for a reason. He says if there is any way for him to help us keep serving this God who cares and provides for us, he will do it.

All of his children attend our school. He told me it was pretty rough to buy uniforms, shoes, books and all for such a big family. Some of his children are sponsored already and so he knew he would have some help there. He asked if there was any way I could help them all have a pair of shoes. Thanks to all of you who helped provide earthquake relief, we are still separating, sorting and giving to those in need from all of the things sent in the containers. This is how I was able to help each one of his children find a new pair of shoes. Thank you so much for making this possible. Their smiles were worth a million bucks to Wilckly and I as they each came, one by one and thanked us with a kiss on the cheek and a sheepish grin. Another day in Haiti concluded. I'm gonna get some much needed rest.

Today in Haiti...

Marc had the x-ray which confirmed his arm is broken again in the same place. It is in a cast that he will have to wear for a month. Praise God they didn't have to put the metal fixation back in.

Amos and Ti-Bonhomme both have fever, chills and vomitting. Djouvensca escorted them on a tap-tap to the hospital at Pierre Pyen. They hospitalized both of them and put them on IV's. They said one has malaria and the other one they aren't sure because the tests were negative. It was a busy day dispatching one group to PAP with Marc to see about his arm and the other crew in the other direction by tap-tap. I had to co-ordinate everything needed for the hospital stay not only for the two patients but for the two people staying to assist them. We sent bottled water and a thermos for ice. We sent cups, bowls, silverware and food. We sent sheets, pillows, towels and laundry soap for the girls to wash them by hand at the hospital. We sent toothpaste, toothbrush and soap. We sent a plastic tub to be used as the urinal. Well, that's what it's like in the hospitals here in Haiti. Fortunately, Djouvensca is so used to being sent to the hospital to take care of people that she was able to remind me of everything that needed to be sent. Don't forget, more money and calling cards for the phone to be in contact.

Please pray for these young men. They aren't sick very often. I know it is serious when they don't even get up out of the bed and don't eat.

School started Monday with 26 students present, which is actually an all time high for us on the first day. They most we've ever had is twelve and that was twelve of our own kids. Today there were 38. We will keep you updated.

We are proud that 7 of the 12 sixth graders from our school, took the state test and passed it. They worked very hard to accomplish this. We will miss them as they move on to another school as we are not yet able to start our secondary school but we are praying it will be in our near future. I am sending pictures of some that passed and their proud parents.

Harder by the day...

It was predicted that it would happen this way because it always does. What is it about trauma and disaster that fascinates us so but as soon as the hype is gone, so is our interest. I believe at the Emmy awards they gave one to someone who had helped a lot in Haiti. He said the award should go to the person who can keep our attention focused on Haiti and the enormous amount of help that is still needed, whoever can keep the need alive derserves the award. I don't know, but I do know there were several missionaries here living among the people before the tragic earthquake, they were here during the earthquke and they are still here doing the same thing they were before, helping the Haitian people in an attempt to save their souls.

We appreciate all those who gave over, above and beyond after the earthquake. However we have such gratitude for those who were faithful in their giving before, during and after. We know without your comittment and dedication to the Lord and to our ministry we would be totally helpless. Thank you.

Many of you have asked the question, "Is there any improvement, are things changing for the better?" It's a loaded question. Especially as nine months after the earthquake "some" of the people have just now moved into "temporary" housing which isn't even rain and wind resistant. Temporary, what does that mean? How LONG does that mean? In the mean time the tent cities continue to spread and cover the countryside near Port-au-Prince and the empty spacec in Port-au-Prince.

Blessing Hearts International feels like she is making improvements. Our church under the banana plants after the earthquake has moved into a building. The school is being moved to its new building also. The containers we shipped and empty ones we were able to purchase to sort and use for storage are place strategically on the property. The backhoe has been put to work clearing the land and preparing it for more buildings such as housing for employees, cafeteria for the school kids, workers and families to eat, different buildings for a carpenter shop, welding shop, mechanic shop and the list goes on for our dreams are gigantic, hunormous ones but we know that our God is BIG ENOUGH!

I have put the rhino to good use carrying anything and everything, people, water, clothes, wood, rocks and more. It works great as I can drive where ever the boys and I are working, picking up rocks and sticks out of the way so that we can use the pushmower to mow the grass. Many places it is way to high so they have to walk in front of me with their machete's, wacking the weeds off so I can mow over them. It's quite a site to see. We are physically making tons of progress but it is still ever so slow. We are so thankful for the backhoe that has speeded things up by eliminating some of the manual labor that causes the construction to drag on and on.

