Another day in Haiti

DAY SIX: Flying from West Palm Beach, FL to Kansas City, MO.

2011-03-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday: driving to the ship yard in Riviera Beach, FL

2011-03-29T20:14:00.000-07:00

2011-03-28T18:05:00.000-07:00

DAY THREE: Driving from Clarksville,TN to Valdosta,GA

2011-03-27T21:15:00.000-07:00

2011-03-27T20:02:00.000-07:00

2011-03-27T05:40:00.000-07:00

Feeding programs...in a third world country

2011-02-23T19:49:00.000-08:00

Working in a third world country, all needs are desperate. All needs are the most important. Clothing is the most important. Housing is the most important and of course, food is the most important. Did I mention having a job is the most important, also? In spite of all of this pressure, as missionaries we know that the most desperate and important need is for them to know Christ.

I want you to know that exciting things are beginning to take place in all these aspects of our ministry. We have two bus loads and a container full of items from the earthquake that will still be a huge blessing to so many of our people. Food, clothing, tarps to help cover their homes and protect them and many other items are coming in these vehicles. Praise God for all of you who have given so generously to provide these items and continue to give to help us ship them all the way to Haiti.

We are still anticipating the day that Shaina and I can be back in Haiti to help Wilckly with the daily running of the mission and its many projects which in turn supports whole communities of Haitians.

There is a lot involved to have a feeding program as you can well imagine. The main thing is to have a staff and someone to head it up and maintain it at each of our schools in order for us to start it. It is one thing to look for sources of food, it is yet another to have a trustworthy staff to cook the food and make sure that it is distributed to the children. We are constantly praying that God will bring these trustworthy Christian people into our path.

Wilckly is Haitian and it has bothered him in the past to see people start a feeding program and then at some point it just stops. It may stop because the people who were providing the food stopped, ran out of food, or left the country. He has struggled with wanting to create a program that would be able to sustain itself regardless of an outside food source.

He then started researching to find something that would provide food for the feeding program and jobs for people. This would help the people appreciate and protect it. They would get double benefits. Their children in our schools would get to eat the fish and they would have a job helping us raise the fish.

Recently, Randy Beemer of Beemer Fisheries in Bedford, Iowa, was able to travel with us to Haiti to look at the possibilities. We looked at land, water sources, he met many of the kids in our schools that we will be feeding, and he learned a lot about Haiti. He said the possibilities are amazing. We were able to visit a place where they are already set up for raising the fish.

Please keep us in your prayers as we begin to develop the fish project. Pray that it will be a huge blessing to our ministry.

Great news!

2011-02-18T05:59:00.000-08:00

Judenel has a new leg! Praise the Lord ! He is so excited. He was getting very good at manuvering his wheelchair where ever he needed to go over rough terrain. Now he can stand and walk with the assistance of a cane. His other leg was in such bad shape that they almost amputated it also. It has been a loooong healing process and is still on going. We thank the medishare hospital for being in Haiti, for coming to our rescue and now for providing a leg for Judenel so that he can have a fairly normal life.

It has been nine months since our accident and we are still trying to get back to a hint of normal. Marc struggles every day with his new handicap. He accepts this knowing that they were definitely going to amputate both of his arms. There was so m uch flesh gone and the rest was filled with fine and coarse loose gravel. He is a fighter. It has been an amazing struggle for this young man.

The Haitians resiliance is astounding. Wilckly has been amazing also. Quietly supporting the whole situation. All the stress of driving during this accident and struggling with the huge amount of responsibility as a driver who is always extremely careful to protect his passengers, has been quite a load. He never complains about it. I am asking you to pray for strength and wisdom for him like never before and protection from the evil one who lurks about seeking to devour. It's your prayers which have fueled his every move. All of those things were compacted by us not being together as a family. I am the other half of him and he is the other half of me, so being apart gets harder and harder. Without my assistance Wilckly still took in everyone from the accident as they were released from the hospital to help them recuperate.

All of this plus losing Yoka who was so dear to us. She was a daughter to us, raised in our home since she was three. Full of love, laughter and service, a photo copy of her mother, Bioude, but gone so suddenly and unexpectedly at age 20. But still....God is good. The heartache and the hurt will never leave us but life must go on. We remember her every day, what she would be doing, how she would be helping, trouble she would be getting herself into.

Again, I ask you, I beg you to bathe us and our ministry in prayer, but especially Wilckly. Pray that we will be together with him soon, serving in Haiti together as a family.

Where is your JOY?

2011-02-07T01:55:00.000-08:00

Could you find joy.......if everyday you had to get up at 4 am before the sun rose, to gather your goods in a wheel barrow and rush to the market place only to sit in the hot sun all day in hopes of selling your goods? Could you find joy....... if you were up before sunrise to cut all of this with a machete before the heat of the day only to carry it on your head for 3 miles to where you were making charcoal to sell with the wood it took you a week to cut, gather and arrange for the occasion?

Could you find joy..........if while working from sunrise in the blistering heat, all you had to dream about going home to, 1 year after an earthquake destroyed everything you owned, including your wife and five children....was this????

Could you find joy............if your soul task for the day was to carry your merchandise around the city, on top of your head, yelling what you have for sale in hopes someone would be interested and keep your commerce alive one more day and help you feed the 10 hungry mouths waiting at home that money doesn't even allow you to send to school yet?

Could you find joy.......after rising before the sun, walking barefoot through the muddy, swampy area where your sugar cane crop was growing, harvesting and cleaning it with a machete, piling in sky high in a wheelbarrow and pushing it to town to find a place among everyone to sell it on a busy market day?

Could you find joy.......knowing that your only mode of transportation for getting your four children to school (count their legs, I promise you there are four children on there) was to arrange them ever so carefully on your motor scooter like this?

Somewhere in the pictures above you will find people who are filled with JOY!!! The joy of the Lord oozes from them in their 4 am prayer meeting. Oh no, it's not just today, it's everyday of the week except Sunday! Yep! that is correct! They meet Monday through Saturday from 4am to 6am. The joy that eminates from their service is contagious! I can't help but feel humbled to be in the presence of God almighty. I couldn't feel more blessed than to know that in the middle of people who have nothing but that hope to cling to that God would choose me to minister to them, to suffer with them, to laugh with them, to cry with them, to teach them and to be taught by them. I long to be in two places at once. Though most of you could not imagine how I could possibly feel more at home, at ease there...it is true, Haiti is my home. It's my family's home. Please pray for us to keep His joy in our hearts as we are away from the country and the people we love so much. Let us never lose sight of His goals for ministry among the Haitian people. Please keep us and Haiti in your prayers. "The JOY of the Lord is my strength! Thanks. dee

Waiting for a new day...

2011-02-06T14:31:00.000-08:00

Many people lose the chance to have eternal life because they have no vision. May 16th will forever be engraved in our minds as the day of our accident in Haiti. For this young man, Judenel, he feels it is also engraved in his legs as an everyday reminder. I remember as we approached the end of the drivable road and parked our truck I told everyone to get out and grab a few boxes of MRE's and start walking. I grabbed two boxes, placed them on my head and led the way, back through fields of bananas and past donkeys and goats in the path. I didn't know Judenel well but had met him a couple of times. I remember he grabbed several boxes and in a few, long, burly strides had caught up with me and was leading the way, chatting as he went.

Little did I know how well I would come to know this young man. In the accident the truck had actually landed on his legs and the leg of his friends. Both had one leg amputated below the knee. I remember his cheery disposition managed to carry through to the full, makeshift, outdoor emergency room filled with all of our accident victims. Even when I went to see him in the cool recovery area after his leg had been amputated, he greeted me with that huge smile.

You can see that his other leg was in bad shape also. It has taken a long time for it to heal. He was in the hospital the longest of anyone. He wasn't released from the hospital until September 16th, four months after the accident.

We took him first to his home. It was a real struggle for this young, active 23 year old to now be sitting in a wheel chair, waiting for people to help him. Of course, in his parents small home there was no room to roll around in a wheel chair. Going outside to get a breath of fresh air was a huge ordeal. The ground was uneven and it was a real hassle to get to where his friends were. Some of them came to see him but they only discouraged him more. Wilckly stopped by to see him taking food for the family (his mom and sister were also severely injured in the accident), and Judenel's medicine to fight infection. He knew he had to get him out of that situation.

In a couple days we went to pick him up to bring him to live with us. He hasn't stopped thanking us since. He is back to his cheerful self. He wants to learn computers. He is also handy with tools. He has enjoyed tinkering with our generator when it has problems. He is very motivated. He doesn't feel sorry for himself. While his friends are saying if God loves you so much, why did he ruin your life like this. His answer is that if God spared his life in an accident where everyone should have been dead then that is a loving and powerful God that he will serve with his life. Even his own mom was talking to him like this. He said, "Mom, when I had both legs, you didn't know where I went, what I did or what kind of trouble I was getting into. This may be God's way of keeping my life from going down the wrong path."

He was measured two months ago for a prosthesis. Wilckly called yesterday and said that he took him to Port-au-Prince and he came home with a new leg. He is a new man. He is walking with a cane or crutches until he can strengthen the other leg that was also badly injured. Judenel was smiling from ear to ear as he said, "Thank you preacher, thank you God! It's a NEW DAY! Please pray for this young man that he would gain strength and that he would be strengthened in his commitment to the Lord!

All in a day's work...

2011-02-01T07:45:00.000-08:00

A phone call from Haiti at 4a.m. reminds me it is already 5a.m. in Haiti and there are many activities already happening. Wilckly already has a full plate that early in the morning and he calls to report some of the days activities.

Our wash lady came early this morning for his help. They were taking her grandson to the hospital because he was sick. The boy died on the way to the hospital and she came after Pasteur Kiki to come get the body and bring it back to Carries to be prepared for burial. What a way to start the day. The grandma is so close to accepting Christ. She came to church on Sunday for the first time in eight years. Her daughter is the lady witch doctor of the area and it has been very difficult for her to want and try to leave that lifestyle. Please pray for her and Wilckly as he ministers to her and her family at this time of such great loss.

Next he had to go carry a couple of loads of gravel to someone who had been helping us out in many different ways. Sharing some materials with him will show our appreciation.

Time to co-ordinate all the funds needed for the day to buy gas for the truck, gas for the backhoe, gas for the generator, food to be prepared for our household (40)+ people.

Exhausted and it is not even noon yet, people are waiting to talk to him and the phone is ringing off the hook. Somehow he found a moment to call me for a few words of encouragement and remind me that if I were there I could field some of the calls and other daily things.

I have returned to Iowa after a week in Haiti to continue to be with my mom as she heals and recuperates from open heart surgery. The kids are also here with me in Bedford and the girls are in school. Please pray for us as the cholera situation is still very real and we are praying the Lord will show us how we can be back together in Haiti again soon. Pray for me as I am here in the States that I will use that time wisely to continue getting the 2 school buses, the rollback truck with container and the pick-up ready to be driven to Riviera Beach, Florida to be put on a boat and sent to Haiti. I am available for speaking engagements as the snow and ice allow. Please email me at mdmekiki@yahoo.com or call me at 712-621-1464.

Haiti is home!

2011-01-30T06:57:00.000-08:00

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

Pray without ceasing...

2010-12-05T04:14:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-11-28T06:03:00.000-08:00

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...

2010-11-25T05:40:00.000-08:00

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????

2010-10-22T16:13:00.000-07:00

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

2010-10-22T16:12:00.000-07:00

"Running water", Haiti style...

2010-10-20T20:40:00.000-07:00

"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

2010-10-15T18:16:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-13T14:58:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-10T07:41:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-10-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-06T04:42:00.000-07:00

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!!!

2010-10-03T14:51:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-10-01T18:26:00.000-07:00

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...

2010-05-08T05:49:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-05-05T18:41:00.000-07:00

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'

2010-05-01T17:26:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-24T06:56:00.000-07:00

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!

2010-04-16T18:51:00.001-07:00

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

2010-04-12T08:03:00.000-07:00

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.

