Haiti is home!

WILCKLY, SHAINA AND DEE, BACK IN HAITI !!!

A week ago Wednesday we started our trek back to Haiti from Iowa. I'll set the scene for you. It was 6 degrees, the roads were ice covered with falling, blinding snow. We were following a snow plow and two other vehicles at 20 to 30 miles per hour. We finally turned off on our exit to the hotel to find it had not been cleared. Thursday morning, we were up early to get to the airport in plenty of time for our 10:30 flight. We had a huge lay over in Chicago that was actually on the schedule and not weather related. We camped out on the floor at the Ft.Lauderdale airport after getting in at 11:30pm. We were up early to get in line for our flight for Haiti which left at 6:30am. Arrived in Haiti in time to hurry up and wait for our ride home from the airport. Marc and Elves were running behind but after about 30 minutes of waiting and soaking up warm, 85 degree, Haitian sunshine, we were on our way to Carries.

It was a great week of encouragement for Shaina, Wilckly and I but we were also an encouragement to them. There was pure joy for them to see that we hadn't forgotten them. Marc shared with us how some of the churches are doing. The church from Port-au-Prince had trouble finding clean water to baptize some people. They called Marc and asked if they could come to Carriess to do the baptisms in the ocean near us. They came with nine people who were then immersed in the ocean before returning to Port-au-Prince. Once again, we might not have a lot in Haiti, but we do have the largest baptistry!!! There's always enough water for one more person to make that commitment. We rejoice with these new Christians and ask that you lift them in prayer. It is difficult to stay committed to Christ anywhere but even more so when you have a voodoo background.

This brings me to the next thing I want to tell you about. It is a huge praise so rejoice with us. We have been living among the people of Carries with our own family for eight years. We have been friends with the family whose house is right next to our church. We had a clearly spoken understanding that they didn't go to church because there were way to many hypocrites there. They were strong voodoo people and everyone knew it. Yet Pierre and Simon would stick up for us in any situation.

We have helped them many times. We have used our truck to rush their children to the hospital at midnight when their children were sick. We've shared food and clothing with them. Simon makes sure she tells everyone that only Pasteur Kiki would live there with them and put up with them and still do everything he could to make the community a better place providing not only jobs but school for their children. We have cared and shared with their handicapped daughter, Jenny. She can't walk but can crawl or drag herself around the yard. Recently, this summer, their youngest daughter, Cathleen, who was only four years old, died from malaria.

This made her mother absolutely crazy and sick with grief. She literally almost lost her mind and her health went down hill completely. She could not get out of bed or walk. She could not feed herself and did not want to eat. They took her to the witch doctor or houngun. He sucked every penny they had but nothing changed. They were completely broke and her husband was working knowing every penny he made would be spent trying to find healing for his wife. Finally, she had had enough. She thought sure she was going to die and she had no hope. She was going to sell her house. Bioude called me telling me I wouldn't believe who wanted to accept Christ in their life...Simon and Pierre. They sent for her at the prayer meeting she holds every morning at 4a.m. Simon sent to tell her that she wanted them to come to her house and pray for her. They then had a special group of people enter the house with them to remove all of the voodoo paraphernalia. They even had them dig into the floor to remove bottles that had been placed there to protect them from evil spirits. They came out with two garbage sacks full of stuff that would immediately be burned. The amazing part that we got to see was that her husband Pierre, was at church Sunday morning for the first time ever. He rejoiced at the change in their lives. He said she was doing much better. He thought he would never see that day because he was convinced she would die. I asked to see her. He went with us to the next town where she was staying. There were people with her who would make sure she was eating and they were helping her gain spiritual strength, constantly surrounding her with prayer and God's word. How often do we forget this with our new Christians? They are babies and need nurturing and some protection in the beginning to grow before Satan is allowed to get his hands on them. It was great to finally hear this women saying, "Madame Kiki, Pasteur Kiki, it's only by the grace of God that I stand here before you, alive! Praise God! I'm done with it, I am done with all of it, no more feeding the devil in the intersection for me. I kicked him completely out of my life! Thank you and thank you Jesus!

Picture: prayer warrior, Mdme Kiki, Simon, Pierre, Pasteur Kiki