Our main goal however remains to live among the Haitian people and live out the love of Christ among them. We are thankful that the people are spiritually awakened and hungry for the word and for answers after the devastating earthquake. Our greatest joy is still what makes the angels rejoice and that is when a sinner choses to follow the Lord and commit his or her life to Christ. It's happening! and for that we are truly grateful. Hold on strong and don't let go. Remain faithful to the Lord as He is the only one who will never leave you!

Praise!

Well, it has been quite the experience, to say the least, since May 16, 2010. God has showed His amazing power, watchcare over us all and His amazing healing power in all who were involved in the accident. This is Marc Dorce after the accident when there was so much gravel embedded in his arms that they decided to amputate both of them immediately because even if he survived without the amputaion of them infection from all of the embedded gravel would cause gangrene to set in. BUT, OUR GOD IS BIGGER THAN ALL OF THAT! The last thing Marc told me is don't let them cut my arms off Mdme Kiki. Insistance from me, his wife Monique, and an American nurse named Stefanie led them to the decision to leave them on. Every day for a week, Dr. Halpern from Tampa, Florida and the team, carefully cleaned and debreeded the wounded arms and hand. The back of his hand was a complete blow out. They took a piece from his forearm and grafted it into place. He is doing well. He was in the hospital from May 16th - June 22nd. He has movement that they never expected. He is determined to feed himself, dress himself, bathe etc. Yesterday, October 7th, he went to the Medishare hospital to have the metal fixation removed from his arm. He came home yesterday and is doing quite well. His daughter, Alexandra, who is three said, "Now you can clap your hands when we sing daddy!"

Marc is a faithful servant. He is Wilckly's cousin but we have raised him since he was 12 years old. He is a strong, dedicated Christian young man. He would go around every Sunday visiting one of the 15 different churches in our ministry. He would take a tap-tap to PAP to run errands for us at a moments notice. He walked the 9 hours to the Terrible Mountain and back instead of riding a mule. The bottom line is, with everyone he meets, he wants to know if they have their life right with the Lord and know where they will spend eternity. Thank you so much for the millions of prayers that have been lifted up for this young, faithful servant. dee

Thanks! Praise God! and Thanks again...

WILCKLY FINALLY GOT HIS PASSPORT RENEWED AND HE DROVE TO PORT-AU-PRINCE AND CAME HOME AT 11PM LAST NIGHT PASSPORT IN HAND AND GOOD UNTIL 2015!!!! He has been trying to get it since June 23rd. It has been very crazy and very frustrating to say the least but now it's over and he holds freedom in his hand. He said it was almost worse than being in the real prison just knowing that he couldn't leave the country and go see his wife and kids while we were in the States. He hasn't seen them now since January when I took them out after the earthquake. We are making plans to go see them now. We will let you know when things are finallized! Thank you so much for praying these three and a half months for him to get his passport!


EXHAUSTED WOULD BE THE WORD FOR THE PAST WEEK AND A HALF!!! The morning prayer meeting which is called, "Tas Kafe Cho" or a hot cup of coffee, just celebrated its three year anniversary. Let me explain that. It means 3 years straight, rain or shine, in sickness and in health, in the face of calamity or great joy, up every day to start the service at 4a.m. This is the faithful dedicated woman Bioude Dorce is. She is also known as Mdme Francois. She is the one who would wake up, rally everyone in the house, grab her megaphone, Bible and song book and head out to start the service. This lady doesn't play around with anything and especially the work that the Lord has laid on her heart. We can't thank her and praise her enough for her dedication.


She has four daughters. The youngest one, Yoka, passed away with malaria on June 3rd of this year. She was only 20. She was raised in our home since she was 3 and is just another one of our kids. This, as you can imagine, was devastating to her and to us. Life has not made much sense since then. She has clung to this morning prayer service and it has been a source of strength and encouragement to her when nothing else really mattered. This is why this past week it has been such a blessing to see a smile on her face once again and to hear her laughter.











I saw joy on her face and in her heart as she carefully planned all the details. We had a revival that began on Sunday evening and went through the next Sunday evening. We invited all the churches of the area. No, you are not mistaken. It was eight days of revival! It rained all most every night. The first two nights we had around 90 in attendance. The next two nights we had 160. The next two nights we had 254 each night and the last two nights 165. Each church was assigned a different night to lead the singing. There were seven churches that participated.