2010-04-05T15:25:00.000-07:00

School opened today, April 5th, for the first time since the earthquake. This is the day the gov't had established for schools to begin functioning again. In spite of the fact that we were no where ready for it our director and teachers were in place in the yard
at 8 this morning. The tarp was not much help in the competition to find shade from the hot sun. They were not discouraged from the task as about fifteen of the smaller students showed up. Each day a few more will come. It was quite a task in competition with the welding generator that was making a horrible noise as the men continued to weld the frame of the temporary school/church. They finally gave up around ten o'clock. Back again tomorrow bright and early. We will be ready for more students. We gave each of them an MRE ready meal to take home and they were delighted. We listened to progress the rest of the afternoon as the men used our new piece of equipment to pack down the ground inside the foundation where we will hopefully pour concrete tomorrow. We are very thankful for your help in purchasing this valuable piece of equipment. Without it we would have to rely on men with hand tools trying to pack down the ground. We are thankful to be able to do it much quicker and the guys seem to be enjoying the chance to run the new piece of equipment.

We made lots people happy sharing new shoes and flip flops brought to us in the container. The girls were dancing and twisting and all the boys were grinning from ear to ear. Even our cook, mammi Simone was part of the celebration. Thank you for giving and sharing with us.

A picture of progress...

2010-04-02T13:21:00.001-07:00

The past two months has been a race as usuual

to satisfy the needs of everyone. The inevitable

rains are coming. This is our quickest safest

solution at this point. Our plan is to build several of them on our compound. They can used as
office, storage, housing, school, church, cafeteria,
basically anything. The cost to complete one that
13ft. x 24ft. is $10,000. We hope putting up the

of them will go more quickly but as always it will
depend on available funding. We have a larger

foundation completed, about 24ft x 45ft. This

will serve for church and school temporarily as
much more space will be needed for school. We

thank all of you who have given to make this possible. I remind you again that anything that we have in this mission has taken time. Time to aquire land. Time to meet the needs of the people. Time to truly live out Christ before them that they might accept the work we are doing with them and for them. We have built it from the ground up, starting with a little two room building with a dirt floor and a tin roof just like the natives in the area. We had an outdoor kitchen. We had to use the outhouse down the road. We had to go five miles to carry water in fifty gallon barrels. We had no electricity and we used candles and kerosine lanterns for light. Eight years later and after an earthquake we praise God that we have land to continue building and expanding his work on. We invite you to come and visit and see how you can be part of this developing and growing work in Haiti. Please pray for the backhoe loader that we have purchased that is being put on a boat in Riviera Beach, Florida. Pray that is will be on the next boat to Haiti. Dee

2010-03-21T10:03:00.000-07:00

Exciting things are happening in Haiti, in spite of all the devastation on January 12th. We asked you to pray for revival. I told you that Preval did not allow the people to observe Carnival which is a huge holiday in Haiti. Instead the whole country was called to prayer, fast and worship the Lord for three days. We knew we would see several attending church that hadn't before the disaster. The exciting thing is that they are continuing to attend services, including Bible study. They are also on time....well you know, as much as a Haitian can be!

The next exciting thing is that people are responding to the gospel. Last week we had 20 baptisms. Nine of them were from the church at Montrouis. One young man, our "son-in-law" who is married to Bioude's daughter, Tika. Marc went to PAP on Saturday to our church at LaSaline where he and brother Petit Homme, who is also director of our school, baptized 10 there in the ocean near wharf Jeremie. We praise God for the opportunity to see His work coming to fruition. We ask that you would pray for us as we continue to instuct and guide these new babes in their Christian walk. Pray that we would be living examples of the love of Christ and that we would proclaim His name boldly at every opportunity.

These pictures are of the baptisms in Port-au-Prince. The church at LaSaline. Marc greeting the new brothers and sisters in Christ. Sharing the Lord's supper. Marc, Petit Homme and Petit Frere after the baptisms. Dee

Caring for the Haitian people

2010-02-28T20:17:00.000-08:00

We never run out of people to help in some way. Things just seem to be a little more concentrated if you will. This lady has come with her baby who is malnourished, has turned one but can't walk yet. She is pregnant so she decided she should stop breast feeding her. She is so light. Her name is Faubien. We tried to help them out with some nourishing things for her to eat like cornflour, spaghetti, milk and a few other things.

We continue to share the food with as many people as possible. This week we were able to share with 380 families. There were 150 of those families who are direct refugee families who moved to Carries after the earthquake because they have nothing left in Port-au-Prince. We have many people to take care of at Carries including our school children and their families. Many of their parents do not have any income now because they used to go sell whatever they could find in PAP. Others here in the village worked at one of the beach/hotels. They have fired and laid off many of their workers because after all of the devastation. No one is coming to spend the weekends at the hotel now. More and more people are beginning to feel the pangs of hunger.

The rains are coming and they can't be avoided.......just stop a moment and look at this housing. Think about what you would be thinking if you were living in this condition with your spouse, your children. What would be going through your mind??? Pray for the Haitian people to find they help they so desparately need. Pray for us. We are still sleeping out under tarps because the people are afraid to go in. Last night it rained at Carries. Our tarps were sagging and drooping with rain water. It was a very damp and uncomfortable evening. We are trying to figure out some temporary housing that will be dry and safe for everyone.

In the mean time this is the story through out PAP

and the surrounding areas. Make-shift tents are everywhere. Rubble and debris still block the streets in many areas. People walk through it, over it, around it and even under it to try to carry on business as usual. People are still pilfering through the rubble. There is still a chance some will die while pilfering through the shifting debris.
If you dare, say a prayer, that Haiti might find the help she needs. Maybe that help will come from you. Dee

2010-02-25T17:15:00.000-08:00

We Miss you MOM and DAD!

Love Ashley, Kelsey and Josiah

All in a day's work...

2010-02-23T18:18:00.000-08:00

You never know what will be all in a day's work in Haiti. Prayer meeting starts at 4:30am and from there on out, anything can be expected. Shaina is gathering rocks with the neighborhood kids as we slowly clear the land, rock by rock as we prepare to move up hill towards the mountain at Carries. People gather in the most organized fashion that we could orchestrate for food distribution. Each person recieved a card as you see here. We had their name on a list and we checked their name and punched their card and handed it back to them for the next time.

Never know what might come up after prayer meeting. It was a little time consuming and even a little disconcerting as I had to clean goat feces off of this man's burn wound before I could properly clean and bandage it. He got burnt while burning the brush that we are clearing up the hill. I of course asked him why goat feces was the medicine of choice? He said that's just what they told me to do. Do you want to die, I asked? It was infected as you can imagine. He came twice a day for me to clean and dress it and after a week it is looking amazing and has great color.

We spent three days on a road trip to the Dominican Republic to try to get our hands on some food that had been promised to us for distribution. It was a loooooooooooong trip. In Haiti, the first rule you need to learn is EVERYTHING TAKES LONGER THAN IT TAKES! If you can keep this in perspective, you will survive. Well our experience crossing the Dominican Border seemed to stick to the same principles. I am sure you will get the idea of how we spent the majority of two days from looking at the pictures....that's right, waiting.

In spite of the pace, we are surrounded by people and children on a 24/7 basis. There are plenty of people to show the love of Christ through word and deed. We have been able to share the little food we have now with the many who are waiting for it. The distribution is an art in itself as we have learned from the harsh school of experience in the past. It has paid off. We have been able to share things with the people and keep them from fighting or just spoiling the whole operation. We thank you for your prayers. We thank you for the funds that you have sent to make it possible for us to share with so many. Continue to lift us in prayer as we strive to meet the challenge of meeting the needs of those around us that they might come to know Jesus as their personal Lord and Savior.

Serving Him,

Dee

2010-02-18T21:23:00.000-08:00

A few photos I took at the beach property today. This is a least fifty miles from the epicenter where we are located at Carries. The section you are looking through to the ocean is where a 15 x 8 foot section of our wall crumbled and fell to the other side.

These are the enormous cracks left in the wharf which they will continue to drive cars onto to load on the boat to travel to the island of La Gonave. The beach was once full of sharp rocks but now is filled with the finest sand that even I can walk on. Our worry now, as you can see from this picture is the fear of all, next to another earthquake. Rain is on the horizon. It threatens to fall every day. When this rainy season begins it will be yet another disaster. People are still living in makeshift housing in the streets. We are still sleeping in our yard with a load of people who are too scared to return to their homes that have been fractured and cracked by the earthquake. Pray that tents and temporary housing can somehow be erected before the disastrous rains of the rainy season begin. We are beginning some with 2x4's and tin to start with. It is the quickest thing possible.

Pray that the rains would hold off. Pray for tents to arrive and be distributed by someone to the many in need in Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas, including Carries.

Ashley, Kelsey and Shaina sat on the other side of this wall every day to have school. We praise God for his shelter, safety, protection and watch care over them each day and especially that day. You can see the crack in the blocks or the distinct separation of them from top to bottom.

There are so many things to be thankful for and so many things to continue praying about. Thankful for our safety and the preservation of our lives. Pray for continued safety. Pray for many to come to know the Lord as their Savior. Pray for them as they come, one by one, asking to be baptized into Christ and to make a new life with Him. Pray for us as we teach, as we lead, as we love, as we share and as we live an example of Christ's love before them. Pray for revival in the country of Haiti. God bless you as you continue to faithfully serve Him. Dee

2010-01-31T04:34:00.000-08:00

What a mighty God we serve! What a mighty God we serve! Angels bow before Him! Heaven and earth adore Him! WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE! I know you have seen pictures and footage galore. I just wanted to share a little of my own. What POWER!!! Cracks in the ground like these are everywhere. The structural damage you see here is to our building downtown, at La Saline. Marc was able to travel there last Sunday to assess the situation and to share in worship with the people there. He was able to preach and encourage this group of people who are still worshipping and praising our God and creator. In spite of circumstances the people came. They want to move on. They are scared. Scared it will happen again. Scared to build again. Scared to leave what they know and what is so familiar to them. Port-au-Prince was just plain eerie. Randomly, everywhere you look there is damage, ruble, dust. Huge buildings turned to powdery dust in the blink of an eye. Huge, solid structures reduced to crumbled cement and re barb bent like a pretzel. Three houses standing firm, seeming not to be affected and the fourth one, not just crumbled on top of the ground, but swallowed completely by it. It's disconcerting to say the least. Yet they sit in the midst of it. Waiting. Waiting for what you ask. Waiting for someone to notice, someone to genuinely care about their plight. Waiting in spite of hunger, thirst, looting, sickness, disease. Traumatized and determined....they wait. Wait for someone to come to them under their makeshift tent of torn sheets and old clothing, tied to a twisted pole that seems to be taunting them in their misery. Waiting for someone to remember to care past the day after, to care past the week after, to care past the second week after. Waiting for someone to care when the cameras are gone, when the television coverage is gone, when the last helicopter drops some aid and circles over the city one last time, when the mounds of supplies at the airport which have become temporary mountains turn back into dusty old ground and runway, when the urgency is gone! Who will care then? Who will try to make sense out of life then? Who will encourage these people then? Who will stand beside them to rebuild from nothing? Who will stand beside them as they pick their selves up as they always do? Who will let them know that it is on Christ the solid rock we stand, all other ground is sinking sand. We will be there. This group called missionaries. The silent unseen force in Haiti, with God's strength we will move on. We will stand by them as we search for some kind of "normal" in Haiti again. We will remain in His strength, steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord. A young girl found alive in this human graveyard fifteen days after all this massive destruction and pure horror that has shook Haiti to the core!!! Do I need to tell you about the strength, courage and determination of these people? We will proudly stand with these people, among these people and we will face it together with strength from the Lord! We ask that you would pray for revival in this land. Haiti is ripe for change. We dedicate Haiti to the Lord! We pray that Haiti will become a light before the world instead of being smothered in darkness. May she rise up and be refreshed and stand proudly for the world to see for it is only God who can breathe life back into Haiti. We praise God that after all the news has died down and the dust has settled that you will be there beside us, continuing to partner with us in our ministry to serve the Haitian people. We praise God for you, for all you have given, all you have sacrificed, all you have shared to help us to rise to meet this situation with courage and strength. THANK YOU for being our partners. We are counting on you to continue to stand with us to face the task ahead when the dust settles. We know you will be there and we thank you again for that for without you our ministry would be IMPOSSIBLE!!!

Can You Hear It?

2010-01-27T20:18:00.000-08:00

Posted by Chris Brennemann with Blessing Hearts International for Dee Dorce':

Dee has traveled to the states to bring their three children and her mother Reta back to Iowa. It was just best for their safety and well-being to get them to the states for now.
We sent e-mail updates to everyone on our mailing list, so please send me an e-mail if you want to receive those updates: cbrennemann@hlg.edu

Keep praying and believing.

Following is a narrative written by a college-age mission team member who visited Haiti and worked with Dorce' Ministries and plans to return again this year:

HAITI

Wailing fills the streets for days on end. The stench of death permeates the air, an unnecessary reminder of the tragedy here. Ruins all around. What little they had is now gone. Some have fled the city. But some are so terrified, so traumatized, that they cannot bring themselves to leave the remnants of what they know. So they wait. They stay with their “belongings” and wait for someone to come rescue them. They wait for someone who will not come.

Those cities, those streets used to be filled with noise. Car horns honking as they blaze through on a one-lane road. Music blaring, lively and full. Buying and selling at the market ... the streets were packed.

Although these are an understandably sober people (their lot in life has never been easy) … hints of joy could be found; smiles lighting up simple faces. Shouts of joy, songs of praise, claps of excitement ... But not today. Not since that day. Where once there was shouting, now there is silence. A thick, heavy silence. The people don’t know what to do ... They are lost and scared. They were long forgotten before this disaster.

Now with the earthquake, eyes have turned to the people of Haiti. We have responded as we should, flooding relief organizations and missions with funds and supplies. We have raised up the people of Haiti in prayer at every church service, every small group, every prayer meeting. We even held ceremonies in honor of those impacted by this tragedy.

Now – two weeks after the initial 7.2 magnitude earthquake that rocked Port-au-Prince to its core – it’s easy to forget again. Life in the United States moves on. We continue about our business as usual again – wake up, eat breakfast, get the kids ready for school, go to work, eat lunch, pick up the kids, get home, fix dinner, homework, housework, bedtime ... But may we not forget what we have seen and heard. May we never forget our dear brothers and sisters in Christ living in Haiti. We must not turn away again.

For perhaps ... Perhaps we were saved - we came to Christ - for such a time as this. To bring our brothers and sisters before Him. To pray for revival to overtake this country. This is what it’s all about – being a family, bearing each other’s burdens, praying for the lost and scared and dying.

Haiti waits in quiet unrest, an eerie hush. The silence is deafening ... Can you hear it? Do you care? Will you help?

by Carrie Thompson, HLG Mission Team 2009/2010
© Blessing Hearts International, 2010

Blessing Hearts International
5923 CR 324
Palmyra, MO 63461

Steadfast, Unmovable

2010-01-23T22:12:00.000-08:00

Posted by Chris Brennemann for Dee Dorce' and Blessing Hearts Intl:

Dee was able to e-mail some pictures. They are taken both from their mission compound-turned-tent-city-refugee-camp and from Port-au-Prince. Wilckly and several of their staff have made numerous trips to the capital city to check on friends and churches and orphanages and to urge people to leave the city and seek refuge with them in Carries. So many are hesitant to leave because they are still grieving their loss and they are confused and scared. Pray more people will abandon the city and make their way to the Dorce’s.
We are still rejoicing in the successful return to Haiti of our two young ladies and short-term Dorce' missionaries, Shaina and Chris ("Crash"). Your overwhelmingly generous, quick financial response helped bring much-needed relief to the Dorce’s, and your earnest prayer support carried them through uncertain travel arrangements.

I asked Shaina if I could share excerpts from her latest e-mail update:

"I am still astounded at the events of Thursday and Friday...God definitely wanted us to get here because there were plenty of obstacles to keep us from it. But every time it seemed a door was closed, He opened another, until almost before we knew it, we were on our way across the border into Haiti. We did not see much of the devastation because the roads are all re-routed around Port-au-Prince to keep people away, but we were able to view several smashed buildings on our way to Carries.
At first, except for some leveled buildings and piles of debris, not much seemed different. But as we drove back to Carries, we noticed a silence, a solemness, that is abnormal for this country. There was less traffic on the roads, not the usual honking. blinking lights and loud music playing through each town. Everyone was going about their business as quietly as possible, as if they were fearfully anticipating something...and rightly so. We heard there was another aftershock just the evening before our arrival, so by now the Haitian people think it is never going to stop.
As you may have read in previous e-mails, we are all now camped out at the property in the village because all the people are terrified of sleeping indoors, and they feel much safer when they are near Pastor Kiki and Mdme. Kiki. These people are dazed, confused, scared, and wanting life to go on as normal, but it can't, because everyone has been affected in some way by this tragedy.
It is a lot different to be living in the village...though there are walls and gates, just as at the beach property, there is much less privacy, especially since we aren't allowed to go indoors unless necessary. But I have noticed already that it makes a difference in the way the people treat us. They seem to be more accepting of us since we are sleeping out in the yard with all of them, and living with them. Also, the fact that we came back during the disaster while everyone else is fleeing has had quite an effect on them...the Dorces' driver, Elves, even told Crash: 'Crash came back twice, Shaina came back once...everyone else is leaving. Haiti is bad...why do you want to come back?'" (from Shaina)

So, yes, Dorce' Ministries and Berea Christian Schools are being redefined daily in the wake of this earthquake. The concept of day-to-day survival has taken on even deeper meaning. Life right now is about meeting the most basic of human needs. One thing you can be assured of is that Dorce' Ministries will adapt and find ways to minister to the people and bring them help and hope.
I have spoken with Dee, albeit usually very briefly, and I can attest to the fact that they are weary, but not discouraged ... burdened, but not deterred, heart-heavy, but not disheartened. In so many ways even now, we can see how God has been preparing them and so many around them "for such a time as this." Your responses have been overwhelming, incredibly generous, and no doubt, sacrificial. We ask for your continued support and prayer and patience. Communication is difficult under normal circumstances in Carries and the neighboring villages, which calls for patience and faith and perseverance on our part as well.
Through tears of amazement and praise, Dee asked that I send along their thanks and deep appreciation for all you've done to help the people of Haiti. Dee and Wilckly have been ministering together in Haiti for over 16 years. They've seen embargos and hurricanes, and a sometimes daily parade of desperation, but these are even darker days for the country and the people they love so much. With great devastation and bewilderment comes great opportunity to share Christ. We ask that you pray for revival in this country, that the centuries-old stronghold of Satan might be bound and defeated and that many would come to know the Savior.
Many of you have expressed an interest in adopting orphans, in taking a team to Haiti to help the Dorce's, in shipping materials, and in other creative and generous methods of support. I ask that you remain patient as we assess the situation to see what avenues of ministry and support are possible and the most beneficial.

So what can you do?
PRAY ... for revival in Haiti, for Haitians to be receptive to the Gospel, and that Dee and Wilckly and their staff would remain healthy and focused.
CONTINUE TO TELL THEIR STORY and encourage others to support the Dorce's.
CONTINUE TO GIVE. Now, more than ever, we need consistent support.
STAY TUNED ... for more opportunities to donate, to support, to pray and perhaps even to visit.

Specific prayer needs:
** Continued, consistent support.
** The ability to safely transfer funds to the ministry.
** Safe transportation of relief containers* ... from the states to Haiti, and from the port at St. Marc to the mission.
**Good health and wisdom and perseverance for the Dorce' family and staff.

* We are assessing the situation to determine what materials are most needed. I will update you about donating items to fill the next container as soon as possible.

" ... be steadfast, unmovable always abounding in the work of the Lord, for as much as you know that your labor is not in vain in the Lord." (I Cor. 15:58)

Blessing Hearts International
5923 CR 324
Palmyra, MO 63461
memo: Dorce' disaster relief

Chris Brennemann
573-822-0611

The work at hand

2010-01-14T23:45:00.000-08:00

posted by Chris Brennemann, Blessing Hearts Intl forwarding agent:

An immediate call for help -- With the financial institutions in physical ruin, wiring and transferring money is not an option and may not be for several weeks.

We have two short-term missionaries returning to Dorce' Ministries in Carries, Haiti next Thursday, Jan. 21. Any monetary donations that they can bring with them would be most beneficial.

You can be assured your donations will be hand-delivered to the Dorce's and used entirely for disaster relief under their direction.

We need checks by Tues., Jan. 19 to give them time to clear the bank so they can be cashed.

Blessing Hearts International
5923 CR 324
Palmyra, MO 63461

Thank you and God bless.

WE ARE SAFE !

2010-01-14T23:35:00.000-08:00

Posted by Blessing Hearts International on behalf of Dee and Wilckly Dorce'. This is the first e-mail Dee was able to send out on Thursday afternoon.

PRAISE BE TO GOD FOR HIS PROTECTION AND WATCHCARE OVER US. PRAISE GOD FOR COMMUNICATION! FINALLY!

We are all fine at Carries. No injuries and no deaths this far out, just walls that have fallen or cracked. Praise God Marc was not in PAP that day as he many times is. He was with Wilckly and I and we were all at Verette checking on the things for a ladies'seminar (which of course has been postponed). We felt the quake enough and long enough to move out from under the porch where we were sitting. Other people were running. In a few moments we felt it again. We headed back to Carries praying everyone was safe there as we started to hear the horrendous reports being given on the radio. The palace broken in three pieces and the list continued, at the end of every sentence the word broken. Finally, the announcer said in exasperation, "Haiti is completely broken, finished!" Our hearts were heavy and we thought we would never arrive. We were relieved to find all of our people were fine. Of course it was dark and we were still feeling the tremors from time to time. We quickly loaded everyone and headed to Carries. We camped out on the ground on mattresses, straw mats and chunks of old carpet. Many people from the area came to join us to pass the night which we did, singing, praying and thanking God for our safety. People kept coming and coming until I lost count.

It wasn't until morning we were able to walk around Carries and assess the damage there. There were about 10 houses that the walls fell in which didn't take much as they were only made of sticks and mud yet it was all they had. The walls laid bare the ingredients of the homes. A bed, a chair, a table, some dishes and a few clothes hanging in the midst of the rubble. Of course the people were upset but no one was injured or killed and they were truly thankful especially as we continued to receive news of PAP.

The situations we are hearing about are unbelievable. People went to look for their families in PAP. Everyone has somebody in PAP. Many send one of their children to stay with family in PAP in hopes of sending them to school. Those returning were telling stories of walking over the dead to find the dead. They were physically sick everywhere they looked but desperate to find their own people. I know the things you are seeing on CNN are devastating but imagine those in the middle of it, walking through it.

God give us the strength to minister to them. They need our truck to carry their dead from PAP. They need our assistance for those who have been hurt. Some of those who came already I couldn't help them. I had to send them on to the nearest hospital an hour away to get x-rays and medication. It is one thing to be in a situation trying to help those around you. It is another thing to know that no matter what you do and how many you help it will not be enough.

We want you to know we are safe and still receiving news of Wilckly's family in PAP, our schools and churches there. People have already come from the country and mountain churches to see if we are okay. We are and God has reserved us for such a time as this. Pray that we will be capable with His help, His grace and His provision to comfort the grieving, care for the hurting, feed the hungry and that many would come to know Christ through our efforts that are only possible because of you supporters who are behind us. Pray, Pray, and Pray again. Give as you feel it in your heart to give and we will be His hands and His feet to do what we can here. Thank you for praying for us as we knew you would all be concerned at the disturbing news and sights provided to you by CNN. We love you and we thank God for you. Take courage as we faithfully stick to the task.

We will need food and water to share with the people, at this point we don't even know to what extent. We don't know what our role will be or what resources we will have or where they will come from. We will need clothes and shoes to share with those who have lost everything. The food and water situation worries us the most right now as everything has been totally demolished in PAP. One Stop Market where we get groceries was flattened. Everything along, Delmas, the main road we travel in PAP is demolished. Nothing is functioning including phone service obviously. We are praying they will work to restore it soon. We will let you know as soon as we know how you can help.

We will keep you updated.

Serving Him who specializes in the IMPOSSIBLE!
Wilckly and Dee Dorce

Happy New Year from Haiti

2010-01-10T20:46:00.000-08:00

What an exciting year for us! We started 2009 with Wilckly Josiah in hand. Now he has turned one and needless to say, he is the new Commander in Chief! Shhhh! Don't tell Wilckly. A toddler in Haiti. Now there's a thought. He's a speed crawler and a climber! What a task to keep up with him! He keeps big sisters, Ashley and Kelsey on the move, not to mention Crash, Shaina, grandma Bioude and grandma Reta, mom and dad, all on the move as well.