Tuesday was the actual anniversary, complete with a special program of different singing groups from each church and lots of praise and adoration together. All of this culminated in a special meal, prepared especially to share with all of the people. We fed over 450 people, children and adults. Each plate was filled with beans and rice, a piece of fried chicken, fried plantane, pickles (like cole slaw, only it is piping hot with hot peppers they put in it), macaroni salad and beet salad and a coke. The cooks really got a work out and nobody likes the job of separating it. It was a good day though and everyone was fed and happy. If you have ever been to Haiti then you know what a big deal that is, to feed everyone without a fight or a downright brawl over the food where food is wasted and hoarded and many people don't get fed. Praise God for the smoothness of this endeavor and a huge thanks to those ladies in the "kitchen". They cooked all this food over a charcoal fire and the rice was cooked in huge pots sat on three rocks over a wood fire. It is quite an amazing feat in my opinion every time I see it. Maybe some day you will join us and witness one of these celebrations.

THANKS A MILLION TIMES!!!

and it's still not enough to say how thankful we are and how blessed to finally have this New Holland backhoe on the ground, in Haiti, and finally out of customs!!! This is the newest member of our team and it is getting a workout. Cleaning trash, clearing the land of brush, cactus, and rocks is a full time job. It has been put to work clearing a place for the children to play at recess and digging foundations for more classrooms. We want you all to know how much we appreciate having this piece of equipment. There are people are missionaries where everything is already established. Our mission, especially starting new at Carries, started at ground zero, with nothing except some Christian people who were looking for some help and some leadership. We started by living in a small two room house, similar to that of the villagers. Fortunately, it had a cement floor but it had a tin roof. Our kitchen was outside like the natives and we cooked with charcoal in our outdoor kitchen. We had no electricity and no generator so we used a home made kerosene lamp that was made out of a small tin can. Every morning all my stuff was covered with soot. What a mess!

Eight years later and after the earthquake it is like starting over. Grant it we do have a generator for some electricity and I have the internet right at my house. However, we are expanding up the hill and the earthquake was the perfect time to move that project forward. We are constantly under construction. Please pray for us as the funds come in that we would build it into the mission that God has planned and designed. Come visit us. We're waiting for you.

A chain of events...

I read a book before going to Haiti, written by two veteran missionary women who served in India for years, with Kulpahar Children's Home. Looking back at their experiences and difficulties in ministry they said, "Had we known the things we would have to face, we would have never gone!" Praise God for His wisdom in not letting us know the future. Living in Haiti for seventeen years, there are many situations I would have backed out on and chose not to experience. Those are also probably all the situations which have strengthened and challenged my faith and made me into the person, the missionary, who can live and serve in Haiti and love it. It's what I've been called to do. I know I am where God wants me to be in spite of all the difficulties and tragedies brought forth for us to face. The thing that sets us apart from non-Christians is that in spite of all these struggles that we are able to find joy.

I want you to know some of the things that have happened this year, some of which rendered me incapable of writing or organizing my thoughts at times. Bare with me as I want to share some of them with you. I am not asking for any one's sympathy. I want you to know that we are finding our joy in the Lord through these struggles. I want you to instead, continue bathing us in prayer and I pray that you would be encouraged and strengthened in your faith by seeing God's faithfulness demonstrated. Our joy is overflowing and our blessings....well, nothing can surpass the blessings God has lavished upon us in the midst of our struggles. What an amazing , loving and caring God He is! He is a God of such intricate detail and we can never fully comprehend the magnitude of His love for us.

Jan. 12 - Devastating earthquake in Haiti registering 7.3 shatters life as we know it

Jan. 20 - Crash and Shaina return to Haiti as I escort my mom and my three children, Ashley 10, Kelsey 5 and Josiah 1, to Iowa for health and safety reasons. I returned to Haiti without them.

Feb.- Picking up the pieces, sheltering 200 people in our yard under tarps, feeding as many as possible, hours spent back and forth to PAP in search of food and tarps to help the people

Feb. - Crash, Shaina, Crystal, Wilckly and I orchestrate some orderly distribution of supplies to those in need

March - We received our 1st container of supplies and earthquake relief materials

Jan. - May - We experienced SPIRITUAL REVIVAL in Haiti! Pray it would remain.

March - Crash, Christine Stevens, left Haiti after fulfilling the two years she promised to spend with us in Haiti. She was a great help and made a great impact on our ministry. She is now studying in Canada to continue her life of Christian service. Words fail me. THANKS FOR EVERYTHING CRASH!

May 10 - Team of 15 arrives from Hannibal LaGrange College in Hannibal, Missouri. Visited schools and churches run by the mission. Delivered backpacks full of food, candy and other surprises. Cut tarps and walked to different homes in the village of Carries to distribute to those in the community whose homes were damaged in the earthquake. We also sorted items sent after the earthquake.

May 15 - Baptized 9 young people from my Sunday school class, two of them young men living in our home, Amos and Ti-Bonhomme, and other children of Carries, including Ti-Liline, whom I have been praying for since coming here eight years ago. Praise the Lord for these new babes in Christ! Please pray for them!

May 16 - Travel to visit new church in the mountains at Kamicho. We want to start a school there because the children have never attended school. Shared worship service, fed everyone (around 200 people), did about 2 hours of makeshift medical clinic, with two nurses who had just been pinned before coming to Haiti. Headed back to Carries to pack and fly out the next day. Shaina and I would accompany the group to the States and I would finally be with my children.

We were returning down the mountain, almost to the main road, when the brakes went out on our truck at the top of the hill. We had a horrible accident. There were 30 people in our open stock truck. All thirty of us survived the accident, Praise to God in Heaven above! Praise the Lord for His mighty power and watch care over us and provision for help. The Lord kept Wilckly and I safe without a broken bone or even a scratch so that we could get our wits about us and help get everyone to the hospital. Injuries varied from road rash, concussions, broken bones, severed ear, stitches, head trauma and amputated legs of two Haitian young men.

God orchestrated all the details that saved all of our lives. From my front seat position, it was very clear that God alone could keep us on the road and not let us go over the edge and tumbling down into the valley below. We were near the main road about four miles from it. We were close to a mission that sent two vehicles to pick up the wounded. They were staffed for emergency because of the earthquake. They had an ambulance (unheard of in Haiti unless it's to carry the dead). They had an ambulance to get us to PAP because of the earthquake. They took us to the University of Miami field hospital (at no cost to any of us, unheard of in Haiti as all medical services are cash up front). The field hospital was set up because of the earthquake. They had weekly rotations of fresh, volunteer doctors and nurses from the States because of the earthquake and a fresh new team had just arrived. THANK GOD FOR THE EARTHQUAKE....IT SAVED OUR LIVES!!!!!

May 17 - I flew with eleven of the students on the regularly scheduled flight to Miami and sent them on to St. Louis. I WAS NOT TRAVELING TO IOWA AS PLANNED TO SEE MY CHILDREN. Instead, I remained in Miami at Jackson Memorial Hospital with four of the team members who had to be medically evacuated and brought in on separate planes. Two of them were sent home after a couple of days. One had to stay a week because her ear had been severed and they wanted it to heal and make sure there was no infection before sending her home. My friend and forwarding agent who was the sponsor for the group, remained at Jackson Memorial Hospital for 6 more weeks because of the severity of her injuries.

May 17 - June 3 - I stayed with Chris in Miami for 2 1/2 weeks when she was finally moved out of ICU. Then duty called in Haiti because I had left so abruptly after the accident and there was plenty for Wilckly to deal with on that side. Marc is our right hand man and both of his arms were severely damaged. They were going to amputate both of them. I told them he didn't want that and the nurse, Stephanie, bless her heart, was adamant about it with the doctors. Dr. Halpern did surgery every day to clean Marc's wounded arms, which saved them. He still has a metal fixation in one. He is able to use the other one to eat, brush his teeth etc.

June 3 - While I was in Miami and Wilckly was taking care of all the injured Haitians, some in the hospital and some in our home, Yoka, Reginal, Mdme Marc, Alexandra and Jhemson all contracted malaria. Yoka ended up on a ventilator as the malaria went full blown into her lungs. She remained on the ventilator and died in her sleep around 2 a.m. She was only 20. She was raised in our home like our own daughter since she was three. We lost a precious daughter in Yoka. She is Bioude's daughter. She is like a sister and best friend to Ashley. Although the news was more than I could handle, I couldn't share it with anyone Stateside because I didn't want Ashley to find out before I could tell her myself. I returned to Haiti to prepare her funeral, by far one of the hardest, awful est things I have ever done in my life. Any of you who have visited us in Haiti would have been served by Yoka. You will remember, as we do, her bright flashing smile and her laughter. She is greatly missed by us all. We comfort ourselves knowing she is in a much better place and resting in the arms of Jesus. We praise God for her life and the blessing she has been, not only to us but to all who have known her.