Looking back to some of the highlights of the year. February brought a reuinon at the home of Dr. Gates in California for many who had been involved getting Lonia to the States, surgeries, and recovery. It was an amazing time for those who had made it happen to finally meet each other. Tammy Wood who had contacted Joe Tebo, the Earth Angel Aviator pilot who was instrumental in getting tickets, airport escorts and expediting Lonia's visa which saved her life, were in attendance. Many from the church family in California were there, not to mention administrators, child life personnel, nurses and doctors from Sutter Memorial Hospital in Sacramento. Everyone enjoyed sharing the story of how they met Lonia or the chance they had to care for her. She turned two in July and is very healthy. She has a sparkle in her eye that we are sure Jesus put there himself. Praise God for this precious little one and the impact she has had and continues to have on many lives.

March found us in Hannibal, Missouri helping the ladies from Hannibal LaGrange College pack their 24 suitcases to the maximum for our return trip to Haiti. We returned with Grandma Reta, Ashley, Kelsey, Josiah, Lonia and myself plus our HLG ladies. It was one amazing reunion as we met Crash in the airport in Port-au-Prince. There are no words to describe it and that's before we got out to the parking lot, loaded up and got a few miles out of town before we had trouble with our vehicle. We spent about the next three hours making a one and a half hour trip to Carries. Being home after all those months was a little short of heaven on earth. There were days I thought that day would never come, but the Lord is faithful.

April and May were spent seeing all the things that Wilckly had been doing in our absence, mainly building walls, walls and more walls around the properties at Carries and the guesthouse. The rest of the time was spent going through things and looking at all the things that Crash had organized. She had really come up with many ideas and forms that have been very beneficial to our ministry. Praise God for her and the blessing she has been to Wilckly and I and our ministry.

June, July and August were back to the grindstone. There's no rest for the weary. I took off with the faithful white van and four kids in tow to tackle camps, VBS, church and Sunday school; anywhere they would give me a listening ear. We shared about the work in Haiti and the vision we have to continue the work He has for us there. We were thrilled to share with supporters, old and new. We thank you for your hospitality. We thank you for your generosity. We thank you for your sincerity and faithfulness to the Lord and to our ministry, without you our mission would be truly impossible.

September found us traveling back to Haiti as a family. Usually Wilckly is in Haiti keeping things afloat. We were thankful when he was able to join us for a month Stateside. Crash was true to her word as she returned to Haiti for a second phase. Shaina Ascone joined us from Macomb, Illinois. She is teaching Ashley and Kelsey, a 10 year old and a four year old. Now that's no task for the weak. She is doing an amazing job and the girls love her, not to mention Josiah.

October was the opening of all five of our schools. We have a new director for our school at Carries and one we are pretty proud of, his name is Petit Homme. It means little man but he packs a big punch. He comes from the church we started at LaSaline in Port-au-Prince, which is still functioning. He and Marc are the main leaders and teachers there. Marc continues to travel by tap tap to Port-au-Prince every other Sunday to help with the preaching and teaching there.

November was a special visit from Denne Duncan from Hannibal LaGrange College. During her visit we made the famous mule ride to Terrible Mountain. Long story short it was a 4 1/2 hour ride in on mules over some of the most treacherous terrain I have ever seen. You are right, it was another 4 1/2 hour ride back out on mules. Do the math! Yes that means NINE hours on the back of a mule! There's good news! There were people back there who have been forgotten by so many others who promised to come. They were so thankful we came that the praise service that was impromptu would have literally gone on for hours if we didn't have to get on those mules and ride back out. No one knew we were staying and there was no cell phone communication back there so we had to head back home. Ten of the women will make the trip to Carries for our first women's seminar that will be held January 15th,16th and 17th, with visiting women from Madison Park Christian Church in Quincy,Illinois that will be presenting our program. Please keep this in your prayers.

December found us frantically typing, editing and printing and typing, editing and printing some more to prepare all of the exams for the school at Carries. Task finally accomplished, we released Crash and Shaina for a couple of weeks to go enjoy the frigid below zero temperatures of the Midwest. It was a joy to celebrate Jesus' birth with our own personal family and the Haitian people knowing that we are serving the Lord right where He wants us to be.

We thank Him for an amazing 2009. We look for another great year in 2010. We pray that many lives will continue to be touched and that souls will be added to the kingdom because of the work that you support here in Haiti. We pray that where ever you are that many souls will be added to the kingdom because you have somehow made an effort to make a difference for Jesus where ever you are.

Love you all and thank you for your faithful prayers and support. Look forward to seeing you here in Haiti soon!

Happy New Year 2010 from Wilckly, Dee, Ashley, Kelsey, and Josiah Dorce' in Haiti!!!

Tet ansanm chay pa lou!!!!

2009-12-09T18:46:00.000-08:00

"Tet ansanm, chay pa lou" is a famous Haitian proverb which is very valuable to insert into Haitian conversation. They are short phrases that really pack a punch! This particular one is one of my favorites. Literally it says," Heads together, load not heavy". Many heads or hands together make the load light.

This week as we prepare for exams it is a perfect example of this put into practice. A few years ago when we started our first school at Carries I ended up typing all the exams in French and Creole, by myself. I didn't get much sleep, my family didn't see me for days, and I think I would have lost my husband if I ever tried to do it that way again. I guess I just want to share with you one of the quirky ways I calculate progress. This year we have a new director at our school, brother Petit Homme. He is an amazing asset to the team here. He is a Haitian, Christian man with morals which is next to impossible to find. He is from our church in Port-au-Prince, at LaSaline. He is solid, intelligent, organized, a good leader and guess what? He TYPES WELL! Yippee!

Okay, we also have Crash and Shaina, who also TYPE WELL!!! Even though they have to type in French and Creole without understanding, they are a big help. When they finish typing, Petit Homme and I edit. I don't think I can justly describe to you even half of what this means to me.

It is such a relief it is not even funny. For example, we told the teachers to have the tests prepared by a certain date and they did it. Now that, is progress. We had them almost two weeks in advance which meant we didn't have to kill ourselves to get it done. Again, that's progress. Having people other than myself to share the load with, now that, is progress.

Josiah has been teething and everything that goes with it. He's grouchy. Sometimes he has a fever. Sometimes he just wants his mommy. He wants to crawl everywhere and is trying to walk so he keeps us hopping. The past few days, Kelsey has had a fever. That takes all of a mom's time and energy day and night. I didn't get much sleep trying to give her medicine and cool her off with alcohol and cool rags. Yesterday we had to take her to the hospital to have tests rund to see what kind of fever. It came back negative for malaria and typhoid and we were thankful. However we spent the whole day at the hospital from 6:30 am to 11:30 am. The main thing was I did not have to panic or call off exams because I couldn't get them typed, because I knew I had a faithful crew working that would get the job done. Now that, is progress.

Tonight as we are putting the final touches on things, finishing grade cards to print and doing the final editing on the tests so they can be printed, I find myself humbled and very thankful for the help the Lord has sent our way. Now that, my friends, is progress. Thanks for Petit Homme, Crash and Shaina and the progress they are helping us make with our mission for His glory. Thanks gang.

Dee

2009-12-03T19:29:00.000-08:00

It's been pretty crazy here in the wild, wild,West Indies! Internet service has been pretty sporadic lately. We just had guests for about two weeks. Our special guest and star of the show was none other than our special little Lonia.

She is two and a half now and very sharp. She sings the ABC song, Kumby ya my Lord, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star and Jesus Loves Me. Pretty amazing for a little girl that has been through so much.

She is doing well and is staying with Charlie and Teresa Bowen. They want to adopt Lonia. Please pray for them as they begin this process. This trip was just to get Lonia's paperwork renewed so that she could return with Charlie and Teresa for another six months. We were very thankful and relieved to get this paperwork so that Lonia could return to the states with them.

It was amazing how well Lonia remembered all of us. Her favorite line was, "Mdme Kiki, hold me." If the truth be known it was my favorite line too. It was amazing to see her so healthy and happy. Every time I see her I am bombarded with memories of our time together. Most of all, I am overwhelmed with emotion to know that God put us there at the exact moment in her life to orchestrate the miracle that saved her life. It is very humbling to have played such a special role in something so sacred. I thank God for the way Blessing Hearts International was able to bless this little girls life. We pray that she will live to continue blessing the lives of many for years to come, for His glory.

In His Service,

Dee

2009-11-04T17:59:00.001-08:00

Where else in the world can you live with a grocery store under your bed, a bank under your table, an office behind your door, a movie theater on a card board box in front of your bed??? Haiti, gotta love it! Crash and Shaina were laughing about the grocery store under their bed because we came and took all the groceries out of boxes and put them in suitcases under their bed. There are three "aisles" if you will and it depends on what day it is who the grocer is. We also moved the safe into their room and put it under their table thus the bank under the table. We moved the filing cabinet from the office here and put it behind their door. They have discovered that some of the grocery boxes make a great movie table to put their computer on and watch a movie when I quit slave driving them enough.

They are excellent help and a great asset to the team here in Haiti. I have to remind myself that they are here to help and then remember to ask for it. Crash has done an excellent job preparing many helpful documents for school registration and so many other things. She has already had to type several things that the State is asking for. Recently she was preparing a list of those going to "Certificat", the official state test for all sixth graders. We have 15 students that will be taking this test in June 2010. They will be doing a lot of extra studying and preparation in order to pass this. It's a big deal!

Shaina has been doing an excellent job of teaching Ashley and Kelsey. She is a God send and a huge answer to prayer. We are so thankful for her and her dedication to the task. The girls are really enjoying Shaina and school. She is very creative and they do fun crafts and experiments which they love.

For instance, the other morning I had boiled eggs for breakfast. Ashley screamed and ran after Shaina. They came back with a glass juice bottle that was empty and Kelsey close on their heels. They were jabbering excitedly and looking for things to do their experiment. Shaina had a box of matches. They lit one and threw it in the bottle but it went out before hitting the bottom. After several vain attempts of this and sticking the egg over the top they were bewildered that it wasn't working. I looked and saw a piece of paper. I said, "Let's try using this so it will keep burning." We lit it, threw it in the jar, stuck the egg over the end and the heat sucked that egg into the bottle so fast it wasn't even funny and it made a huge noise to that scared Josiah to death. It sounded like a gun shot and it was over that quickly. Now the egg was inside the bottle and the amazing science experiment of the day was over and my childeren were elated. It was priceless!

Thank you for praying for us to work together as a team. We appreciate your continued prayers and support of our ministry.

dee

Rome wasn't built in a day.....

2009-11-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

Rome wasn't built in a day....never really truly understood that until passing a few years in Haiti. We started from scratch in town and built everything we needed from the ground up. We needed dorms, we built them. We needed outhouses/restroom/bathing facilities, we built them. Many times it was a very unpleasant procedure for three reasons. One, everything had to be dug by hand which meant anywhere from one to twenty men digging at a time. Two, this meant a hefty payroll that couldn't be avoided. Three, it took so long to dig it by hand it was ridiculous. We knew for sure they were making us pay more money by taking their sweet time to do the job so that they could make more money and there was nothing we could do about it. And finally, the conditions were so nasty while they were digging because it was on top of the garbage dump and there were dirty needles and many other things that would appear. It also would leave the nastiest looking and smelling water that I thought sure we would all die from some airborne sickness from it.

Coming to Carries we had to start everything from scratch all over again. Anything we needed we had to build it and are still building it. We have accomplished a lot in six years, building a home for Bioude and her girls. Building a clinic. Building a church/school which has never been totally completed. We have several foundations dug and laid in place. The problem is that it usually takes so much time, money and man power to physically dig the foundation through very rocky ground with pick and shovel, that we have spent a months income on just paying their salaries to keep digging and then put the foundation in place with rock and concrete before the rains can have a chance to ruin all the hard labor. We have been praying a long time for a back hoe loader because there is so much need for it. It's not just digging foundations but also removing garbage at all of our properties is very important. Recently we had sewage problems at the guest house. The guys spent a good 2 weeks just digging down to the sewage pipes and the septic tank. If we had had the bobcat with the backhoe attachment at that time, we could have dug it all in a day, bought the neccessary pipes and replaced them the next day and we would have had time to cover it all back up. It would have taken a total of three days to complete. As it is, the guys dug for 2 weeks, the plumber took a couple days to get the parts, a day to repair it. The guys have started throwing the dirt back in by hand at their leisure so it has been almost a month, my sewage problem is fixed and we still have an ugly yard with mounds of dirt piled everywhere. Please consider helping us with this project. Our construction is at a standstill because we don't have that kind of money to pay these guys, months at a time for digging the foundations of all the things that we still need to build. We need a larger school as the 2oo children we have have already out grown our facilities. We need to build a cafeteria where we can feed our students at least one warm meal a day. We need a decent office for all of our administration for the mission. We need employee housing so that we can hire good people from town and they can bring their families with them so that they can concentrate on our work. We need to dig fish ponds so that we can start raising our own fish to help feed all of our own people and the school children. If we continue doing all this with manual labor and picks and shovels we will be working until Jesus returns and never make any more progress. Please. the time is now. Won't you please consider our project and how you might be able to help us obtain this equipment? We are desparately in need of its services. Many things will be accomplished with it to help further God's kindom. Having the trailer will enable us to travel even to the remote areas where we have church/school buildings which need to be constructed as soon as possible. This project is an excellent investment for our ministry. Please prayerfully consider how you can help. There are more details below on this project. Thank you in advance.