June 10 -The night before the funeral, I got a bug in my ear while I was sleeping. It was a terribly painful ordeal. It ended up getting infected and my face and jaw were swollen. I had to spend 48 hours in the University of Miami field hospital with antibiotics being given to me in an IV. The swelling went down and the pain diminished. The bug, however, remained in my ear for fourteen days until I was able to return to Iowa and have it removed. It was a june bug.

June 11 - Ashley's 11Th birthday, which I missed but dear friends in Bedford threw a surprise birthday party for her! You all are amazing! Thanks so much for making her day so special!!!

June 13 - Marc's wife, Monique, started hemorrhaging. They had to take her baby by C-section. She was 6 month's along. The baby was born dead. We praise God again for preserving the life of Monique and Marc and their three year old daughter, Alexandra.

June 19 - Marc came home from the hospital before I left Haiti, leaving only one young man named Judenel, whose leg had been amputated and he had an outer metal fixation on his other leg like Marc has on his arm.

June 23 - The thing I had been anticipating and longing for finally happened. I finally got to be with my children and nothing else really seemed to matter except being with them and spending time with them!!! Unless, of course, it would be all of us being back together with daddy!

June 28 - Wilckly finally brings the backhoe, the rhino, and the 2nd container of relief supplies out of customs and home to Carries.

July 27 - I sent to get Kelsey's passport renewed. Wilckly was trying to get his passport renewed since June 23rd.

September - Finally received Kelsey's new passport!!!! Thanks for praying!

September 13 - I flew to Haiti because Wilckly hadn't received his passport to come join us. He was run down, tired, almost sick and very discouraged not being able to be with us. The kids are still in Bedford with grandma Reta and they are in school. Wilckly and I are preparing for the opening of school in Haiti on Oct.4th. There is a lot to be done to open all six schools on time. Crash is studying in Canada to work with Wycliffe and Shaina will be joining us again shortly. Please pray for us as we are separated as a family. Pray for grandma as she takes care of the kids. Thanks in advance to so many of you who have helped make our time apart bearable by bringing meals, diapers, clothes, grown up conversation for grandma and so much more. Thanks from Wilckly and I. We appreciate you all so much.

WE WILL NEVER CEASE TO SAY THANK YOU, THOUGH IT OFTEN SEEMS SO SMALL. WE LOVE YOU AND APPRECIATE YOU. WE APPRECIATE YOUR FAITHFULNESS IN PRAYER AND FINANCIAL SUPPORT OF OUR MINISTRY. WE WILL CONTINUE PRESSING ON TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE FOR THE KINGDOM OF GOD IN HAITI.

Wilckly, Dee, Ashley, Kelsey and Josiah Dorce'

Encourage one another...

Thursday was a special day for us. We had made contact with veteran missionaries, Bob and Gretchen Devoe, of Lifeline Christian Mission in Haiti. They have had an on going ministry in Haiti for over 30 years. If you know anything about Haiti, you know this is a remarkable achievement, for a ministry to survive in Haiti for over 30 years. We were excited to be invited to visit them at Grand Goave, a four hour trip on the other side of Port-au-Prince.

I want to tell you the story about God who is the master of networking. Crash, Christine Stevens, as some of you know her, has a supporter by the name of Lola Mitchell. She knew Crash was working with us in Haiti and that we have over 500 children in 5 schools. She also knew we were anxious to be able to feed them a meal each day. She heard that Lifeline was going to be packing vitamin fortified rice meals at the Missionary Convention. She took the liberty of writing to Gretchen at Lifeline to ask if it would be possible for Dorce Ministries to find some of these meals when they arrived in Haiti, so they could share them with their school children. Gretchen wrote back saying indeed it would be possible because they she already knew Wilckly and Dee.

She went on to tell Lola that, in fact, one of the girls raised by Wilckly and Dee now works for her at Lifeline. She told Lola that the girl raised in Berea Childrens Home was named Marie Ange. Lola wrote back to her saying that she had supported a girl raised in Berea Childrens Home named Marie Ange, for several years. She asked if this would be the same Marie Ange. Gretchen said that it was. Lola was thrilled to know that someone she had supported had grown into a Christian young lady and was working in a special position at Lifeline Christian Mission. Marie Ange works in the guest house where they recieve the American groups. She works in the kitchen preparing meals for them along with her birth mother and her sister. We are very proud of Marie Ange and the progress she has made. She is married to the mechanic who works for Lifeline. They have a daughter, Elizabeth, who is seven.

It was not only a pleasure to see Marie Ange but also her brother Ti-Bob. This young man was sponsored by David and Sandra Fincher and family of Moberly, Missouri. We thank these people who faithfully supported Ti-Bob while growing up at Berea Childrens Home. Ti-Bob is in his last year of high school. He has become very passionate about teaching. He helps younger children after school giving them lessons and tutoring them where they are weak. Keep up the good work Ti-Bob.

We also had the pleasure of seeing Lorvia, another girl raised at Berea Childrens Home. She was attending school in Port-au-Prince before the earthquake. She is now staying with her aunt at Gran Goave, who also works for Bob and Gretchen at Lifeline. She is planning to go to the Dominican Republic to study. She is working on her passport.

You can imagine what a joyous reunion it was to see these precious children, who even when far away or contact is lost, are still so much a part of our heart. We praise God for the blessing of seeing firsthand that when you work for the Lord, your labor is not in vain.

The reunions were not finished as we were able to see Tina Eisenhower, who works in Jacmel and has been in Haiti longer than I have. She is a trusted missionary in Haiti reaching a whole lot of people through her schools, churches and childrens home. She is someone I greatly looked up to as a new greenhorn missionary coming to Haiti, a few years back.

We also met up with Pasteur RoRo Eustache, a long time friend and mentor of Wilckly's. He said Dee, "Wilckly is my son in the faith." It was a great time for them to visit and encourage one another to keep pressing on. No wonder Jesus said that the fellowship with other Christians in its true form, should never be abandoned. It was a great day for us to spur one another on to continue in Jesus' footsteps and not forsake the ministy of good doing.

We thank Gretchen and Bob of Lifeline for sharing so graciously with us and increasing our ability to touch more and more the lives of the Haitian people. Blessing Hearts International continues changing lives, touching hearts, sharing Christ, reaching the world, one soul at a time.

Rejoice with us! Even though our building is not finished the plywood has been placed on the roof and covered with tin. We have shelter from the sun and the rain. We will continue to work to enclose the building completely with tin. Praise God the kids are up out of the mud and out from under the hot tarps! Thanks to so many of you who have given to make this possible. We couldn't do the work without you support. Thank you seems so small. Wilckly and Dee Dorce'

Construction is moving along slowly as funds allow but because of your support we now have and office and we just finished covering the church with plywood. Monday they will cover the plywood with tin. The plywood layer helps us support the deadly heat that we would recieve from a direct hit to the tin. Our school kids were thrilled to come to school and find it half covered and experience a day out from under the tarps and out of the mud that surrounded their feet and was causing deterioration of our benches. The older students were jealous of the younger students getting to be under the roof first. Monday, Lord willing, all classes will be held under the new roof. We praise God for His provision through you our supporters. Thank you for sacrificially giving so that our ministry may continue.

Tomorrow we will be able to worship in our new facility even without walls. It's cooler that way anyway. We can't leave it this way as the foundation is high off the ground and the kids would be swinging on all the bars like monkeys. We also need to be able to leave things for church inside and shut the door.

It is a relief not to have tarps that get torn hanging down in your face or ropes coming undone and the whole tarp whipping in the wind. The heat beneath the tarps is sometimes unbearable. We are thankful to not have to run to stack all the benches and cover them with a tarp as the rain is coming. The people in our yard are still sleeping under the tarp. Now if it is raining, they will be able to get under the roof which will keep them much dryer as they wait for us to finish the walls.

This week was deadlock as far as the work getting the container and backhoe out of customs. Wilckly made trips to St.Marc and on one occasion the pick-up broke down and he had to wait for us to get back from PAP with the truck to turn around and go after him and pull the pick-up home. It is still sitting there waiting for a mechanic as Wilckly has been so busy supervising the construction and covering of the church, supervising the welding on the building that will house guests temporarily and supervising the digging of the next foundation, not to mention trying to make sure we are on top of getting things out of customs, not to mention all the other little every day occupations.

Shaina and I spent time with the school children this week. Our main goal was to take a picture of them and have them write a thank you to their sponsor. They were thrilled with the distraction from their school day. We are excited about preparing these photos and thank you notes to send to the greatly deserving sponsors. We appreciate you. Without your support, many of them would never go to school. The would spend the day carrying water in a five gallon bucket or going to the market with their mother. Thank you all for the support of Blessing Hearts International ministries in Haiti.