In addition to your regular giving, we wanted to alert you to a unique opportunity to purchase Bobcat and Backhoe equipment for Dorce' Ministries and Berea Christian Schools. Through some incredible contacts and generosity of supporters in the St. Louis area, a Bobcat with Backhoe attachment and the trailer needed to transport the equipment is available at significantly reduced prices.This construction equipment would mean immeasurable improvements to what Dorce' Ministries can do for the mission and surrounding villages. What takes weeks or even months and dozens of laborers to accomplish by hand could literally be done in one day with this equipment.If you feel led to contribute to this cause and/or if you have a cell groupor SS class or other contacts who might be interested, please let us know.As you might imagine, the dealers can only hold this equipment for a limited time, so the need is immediate.

I will hold all the checks and donations until we see what equipment we are able to purchase and ship to Haiti. Here are the equipment details and address information: Backhoe: $5500; Bobcat: $12,000-15,000; Trailer: $2500-$4500. We are working on transportation costs, hoping to get much of it donated.

Send donations/address checks to : Blessing Hearts International
memo: Dorce' (backhoe project)
Chris Brennemann
5923 CR 324
Palmyra, MO 62361

Thank you for your continued support of and prayers for Dorce' Ministries.

You've Got to be Kidding!

2009-11-01T17:39:00.000-08:00

You would think that after sixteen years in Haiti...MdmeKiki would know better. Grant it I did turn the big 40 this summer and I think my "friends" were telling me to beware that this would alter my state of mind. I didn't quite catch it though.

So when Pastor Jilmis kept begging us to make a trip to visit his church up in the mountains we finally said yes. Denne Duncan was coming from HLG to do some filming for a class project and new promotional material for Blessing Hearts International and Dorce Ministries. We thought this would be great to be able to capture how our ministry not only involves the community here at Carries but also how it reaches some untouched and forgotten areas of Haiti.

We were up and raring to go at 4:00 am on Monday morning after our amazing Sunday sharing with many who had come to visit from several of those mountain churches similar to the one we were to visit. We pushed it to leave the compound before 5:00 am. We drove on toward PAP stopping for a little typical Haitian breakfreast. We bought 5 pates which is a flour dough with cooked chicken and haitain pickles made with cabbage, onions, lime juice, maggi (chicken boullion), and hot peppers, all this inside and fried in some heavy oil. A great nutritious way to start your day, especially if you are 40 so the only way to top it off of course is with a Coke and a smile and so I did. In my great 40 year old/Haitian intuition/wisdom I also insisted they buy some bread and avacados. Yoka, bless her heart, was up way early trying to cook some rice to send with us which Marc, Elves and Pasteur Jilmis gladly polished off before our arrival to prepare for our next departure.

Now grant it, in Haiti, it's always a given to pack some food and carry extra water because you never know where you may end up or what might happen! Thankfully Denne, Crash, Shaina and I had stuck in some tortilla chips, M&M's and beef jerky that Denne had brought. Little did we know that these would be our rations for the day. Thank goodness I had a whole bag full of little individual bags of water, there's probably about 65 in a bag, that I had left over from our event at church.

Let's just clarify that I was told in advance that they would be bringing mules for us to ride because of the distance. Must have been that 40 thing again causing me not to pursue the actual, how far are we going and how long is it going to take thing!!!!! It's probably just my natural Haitian response to the fact that I would be told that it's not to far and I didn't figure it was a big deal. Judging from the little pot bellied preacher whom I've never actually seen do physical labor, you would have made the same honest mistake as I, that there's no way it could be very far. I did however tell those accompanying me that we would be riding mules.

We turn off at Tityen onto this wonderful, very wide new road that President Preval has built. We enjoyed the good road and the gorgeous scenery as we quickly climbed the mountain and the beautiful ocean faded away into the hills and valleys below. Finally we arrived at a make-shift open market about 7am. This is where we saw the last of our faithful old dump truck as they put her away in a safe place until our return.

Decked out in shorts covered with a flowered skirt as dresses and skirts are Haitian custom for women, even a top the perch of a mule. I had my floppy blue hat with chin string and my sunglasses. I was also wearing a lace up brace on my foot because in March I chipped the bone although not knowing how. I thought it would be a good safety measure depending on the walking we might have to do. So it was tucked snuggly down into my tennis shoe. I was ready to roll, but hopefully not clear off my mule. Everyone being so shy and all in our group, it fell my duty to be the first one to gracefully mount my poor faithful beast. Just letting you know it was nothing like mounting a horse, especially one with a saddle and stir-ups. On the back of the mule was a wooden saddle, to my dismay!!! It was triangle in shape in the front and back with two pieces of wood connecting the two triangle pieces. somehow they had a rope they kept cinching up but I'm not sure what it was keeping on. Over the top of this they non-chalantly threw a blanket. Then they walked around finding a rock high enough for me to stand on with the skirt on and my bung foot in a brace, so that I could mount my sturdy beast. My counterparts were roaring with laughter and the Haitians were having a good time with it themselves. You know me, always good for a laugh! I finally mounted less than gracefully after calling curtly to my sweet dear husband for help!

Elisten was the name of the good man who led my mule. He led me to a spot aside the market to wait for all the others to mount which you can imagine took a few good moments. In the mean time he tried to get my mule to stand still and wait but the Haitian proverb says, "Buik chaje pa kanpe!" The donkey that is loaded will not stand still. This is so true. The donkey/mule knows his job well and when he is loaded, he's ready to "get out of Dodge"! He kept prancing around and leading him in a circle as we waited. This was about 7am. The first part was nice and smooth and some of the most beautiful scenery in Haiti.

The other Haitian proverb I need you to be familiar with is this, "Gen mon deye mon!!!" This proverb says that BEHIND EVERY MOUNTAIN, THERE ARE MOOOORE MOUNTAINS!!! This was our day to truly learn the meaning of this. Mili-seconds turned into seconds, seconds turned into minutes and minutes turned into hours as we plodded along, hour after hour after hour. Each time we would ask how much further, the response was the same,
"Nou preske rive, nou preske rive!" or We are almost there, we are almost there! I thought they were supposed to be Christians but they were out right liars!!!!

It's amazing the haze my mind was in through all of this. First, I was angry at Pasteur Jilmis for taking us on such an excursion and not preparing us for the treachery of it. Not allowing us to plan to accomodate everything better. I think this was at least into the second hour of riding on a mule with no stopping, no getting off to walk. Then I was mad at myself for not finding out where in the world we were going in the first place. It clicked for me and I finally stopped being so selfish and thinking about myself and how thirsty I was but the mule with the water was quite a ways back and how sore I was and how terrible that at 40 I would never be able to walk again!!! At least not in a proper manner! All of a sudden my focus turned to them as I began to praise God for our ministry in Haiti. Praise God for these blessed people who endure so many hardships in their lives. Their very existence is so difficult. How and where they have to get water every day to drink, wash, cook and bathe. How far they have to go to get something from the market. I saw pregnant women climbing through rocks and mud with bare feet. I saw women in their 60's and 70's walking this treacherous terrain barefoot. I saw children running across all of it barefoot like it was nothing. I was sure most of them had for sure had less than I had to eat before starting this trail. A cup of coffee and a hunk of bread at most! Wow! I began to once again appreciate what I have always loved about Haiti is the plain ablility of these people to endure hardship.

What do you have to do to get on the same page with these people spiritually? How can we reach them for Christ? It was interesting as we continued the climb of the mountain range called, "TERRIBLE MOUNTAIN" that these people had seen a lot of blan or white people before. The troubling thing was that many of them were headed to a place called Sodeaux. The white people go there to watch the ritual voodoo ceremonies in a mountain fed waterfall and stream. Watching attentively, taking photos and videos where allowed, of these people writhing in sin, wallowing in the mud, covering their body from head to toe until it is without recognition as they are one after the other, possessed by the evil spirits and they obey to the character of each lwa called upon. Djoumballa and others they call on searching for them to fill their lives with fame, glory and especially money and success for their business and family.

Someone asked, "Are they going to Sodeaux? I was never prouder in that moment of the God that I served as they replied, "No, they are missionaries coming to preach the gospel and to see how they can help us save our souls. The two ladies on the mules behind me struck up a conversation of how that was so important really taking me off guard. She said, "If you are a Christian you don't have to be scared of the Lougarou, or werewolf that supposibly eats little Haitian children. You don't have to even be afraid of death when someone promises to kill you because if you are a Christian you are safe in His protection. You don't have to worry about your loved ones dying without being sick and trying to find out who put the curse on them that killed them. These are profound truths that we are trying share on a daily basis as we live out our lives here among the Haitian people. It is so hard to get through that thick outer crust and get the truth to affect their heart of hearts. It's our task. God has put us here for it.

I feel embarassed to even mention the rest of the hardships of the trip. Okay riding a mule for four hours before you are finally let off to walk is a little much but we all lived through it. Starting the last trek of the journey just to get there and thinking there is no way we would arrive alive. Okay, so my mule got really hot by the time we got to the top of this mountain. We stopped for a moment waiting for the others to catch up. As we did, my mule proceeded to lie down with me still sitting on top of it. I did what any agile forty year old women of my stature would do, I screeched at my guide and lunged off toward him as my mule hit the ground and started to roll. Elisten said, "I guess his back was getting to hot!!!" How sweet is that that he didn't say I was getting too heavy for the donkey to carry! He took everything off the mule, let the mule roll and scratch his back. He then saddled him up again and we searched for a nice high rock where I could gracefully mount again and we continued on. None of us thought we would have the courage to mount and return. They walked quite a bit but I couldn't with my bad foot, at least not without slowing them down a lot. We were dazed as we rode out, headed for our sacred truck. The sky darkened as night set in but it also darkened with the rain that was about to cut loose. The last 45 minutes we traveled in darkness as it began to rain, okay, pour down rain. God held our hand and he led us safely through the day and all the way back through the rain and darkness. Okay He carried us, I am sure because there was no way to stand. I wonder if we really cling to our Savior the way I clung to my precious mule. Do we hold onto Jesus for dear life constantly or only when the way gets treacherous and impossible to manage? Clinging to Jesus has a whole new meaning for me.

Was it worth it this crazy trip to the outback and beyond???? I can't speak for others but the smiles of those precious children cut through my pain/soreness/stiffness like a knife through hot butter. Everything melted away as we were given chairs to sit among them as they gathered around us, young and old alike. Men, women and children, young, old and in between. They surrounded us. More people who need my Savior! Way out here in the middle of no where! The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few! Who will go? Who will answer the call? Who will leave their comfort zone and start reaching out to the lost where ever they are! Look around you people! You don't have to climb on the back of a mule and travel 9 hours to the outback, unknown parts of Haiti to find people who are lost to minister to. They are in your work place. They are in your family. They are in the grocery store. They are at Wal-Mart. Wake up people! God has given us a job to do, to seek and to save the lost. Quit feeling sorry for yourselves in your cushy little corner and start to share God's love for you with someone else.

I felt like I was going to die that day on many different occasions and I admit at times I wanted to (riding a mule for nine hours! You've got to be Kidding!!!!) But when the people we came to see and all those children entered into that church and they began to praise the Lord for all they were worth, I thought I had died and gone to heaven! There is nothing more amazing than whole hearted, soul felt worship and that is what we witnessed that day, a glimps of heaven, pure, sweet and undefiled. Makes me long for heaven! I am weary and I want to see Jesus! Keep the faith. DEE

What it's all about!

2009-10-28T03:07:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-23T18:53:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-16T14:09:00.000-07:00

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!