Dee

Exciting things happening at Carries!

Take a look at the Monarch Queen that has been bringing our things to Haiti from Florida.

Monday evening the Monarch Queen arrived from Riviera Beach, Florida carrying some very special merchandise for our ministry. There is a 40ft. shipping container which belongs to us with all its contents to continue helping with the earthquake relief. There is also a New Holland backhoe ready to transform our mission compound into what God is preparing it to be. We are EXCITED about these things. We were able to make the trip to St. Marc but not until Wednesday because their is a gas shortage in the country. We don't know the and's, if's, or why's about it. All we know is that it is next to impossible to find it. We did finally find it and we were VERY EXCITED to get to pay $12.65 U. S. to have one gallon of gas. We were fortunate to find two gallons. One for the welder generator and one to get us back home from St.Marc after looking at our container and backhoe that we were EXCITED to see, even from a distance. We are very EXCITED for people praying for us so that gas would get back to it's normal $5 U.S. Pray that we are able to find more gas soon and that we can find it in the pumps again. We are EXCITED that the paperwork is underway and Lord willing, we will have the container and backhoe in our possession soon, well, you know as soon goes in Haiti!

We are EXCITED that for our first full, five day week of school we had 99 or 100 in attendance every day. We are EXCITED that Wilckly is working hard to get the building we are putting up covered with tin and plywood as quick as possible. We are anxious to get the kids up out of the dirt and out from under the hot tarps. We are EXCITED that they have adapted to the adverse conditions without much problem. Shaina and I were EXCITED to have the children who have sponsors write thank you letters to the sponsors who made it possible for them to attend school. The kids were EXCITED to get their pictures taken to send to their sponsors. The children were more than EXCITED that on Friday, after chapel, they all received an MRE meal to take home, all 100 of them and the teachers, too.

We are EXCITED every time we remember what wonderful supporters we have! We are thankful for your faithfulness to the Lord and to Blessing Hearts International and its ministry in Haiti. We are EXCITED about the day the Lord lays it on your heart to come and visit the ministry in Haiti that you support and are such a necessary part of. Praise God for you. We are EXCITED for the day when Jesus returns and our work on earth is through! What a day of rejoicing that will be! Maranatha!

Wow! Great News! The forty foot container AND the backhoe are sailing on the Monarch Queen over the ocean waters on their way to us in Haiti! We are so excited about all of this and everyone who worked so hard to make it possible! You will definitely see pictures as those things arrive at our property. Please pray that it would arrive in Haiti on Monday, Lord willing and that we would be able to get it out a lot quicker than the first container. God is good...all the time!

We continue to find challenges in ministry and tons of opportunities to serve. We hope that is an indication that we are doing something right. If the devil would go to so much trouble to discourage us in the work then hopefully that means he is feeling that our work is a threat to his plan to keep everyone from discovering how wonderful Jesus is!

It seems the week has gone by quickly and Shaina, Wilckly and I are wondering what we have done. We decided to start with thinking of what we did each day.

SUNDAY - Went to participate in the first day of a new church that is now part of our ministry. The new location is called Katipin. A man called Pakonte which means either, don't count on me or I don't count, decided he needed the Lord to change his life. The next thing we know he has helped our preacher, Pasteur Jilmiste, find a piece of open ground to rent. They cleared the land during the week and put up a few bamboo poles, hung some blankets and sheets for walls and shade from the sun and made a few makeshift benches of very short sticks with narrow pieces of wood laid across them. It seems there were several people of the area, very anxious to have a place to worship that wasn't several miles walk from their home. So, because a man who doesn't count to the world decided he wanted to count for Jesus, a new chuch exists at Katipin, the Berea Christian church of Katipin.

I know, I know. You are thinking this is all wrong. There was no strategic planning. There was no one to scout out the area to see how many are unchurched. There was no committee to decide what the pews would be made of or if they would be the padded kind or the chairs that hook together and can be moved in case of big events and extra space needed by removing them. There was no pulpit committee to chose the preacher they wanted or felt would best minister in this situation. This was raw, plain and simple. There was a need for a church where this man could worship with the body of believers. He took the initiative. He set about to find a way to make it happen. Blessing Hearts International was able to provide the preacher who would be committed to sharing with this congregation and helping these people grow spiritually.