2009-10-16T12:36:00.000-07:00

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

2009-10-11T19:19:00.000-07:00

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.

2009-10-07T21:08:00.000-07:00

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

Expect the Unexpected

2009-09-30T19:56:00.000-07:00

Two weeks before we returned to Haiti, everyone was asking me if it was hurricaine season and if that affected us. We usually get extra rain and maybe some wind but they haven't been as devastating to us as the places around us.....until now. There seemed to have been a tropical depreesion that dropped a lot of rain on Carries in a very short amount of time. This in turn caused a mud slide/rock avalanche. We have the property where the church is and about two miles away where we stay and house our guests. This devastation happened in the two mile radius between our two properties.

Four people were killed, three of them being young children. Several houses were totally demolished. The water carried all kinds of furniture and personal belongings from their homes. Our preacher at Carries, Pasteur Audal, escaped the flood waters and deluge with his wife but his home was flooded washing away all his belongings. He had a small shed beside his house called a depot. Besides preaching and teaching school, he would fill this little depot with things like rice, beans, oil, tomatoe paste, butter, spaghetti and spices. His wife would sell these things to bring in some extra income. All of it completely gone but their lives were spared.

Jocelyn, one of the boys we raised at Berea, was around the night of the flooding to help those who were trapped or who lost their home or everything in it. He took pictures on his phone. He showed me the children's bodies they retrieved from under the mud. He showed me a woman who was seven months pregnant who was buried alive, up to her armpits while holding her two year old baby above her head, saving the babies life.

Sunday we went to see the devastation. I was amazed at the enormously wide path the rocks and mud had taken, leveling houses to the ground. I mentioned as I looked around that I had seen pictures of the pregnant woman that they had dug out of the mud and pulled to safety. They said she's standing right over there. I got out of the truck and went over to meet her and hear her story. I asked her if she had accepted Christ as her Lord and Savior. She said, "No". I asked her what she was waiting for, that there might not be a next time. She said she would have plenty of time to take care of that. I invited her to church anyway and said we would be waiting for her.

I got home from church and stuck my head out the gate to call someone. It was just enough time to let Locksen call me. He asked if he could come and talk to me and I said yes. He said that I had almost lost him because the flood/mudslide came so quickly that he was almost washed away. It took all of his belongings but not him personally and he was very thankful for that. Then he showed me his one pair of shoes he had left that weren't washed away. They were in shreds and he needed a pair and could I please help him. I asked how much some new ones would cost. He said he needed forty bucks to get the new ones and he reminded me that he had never asked me for money before. He said, by the way, I almost lost my sister too and she was seven months pregnant. She was buried in the mud, alive. I couldn't believe it was his sister that I had just talked to. Small world. I gave him the forty dollars to go buy his shoes and man was he ever grateful.

Came home realizing what an amazing life I have, thankful to be alive and praying for wisdom to somehow be able to dispense what things we have to those in need. Please pray for us, for God to bless us with a new source of food that will increase our ability to correspond with the need at hand.

Dee

Sunday at Carries

2009-09-28T20:00:00.000-07:00

We were all up and around pretty early on Sunday. I, especially, couldn't wait to be at church. There is a song I heard a long time ago, "I was so incredibly happy, when someone said to me, "Let us go to the house of the Lord!" This song was running through my mind as we went to services on Sunday morning to worship Haitian style. No offense to all of you in the States but to tell the truth, You know nothing about worship! If most of you were present on Sunday you would have been laughing or putting your hands over your ears or making fun of it in some way. Imagine the service beginning and the people are singing acapella. My husband pulls out his new accordian and starts to play along. He hasn't played or practiced for quite some time so needless to say, there was a noisy accordian and some people trying to sing around it. Then Jhemson decided to be the drummer for the day but Bioude thought she could do it better so she took over the big green and white drum. All the while I am singing and trying to carry some kind of tune I am chuckling to myself and thinking, I know God is being worshipped here this morning because that is all we wanted to do was to bring praise and honor and glory to Him. All of a sudden as we were singing, a more experienced accordian player came up unannounced and took the accordian from Wilckly and began playing it beautifully. Now I don't mean that "get down polka music" that you are thinking of. I mean beautiful hymns. Sounds that you wouldn't even believe could come out of an accordian. I let myself be lost in worship, as tears came to my eyes as they usually do, when I finally find myself back in Haiti and realize how much I wanted to ber right here where I am. It is in that moment I realize how much I love living in Haiti and serving here with the Haitian people. It is then that I realize how God allows me to block it out of my mind, the fact that I would really rather be here, for a few months to drive around doing camps and VBS so that I can return to the place that I love so much. Those of you who support our ministry I humbly thank you for letting us be your hands and feet here in Haiti. "I worship You Lord, I worship You. The reason I live is to worship You!
Dee

Just like riding a bike....

2009-09-26T16:49:00.000-07:00

Returning to Haiti is just like riding a bike.....you never forget how, you just have to get back on. There is no slow and easy transition into Haiti. It's all or nothing so I say bring it on. There is so much to catch up on.

Part of it has been really fun to catch up on and others not so much. They sometimes don't tell us things that we need to know over the phone because they are afraid of our reaction. The good news is that this time, although some of it was not pleasing, there didn't seem to be one huge major thing that happened.

It is really a blessing already to have Crash and Shaina along. Sometimes it gets crazy around here, just receiving people. Although Bioude is amazing with my children, she still has other things to take care of. Crash and Shaina have been great already helping with that.

Kelsey sticks like glue to Shaina. She's always has a million questions for anyone that will listen. It is great to have someone else to help answer or wonder about all of them.

Two days past before Wilckly, Crash, Shaina and I could actually sit and talk about our plan of action. Please pray for unity among us and with our Haitian workers so that we can accomplish the most for His glory.

Have a great day worshipping and praising our risen Lord and Saviour. He is amazing, mighty, all-powerful, all-knowing and He loves us all very much and in detail. My prayer is that we all seek to know him more. DEE

Headed Home

2009-09-20T22:50:00.000-07:00

Counting down the final hours at last. We leave this morning, Wednesday, Sept. 23 at 6:20 heading back home to Haiti at last. I used to be the expert packer. I find that now I don't really care if I pack or if we take anything with us but the children. Raising support in the summer is an amazing adventure that is very rewarding and very tiring. I just want to go home at this point, home to Haiti. I know you are questioning my sanity at this point and well you should. Who in their right mind would be excited to go from 24 hour electricity to trying to find just one match box that even has a match AND a candle to light or some kerosine for the lamp? Who wouldn't jump at the chance to go from living out of the van for the summer to staying at the compound indefinitely without transportation? Oh yes, and water, forget turning the faucet on. Hopefully, Bioude and Marc have thought far enough ahead to have at least a few buckets of water on hand so we can "shower" when we get there.

I guess the amazing thing I always look forward to in this transition is somehow they will have made every attempt to welcome us home. Will it be hot? Yes. Will it be hard in some ways? Yes. Is that still where the Dorce Family wants to be? Yes. We count on your prayers for our health. We ask for prayer for Christine Stevens who will be returning with us. We also ask for prayer for Shaina Ascone who will be coming with us to teach Ashley (10) and Kelsey(4). Pray for unity for us and unity with our Haitian workers as well that we would continue to serve the Haitian people. Pray for the light of the gospel to shine in our lives as we live out Christ daily among the Haitian people. I encourage each of you as you face another day in your "busy" lives, to define where your mission field is. Who are the people you are ministering to? Pray for them daily and specifically. Challenge the Lord to give you an opportunity to be the example of His love for them. Believe me! It will be anything but boring. Have a great day for His glory. See ya in Haiti!

Dee

2009-08-10T06:53:00.000-07:00

On the Move

2009-07-03T05:41:00.000-07:00

There's been no time to let the grass grow under our feet, we are on the move. We returned to Haiti in March with our group of ladies from Hannibal LaGrange College in Hannibal, Missouri. We had been gone from Haiti for nine months at that point. I have never been gone from Haiti that long in the sixteen years I have been in Haiti.

We took care of a few things. Lonia had four successful surgeries. Ashley completed fourth grade. Kelsey turned four and had a great birthday party. Josiah was born. Wilckly was in jail on false charges,for thirteen days, in Port-au-Prince, before finally being released. Crash "survived" in Haiti until our return. She is amazing! Wow! We finally arrived in Haiti but we had trouble with our vehicles on the way home. The hour and half drive from the airport to Carries turned into a miserably tiring voyage BUT, when we finally arrived, what a reunion for everyone! Another typical day in Haiti...anything that can go wrong probably will at the least desirable moment.

Returning to Haiti, Lonia was able to meet her new brother Ezekiel. We were able to return to the mountains where she is from so that all of her grandparents, aunts and uncles could see her. They were all amazed and thrilled to see her alive. Thrilled enough to cook a special meal for us. Give us gifts such as produce from their garden and livestock on foot such as roosters and goats for us to eat.

Wilckly hired Lonia's dad to work for us when we left Haiti for all of Lonia's surgeries. He moved Lonia's mom and dad to Carries and gave them a house to live in. Wilckly knew that it was too complicated and delicate to just come back to Haiti and hand Lonia to her parents but he wanted to make sure they were near us so that I could continue to care for her. Indeed the situation was delicate. Her colostomy had been reversed and she had a new bottom but the heat didn't do us any favors. Her parents soon understood after seeing the amount of care that was needed and constant attention to keep her bottom from getting so irritated or getting infected.

Lonia's mom and dad are thrilled that she is alive. They are so thankful to see her walking and playing. They are even happy that she speaks English and doesn't really understand their Creole.

We don't know what the future holds for Lonia but we do know that God went out of His way to make a special plan for her life. We are thrilled to know that we could play a small part in that plan. We now have a three year multiple entry visa for Lonia. She has already traveled to a couple of camps with the kids and I this summer. Please keep her in your prayers. Lonia's birthday is coming up soon. She will be two years old on July 29th, 2009. Praise the Lord for our miracle girl! Praise Him that her parents didn't listen when they were told to leave their new born daughter by the steps on the way out because she was going to die! Praise you oh Lord, for our sweet little Lonia.

We continue to travel doing camps, VBS and speaking at our supporting churches and updating them on the work going on in Haiti.

June 28 - July 3 Dee at church camp at Shelby County, Clarence, MO

Crash in VBS at High Hill, MO

July 5 - July10 Dee at church camp at Shelby County, Clarence, MO

Crash at church camp at High Hill, MO

Charlie at VBS at New Market Church of Christ

July 11 - 18 Dee in Haiti, Bioude's daughter Tika getting married

July 18 Crash day camp at Lamoine

July 19 - 24 Dee at VBS at Palmyra, MO

Crash at VBS at Montezuma, IA

July 26 - 31 Dee at VBS at Liberal, MO

August 23 Dee at Oak Hill Christian Church, Houston, MO

Dee and Crash open in August to speak before returning to Haiti Sept. 2, 2009

If you would like to contact us call:

Dee 573-324-4040

Crash 660-341-1519

We would love to meet with you. Maybe it's been awhile since you've been supporting us and you want to send a team to see what is happening in Haiti. We're waiting to hear from you so give us a call.

Dee

This Is Crash's Face...This Is Crash's Face on Mango Milk

2009-04-11T09:20:00.000-07:00

The thing about Haiti is... well...you just never know what's going to happen next. For instance when Crash helped harvest the mangoes by being the mango catcher on the ground. The boys threw them from the tree and she caught them and put them in the box so we could put them in the depot to ripen. If we leave them on the tree, little animals make holes in them and they rot or two legged animals take them and we never get to eat them. Crash, being the helpful person that she is, was trying to help save the mangoes and feed people. She had the best of intentions. She has eaten mango many times and she has never been allergic to anything in her life, except mango milk, which unfortunately she did not know about. Mango milk is the sap that comes out of the end of the mango where it was hooked to a long string like stem, hanging from the tree. None of us thought about this until she got up in the morning and her face was bright, shiny, and red. Her eyes were swollen and she was looking out through little slits in her face. I guess she was surprised herself at how she must look when she asked if it looked like there was anything wrong with her face. She didn't even get the sentence out and she saw the look on my face. I said, "What in the world happened to you?" She had a red rash all over her chest and arms which itched like crazy. We found some Benedryl and sent Mdme Marc for some calimine lotion and more allergy medicine because we only had a couple Benedryl pills. Crash tried all of these but found no relief. Monday called for new and drastic measures because it was only getting worse. There is nothing like the heat of Haiti to cool your itching skin when you have a horrible reaction like this. We had to ride close together in the front of the big, blue, faithful, mission machine with the windows down trying to keep cool in the breeze since there is no air condition. The temperature in the shade lately has been 90, so use your imagination. Needless to say it was very uncomfortable for someone in Crash's condition. She was a trooper. It was kind of un-nerving though, this sealed look on her face that just said, "Yes, I am really annoyed and sick of it all and want to go home now!" I felt pretty helpless not to be able to accomadate. We arrived at the clinic and got in quickly. The doctor looked at our sack of meds and said we were giving her all the right things we just needed to wait. Then he must have saw me flinch as I almost lunged at him and he quickly recovered saying that there was a shot of a medication called promethizine that would help calm it all down. He asked me if I could give the shot. I said no. He said he had an American nurse who could help us. I thought he meant at the clinic, of course. All of the sudden he handed me the phone and I am talking to this lady. She doesn't know why she's talking to me and I don't know why I am talking to her but I explain our situation to her. She went off on this whole thing about having had a similar reaction recently and that there is no epinephrine available in this country but that all missionaries should have some on hand. She prayed with me right there on the phone to be able to find the promethizine. We exchanged phone numbers and headed for the clinic pharmacy which did not have promethizine. I then went across the road to the hospital and asked for it at their pharmacy. Well of course they didn't have change for my Haitian $50 bill, which is not unusual. I sent the man with me to buy a coke so I could have the change to pay for the medicine. In the mean time, I chatted with the nurse asking her about the hospital and telling her about Lonia. The man returned with my coke and change. As I was chugging it down, I heard the nurse say, "Oh no, I don't even have PROMETHIZINE!!!" I couldn't believe it but managed not to shower everyone with my mouthful of coke. Before I could respond, the nurse said, "However, I know we do have some in the operating room but I can't charge you for it." She took off after it when I gave her the "Mdme Kiki" look. She came back with it and I thanked her for it and paid her $2 Haitian for a syringe and I was on my way to give Crash relief. Unfortunately she had to wait until we got back home and Monique came to give her the shot. She was pretty stir crazy at that point. She took the shot and kept rubbing on the Calamine. By evening she felt no relief. When Pasteur Quene called I asked him to buy another shot to give her that evening. It was late and most pharmacies were closed. The only promethizine they had was in a huge bottle. The took a sryinge, filled it with the correct dose and placed the syringe back in its original paper and Pasteur Quene took careful pre-cautions to bring it to Carries on a tap-tap. It cost $25 Haitian. We then had to wait for Monique to call the nurse at the pharmacy and confirm that we really had a shot of promethizine. She finally received the shot but the next morning she didn't feel like there was much success. We sent for more promethizine which was delivered in the same manner BUT there was a new pharmacist and she doubled the price to $50 Haitian. What a country! Well, we know that many of you were praying for us and that is the only reason our story has a good ending. Crash's face has since cleared up. We no longer call her monster face and children do not run when they see her. Thank you so much for praying. The moral to this story is: Beware and don't touch the mangoes, especially the sap because you are probably allergic to them. WE HAVE DECIDED THAT THIS ADVICE WILL BE STRESSED OVER AND OVER TO ANYONE WHO COMES TO VISIT US ESPECIALLY IF YOU'VE NEVER BEEN ALLERGIC TO ANYTHING BEFORE!

Nine months for a Rooster!

2009-03-26T16:10:00.000-07:00

Nine months for a rooster! This might be an insult to many of you but to Mdme Kiki, returning to Haiti with Lonia after nine loooong months, it was the ultimate compliment! It was like something out of an old black and white movie or stories my great grandma used to tell of her childhood and how they used to pay the doctor with produce from the garden. It was a very small but very heart felt gift of poultry to convey the very essence of thankfulness in their hearts that little Lonia was alive and would live to see many more birthdays. I must admit I was a little overwhelmed and I felt a little selfish receiving it. I mean, not sharing with Dr. Gates, Beverly, Anna Lynn, Joe and Charlotte Tebo, Charlie and Teresa Bowen and so many others who had played such a big part in everything coming together and being accomplished for Lonia, it just seemed wrong.

I want to tell you more about how special it was and why there was so much meaning behind it. It was given by her grandma, her dad's mom. I had met her on our trip to Cupois as we took Lonia to the homecoming party that had awaited her up in those distant mountains. She apologized for not having anything to give me then. She laughed and hugged and kissed Lonia and I and promised she would be sending something. Little did I know what the "something" would be. Bright and early, Saturday morning, Pierre's brothers brought the rooster along with an apology from their mother. You see, she had also been fattening a goat. The prize possession of this elderly woman in her two room dirt shack was being saved and treasured to give as a gift for me caring for Lonia and all that went with it. The day they were ready to bring the goat, they found he had eaten someone's garden. The owner of the garden had proudly taught people the lesson of keeping their goats out of his garden by cutting the head off of the goat and leaving it lay in the garden to be found by its owner. Needless to say, the woman was devastated by the random actions of the gardner. She was also embarrassed to be only able to send the rooster, which I humbly accepted and proudly ate the next day before something drastic had time to happen to my new prized possession! Nine months for a rooster? You bet, and I would do it all over again without blinking an eye. What a privilege to be in the service of our Lord and King! May this find you serving Him faithfully!
Dee

Home Sweet Home! Haiti

2009-03-19T13:52:00.000-07:00

Kids kids and more kids! Lonia and HLG women at Cupois

Action of Grace, church at

Carries

I personally thought March 7th, 2009, would never come! Of course it did however. Praise the Lord for that. Nine months was a long time to be gone from the country I love so dearly. The country that I have lived in for the past 16 years, day in and day out, Haiti, definitely my home. This is a good thing. It is where I function. It's where I am needed. It's where I am respected. It's where God allows me to use all that He has given me to serve Him. I don't mind telling you that for the last nine months I have truly felt like a fish out of water. I have met the task head on. I did what needed to be done. Lonia is alive and well and thriving. Josiah is almost 3months old. Ashley is about to finish the 4th grade. Kelsey is 4 going on 14 and talks a mile a minute. Wilckly is out of jail and busy about the Lord's work. Crash has survived Haiti without me and even speaks Creole. I Dee am Mdme Kiki and I am happy to be home in Haiti.

We left PAP at 4:30 in two vehicles. About thirty minutes out of town, the pick up broke down. We should have arrived home around 6pm. Instead we had to pull the pick up, stopping and starting a million times before finally arriving at 10 pm. We were all totally exhausted! Don't know what I would have done without the help of all those "superwomen" from HLG in Hannibal, Missouri. You all are my heroes. WELCOME TO HAITI!

Sunday morning was a very special service called Aksyon de Gras or Action of Grace. There were more than 8 churches represented that morning. Each came with a special singing group from their church with several songs to share for the occasion. It was a special get together to welcome us back to Haiti and to thank God for all of His actions of grace in returning us there. Many people were praying for us here and in the States. This was their magnificent way of saying thanks to the Lord and the many answers He gracefully provided for all of our prayers. It was evident to me through this special homecoming and gathering of the saints that the Lord is alive and well and with us in our ministry in Haiti. I saw, through teary eyes, people who have stood in total opposition to us and our work, now standing together before the Lord, praising Him under one roof. It was very powerful! Thank you for praying.

Taking Lonia home to the mountains of Cupois was a very special day also. The church choir prepared a few songs to thank us for all that was done to make sure this little girl stayed alive. It was a special time as her mom, dad, aunts, uncles, grandparents and godparents gathered around to see our miracle girl. She was her natural, sweet, captivating self as they gathered around to try to get their hands on her. In typical Lonia style she gave them all a quick kiss and a hug after completely showing off all of her English speaking skills, including singing for them and naming all of her body parts, and then she was ready to go with mom Kiki and eat. She is staying with us at Carries and her parents are close by with her new baby brother, Ezekiel. Please keep us in your prayers and Lonia's health as she adapts back to Haiti. Thank you each and every one for all you did to take care of Lonia, the girls and I while we were in the States. We can never thank you enough and we will never stop praying the Lord's continued blessings on each of you.

Mdme Kiki

Dee

Lonia...our miracle girl!

2009-02-17T13:52:00.000-08:00

LONIA - JULY 2008, SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA

Wow! Looking at this picture brings a flood of emotions that are indescribable. It seems like a year ago in March when we first met this little girl is so many moons ago. It has definitely been a roller coaster of a ride. The kind that has all the extras. The upside down, hanging by your fingernails type of ride. First you are up, then you are down. You're on the ride going round and round. You are laughing, crying and screaming at the same time. Somehow, it's all good. Then you step off the ride, plant your feet on solid ground, things slowly stop spinning. You take a look at the ride you've just been on and you say, "Now that's plain crazy! I can't believe I did that!" This is exactly how the year has been with Lonia. The spinning is slowly coming to an end. We are trying to plant our feet on the ground. We stand amazed as we glance back at the ride and say, "Wow, God! Are you serious? That was simply amazing! How awesome you are to have done all of that and somehow we fumbled through it and tried to let you use us instead of getting in your way. Thank you and we praise you for being such a wonderful and an awesome God.

Her parents never dreamed she would live to be one year old, especially when the they were told to leave her at the hospital to die because there was no other option. Here she is, alive and healthy. She has had 4 major surgeries in the last 7 months. She used to have a dull, sad and painful look in her eyes. It has been replaced by a brilliant sparkle, full of life and a huge smile with big, dancing, brown eyes that speak volumes. She is now a ball of fire instead of the listless almost lifeless little girl I brought on the plane from Haiti.

We are thrilled with her progress. We are with Dr. Gates and his wife now, in Sacramento. He is running an ultra sound and some tests this morning to make sure everything is on track before we return to Haiti. It has been a sweet reunion.
Dee

2009-01-18T06:46:00.000-08:00

It hasn't been a problem for our little tropical girl to adjust to this frigid cold. She lets you know, quickly, how unhappy she is to be stuck in that crazy car seat with her coat, that already swallows her up. It doesn't stop her and it's usually short lived. She is always ready to go when someone else is getting their coat on.

She is very active as a 16 month old should be. Her body continues to heal. We will be returning to California with her for one last check up from Dr. Gates before returning to Haiti in March. We are excited about that visit. We are very anxious for everyone to see how much she is changing and growing. Please pray for us as we make plans to return to Haiti also and all that this entails.

Lonia might not remember much about Haiti and what was her home but Mdme Kiki remembers. Yes I am a "little" homesick to say the least. Please pray for us as we prepare to return to Haiti and what my family recognizes as "normal". I'm sure God is smiling or maybe He even laughed out loud to Himself with this statement from me. I wouldn't have it any other way.
Dee

What a Mighty God We Serve

2009-01-08T11:24:00.000-08:00

WHAT A MIGHTY GOD WE SERVE!

Keep praying for our girl Lonia. She is doing amazingly well for all that she has been through. She is walking everywhere. She knows no stranger. She is full of all things little girls should be full of but especially, personality. She is talking and saying all kinds of things. She eats everything in sight. She has been staying with Charlie and Teresa Bowen in Maryville, Missouri. This was a big help while we waited for Josiah's arrival. Thank you both so much for your commitment to the Lord and to Lonia.

Every time I take a few minutes to think of the journey we've been on I am overwhelmed and the tears start flowing relentlessly. Just thinking how amazing it is that this little girl is alive! What does God have in mind? What is His special plan for her? The whole thing is a blur in my mind. It seems I've been gone from Haiti so long. I'm not sure who I am or where I am but I am sure who God is and I am still sure that where He leads me, I will follow.

I don't know how people live without Him. I would lose my sanity, lose my grip easy if I wasn't so sure of His presence in my life. He is so in love with each of us, He can't take His eyes off of us. What an awesome God we serve! I am kind of getting that as I hold Josiah in my arms and I can't take my eyes off of Him. How awesome, how precious, how delicate and so much detail! Really God, are you sure you want me to take care of him? I don't want to mess him up and God I know with you, I can't.

Daddy and Josiah

2008-12-23T09:25:00.000-08:00

"Baby Belly" is here!

("Baby Belly" is the name Kelsey has affectionately been using for the baby throughout the pregnancy!)

His name is Wilckly Josiah. He arrived at 9:49pm Dec. 20, weighing 7'7" and 20 in. long. Dee tried to coax him into joining the world a little earlier in the week, but Josiah had his own agenda!