We arrived late of course, because they told us we could drive to it. After about an hour of driving down a narrowing cow path to the point that it was impossible for the truck to pass... we turned around. We backtracked and we were not happy. Arriving at the main road the preacher told us that it was just a little farther off the beaten path which we were not willing to go down at this point. The preacher was sick at the thought of preparing for us to be there and this being the very first Sunday and we weren't even going to show up. He said whatever you decide Pasteur Wilckly, it's okay by me. Wilckly and I looked at each other and I said, " Well, we've come this far and they are waiting for us." We drove a little off the beaten path and parked the truck. We got out and we started to walk. They told us it wasn't far and there was no way I believed that. They said it was only about 15 minutes walk to the church. We had brought boxes of food to share with them. We also had a huge box with a tarp in it for them to cover the church. Two men carried it a short distance. Then one of them stopped and put the huge box on top of his head and carried it down the narrow path. We followed them, backpacks in tow and our own meal in our bag in case the short distance turned out to be an eternity away, which has been known to happen. I was losing faith quickly that we would even get there in 15 hours when a group of people, dressed in their Sunday best, appeared on the horizon, running to meet us and greet us and tell us not much further. It did end up to be only about 15 minutes walk from where we parked the truck, to my ultimate relief.

Arriving at the "church" location there were around a 100 people jammed as close together on those little makeshift benches as they could get. We worshipped and praised our God together. There behind Haiti's mountains, I was so blessed. Blessed because a man who didn't count for anything in this world had made a decision to count for the Lord. God bless Pakonte. Help him grow into a wonderful Christian leader. Of course seeing so many precious children, Shaina and I began asking them where they attend school. There were probably 4o children and not one of them told us that they attended school, NOT EVEN ONE! Do we need a school at Katipin? YES, we do. Please be praying for this to become a reality. Please pray that we would be able to open a school at Katipin. Pray that you would be able to sponsor a child so that he or she would be able to attend school in September, for the first time ever! You can make that difference in a child's life in Haiti through us, through Blessing Hearts International. Pray about it.

We came so close to turning around and going back home without ever arriving at Patipin. It seems the Lord had other things in mind. Praise God for the church at Patipin. Praise God we didn't turn around. Praise God for men like Pakonte.

NOW, THAT WAS ONLY SUNDAY!.....need I say more???

A Hard Life

Their life is not about fun. It's a hard, hard life. Children in the country and the mountains of Haiti where most of our ministry is, have a more difficult life than you or I could ever imagine. My pictures don't come close to catching the misery in the lives of most of these children. We believe they all deserve a chance to be children. Imagine being left for the day with little or no food and a three year old and a crying infant and you yourself are only six. Sadly enough this is the story for so many young children in Haiti.

Young girls, like the little one on the mule, are used to rising before sunrise, around 4:30 in the morning. They must leave early with all the produce from their garden in order to make the long walk to arrive at the market place around 7:30am. They pass the whole day in the hot sun, selling what little produce they have in order to buy a few things such as laundry soap, spices and rice to take back home. They make the long three or sometimes four hour walk back home after a long day. Many of them walk the treacherous route barefooted, trudging through mud and stepping on jagged rocks and thorns that are sometimes fatal when the wound becomes infected. This is all in a days work for them and they must be up early to do it again tomorrow to survive. Young children don't get up to get ready for school because there isn't one for miles. Where there is school, the parents can't spare all the children. One is chosen to attend school and the others must help care for the garden, go to the market and care for younger siblings. There are clothes to wash and hung out to dry over the cactus fence or rocks. The children are the driving force but if they are born it is difficult to survive. Malnutrition, tuberculosis, and many other childhood diseases seek to end the lives of these children. Many of them never receive an immunization or see a medical doctor. If they become ill they will be treated with home remedies. Many are taken to the leaf doctor and some even to the witch doctor.

It is for this reason that we feel your support of our schools in Haiti is so important. There is no other way to help them change. It is only education and coming to know Christ as their personal Savior that can change their whole life.

These are some of the children you are giving a new lease on life by supporting them for school through our sponsorship program. These are some of the children that we have convinced the parents to let us teach for a few hours each day. Putting their bright green uniform on and coming and braiding their hair with bright green and white ribbons and barrettes gives them a great sense of pride. They are thrilled to remove themselves from that other life if only for a few moments. Thank you for making a difference with Blessing Hearts International in Haiti. The children thank you and we thank you.

Please continue to pray for the children in our schools. Pray the parents would continue to send them. Pray for them to become the Christian people we need to change the country of Haiti.