Dee and the baby and the proud Daddy and the girls are all doing well ... admiring their new addition.

Please accept our sincere thanks for the host of prayers and well wishes for the health of Dee and the baby! It's great to be on this side of this long wait!

BTW, Lonia is doing beautifully, walking everywhere! I think she may even be getting used to the cold weather ... if anyone ever does!!

We'll post more pics and update with more details soon.

Lonia is home...

2008-10-15T05:58:00.000-07:00

SORRY, BUT I ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS PICTURE! THIS GIRL HAS SO MUCH SPIRIT AND SPUNK. IT AMAZES EVERYONE......THANKS FOR PRAYING AND PRAYING AND PRAYING!

Dear Friends,
Thank you for praying for Lonia continually. This little ball of fire is an encouragement to us all with her flashing eyes and dashing smile. Her surgery to reverse the colostomy was successful on Thursday and she was able to come home on Sunday.

She was in the same room with a little girl named Brenn who had the same problem as Lonia.
The difference with Brenn is that at two days old she was given her colostomy. Lonia didn't get her life saving colostomy until she was eleven months old. Brenn had her next surgery the same time we brought Lonia in July for her first one. They had this last one at the same time. It was great to meet her family. Brenn has an identical twin sister named Brooke. They are eight months old now and Lonia is fourteen months. It was neat to get to know their family and to swap experiences. Both girls are doing well.

I had never prayed for someone to get their system going in quite this fashion before. It was crazy waiting for both of them to pass something through their new "pipelines and openings"! Sure enough they did. Never thought anyone could get so excited over changing a dirty diaper but we were definitely excited. It is a new experience for both of them and amazing to not be changing those nasty, very potent, colostomy bags anymore. Now they both have very sore bottoms but it doesn't seem to phase them much. Lonia is trying to walk. She is everywhere. She hangs on to whatever she can get a hold of. Please continue to pray for healing of her little body and no infection. I hope many of you will get to see her before we return to Haiti. We will be heading back to Iowa on Nov. 1, Lord willing.

Sorry I couldn't inform you of all of this sooner. We brought Lonia home Sunday night but for the past couple weeks we have all been in limbo as the Gates are purchasing a new home and selling their old home, the one we all live in with them. It has been up and down. First it's going through and then it isn't with the situation everyone has been facing. We got the final on Monday. Mrs. Gates has been boxing things up for a couple weeks but we really poured it on Monday. Tuesday the movers came to load everything in the moving truck. I spent the day at the other house with the little ones, out of everyone's way. We slept here for the last night. This morning they will come get the rest of the stuff and we will be in the other house. It is exciting but I know it has been very stressful to them. They keep apologizing for moving while we are here. I told them they couldn't have chosen better people to move with. My kids and I are used to taking what comes our way and we are used to living out of suitcases. We are just thankful to have a place to stay with such wonderful people and that they didn't leave us behind. Please pray God will continue to bless them for all of their efforts with Lonia and with us. It is quite an undertaking to house a pregnant woman and three small children for an unknown period of time!!!

News from Haiti is that they are opening school and the children are coming. It usually takes them up to a month to come out in full swing. We will keep you updated. Chris is busy helping us put order into chaos and doing a fine job. She would love and email of encouragement from any of you.

She and Wilckly said they have really struggled with the transportation problem. Money has been sent to help get the big truck fixed and we praise the Lord for that. It has been great to receive food from Feed My Starving Children but the cost we've paid to rent a vehicle to go get 25 boxes has been astronomical. They can get around at Carries with the motorcycle and walking. However the opportunity has come up to purchase a pick up. The man asked $5,000.00 as his final price but wanted it all up front. Wilckly said forget it because that's impossible right now. The man came back and Wilckly offered to give him $1,000.00 each month and he said no. He came back and said he would take $2,000.00 up front and we can give him $1,000.00 a month for the next three months. Wilckly told him he would consider it. PLEASE I am asking each of you to consider how you might be able to help with this project at this time. Any of you who have been to Haiti definitely understand the URGENCY of having a vehicle!!! If there is any way you could help with this at all please send funds to Fred as soon as possible. It will definitely be a blessing to us and to the ministry and a wise use of funds. Thanks in advance. Please continue to pray for all of those picking up the pieces after the terrible flooding in Haiti. People continue to come from the mountain churches for help/ Thanks to many of you who sent funds so that we could help them as they come with food, clothes and even helping some of them cover their houses. Pray for Salonique and family as they continue to muddle through and clean up the mess. Pray that the Lord would keep their spirits high as they continue to fight the evil one.
May God bless you.
Dee

Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established

Proverbs 16:3

Rejoice with Us!!!

2008-10-10T09:38:00.000-07:00

Rejoice with us as there is no more colostomy. Dr. Gates is below with Lonia after the surgery. It was successful and we are thankful. This should be the last surgery needed. Pray for that and pray for quick healing and recovery. Pray for God to continue to bless Dr. Gates and his family and the faculty and staff at Sutter Memorial Hospital for the life they have given to this little girl. Praise to the Lord for orchestrating such a beautiful thing and allowing us to be part of it. Pictures are in backwards order but you can see she has gained weight. She has a killer smile that can dazzle anyone. Thanks for your prayers and enjoy the pictures. More later as Kelsey and I are heading to the hospital to spend the day with Lonia.
Dee

She was pretty mad about the NG tube but she got over it pretty quickly. Is that cute or what?

She loves her Elmo. He is her safety blanket.

Have a great day in the Lord. May you bring encouragement and joy to those around you and may it overflow in your life as well that those around you would see Christ in you.
Dee

Surprise! Surprise!

2008-10-08T09:43:00.000-07:00

Lonia Ermilus, who would have thought. Definitely not her parents or her friends and neighbors, nor Mdme Kiki would have thought we would have been experiencing everything we have since March 2008. It has been a long, sometimes fast, sometimes slow, sometimes whirlwind ride. I think you all will agree this is not the same sick little girl we brought from Haiti. Airplane rides, carseats, computers, toys and three big sisters, she doesn't miss a thing.
She loves riding in her new carseat beside big sister Anna Lynn Gates.

She is always sporting a fancy new hair style. Her skin is clearing up nicely. Mdme Kiki is a little partial to her.

Big sisters are plentiful and lots of fun! Ashley and Kelsey Dorce and Anna Lynn Gates know how to fit the bill perfectly. If you are thinking there is a dull moment at the Gates house with all these beauty queens you are very wrong. They all love Lonia to death.

I just wanted you all to see how well she is doing. She is so advanced that we have started her in computer class with Elmo. Miss Beverly is her teacher! And she is doing quite well! Ha Ha Beverly is Dr. Gates wife. She is part of the "Keep Your Sanity " club that the adults have in this house. We do tag team with Lonia between our own girls and homework. Lonia is trying to stand and walk and everything else.

She is healing so well that Dr. Gates has decided to reverse her colostomy tomorrow. I am getting ready to take her to the hospital for prep now. I just wanted all of our prayer warriors to be alert and praying for continued healing. She will be in the hospital until next Monday or Tuesday. Thanks for all your prayers and support!

Dee

Crash makes Mdme Kiki cry...with joy and a homesick heart!

2008-09-20T10:52:00.000-07:00

(Left:Christine Stevens & Melissa) (Below:our granddaughter, Alexandra)

Well with all the things going on with Lonia we haven't had the time to properly introduce you to the new help we have these days. Her name is Christine Stevens. She moved to Haiti in August, hook, line and sinker. She has committed to serving at least two years with us. Of course selfishly we are already praying that God has plans for her to stay longer. This is Chris in the red shirt with the blond/brown hair and yes, you guessed it, she's the bleached out one, with Melissa sitting on her lap. Melissa is our grandchild who lives with us she is five. We ask you to pray fervently for Crash, forgive me if I call her that. It is her nick name and it is all I could do to introduce her as Christine Stevens. Now you know from here on out when I am talking about Crash, it's her. Pray for her to have the strength to face each day in Haiti and let God do the rest.

Actually my friend Chris called me and said go check your e-mail and get a tissue but it's a good thing. This is the first time Crash has been able to send pics since she got to Haiti because it is Haiti and as we all know, "everything takes longer than it takes!". I have thought of and talked to Wilckly and Bioude and everyone else on the phone but haven't seen pictures. Obviously I was a lot more homesick than I thought!!!!! Imagine that? Did it help that Ashley screamed and kissed the screen when she saw our little granddaughter Alexandra? She just turned one in September. We can't believe how much she's grown and changed. Ashley couldn't believe how long her hair is now. Then Ashley said, "I can't wait until March so we can go home to Haiti." Kelsey on the other hand, shouted to everyone, "MY DADDY, IT'S MY DADDY". Very humorous since a day hasn't gone by when she hasn't asked to see her daddy or when are we getting on the plane to go see her daddy or when is her daddy coming to see her. At any rate it has been a great Saturday to see pictures of home. To see our family and dear Bioude who always helps balance the boat while others are busy trying to rock it. Thanks Crash! We needed that.

We have finally finished fencing the yard so animals can't come through. We couldn't plant anything because peoples animals walk around freely at Cariess and will devour whatever you have if it isn't fenced in. We have eight goats of our own now. This might not look like the ideal Iowa cornfield but we can find the corn and that is what counts. We have about two hundred banana plants planted. Why so many, you ask? We have a lot of mouths to feed and it looks like no one will be able to buy rice because it will be so expensive because of all the The crops are growing in the yard that we have finally fenced completely, so every one's hurricanes destroying the rice crop in Haiti. Praise God our crops are still standing and growing. We will keep adding goats to our herd. We will have our own meat. Praise God for the property we have and that it is finally fenced in. We spend money every month on continued construction. In Haiti you don't truly own something until you have it fenced in with block or rock walls, have buildings on it and people living on it and still many times it is questionable whether you own it. That's just Haiti. Pray for us as we try to become more self sufficient especially with our food. We are anxious to do a fish pond project which would provide more meat and protein for ourselves and eventually enough for the daily feeding program we plan to have in our school. PLEASE PRAY FOR THIS TO BECOME A REALITY. IT IS MORE IMPORTANT NOW THAN EVER. Haiti has taken a hit from these four hurricanes that could be irreversible. It is going to be very, very important that we are able to produce as much of our own food as possible. Please pray that all of these projects will come together.

Somebody once asked me, "Dee, why don't you and Wilckly just choose one thing to do in Haiti and stick to it instead of going in so many directions?" I said, "You try living in the middle of the people for one week and just choose one ministry to focus on. If they haven't run you out of town by then, we will certainly take your advice!" The question was asked because of the lack of understanding of the Haitian culture we live in. It is a third world or fourth world company depending on where you get your information. Basically means no matter who you are, when you are in the middle of it the only way to survive is to meet as many needs as you can no matter how different and varied they are. It doesn't even matter that it is your area of expertise, it just matters that you attempted to meet the need.

Can you imagine living in the middle of hungry people and trying to tell them you don't help with food, you only do education or medicine. Trust me they will not just give you an understanding look and go away. They will either force you to move your program elsewhere or add a new program like helping to provide food for them. We are so fortunate to receive 25 boxes of rice from Feed My Starving Children and Love A Child. This might not go far but it certainly helps the people, especially the children, know we are trying to meet their need for food. Above and to the right is a picture of Wilckly in the middle of a bunch of school and neighborhood children. He is distributing the rice bag by bag because there was such a great need at this moment. It was impossible to give it to just the school children we usually give it to. We thank the Lord for blessing us with this wonderful, "manna from heaven", if you will. To so many of them it has been just that. Above and to the left is a picture of many of the parents. They need food for their children. They need an education for their children. They need people willing to invest in the future of their children. They need the Lord in their lives.

Please remember all though the flood waters have past, the water has gone down....the real disaster has just begun. If you aren't able to give a monthly gift to help us work in Haiti but continually pray for us and our ministry, we really appreciate that. If you've been thinking you can't really make a monthly commitment but you would like to give a one time gift that would really make an impact, whether it is $5, $50, $500 or even $50,000, the time to make a difference is now! There are so many needs to be met. There are people to
feed, clothe, house, employ, educate, train and basically live out Christ's example before them. There is so much truth in the lyrics of the song that says, you may be the only Jesus some people ever see. If you would like to send your help at this time, make your check payable to :

NORTHEAST EVANGELISM memo: Dorce'
send to: Fred Green
900 South Clark St.
Moberly, MO 65270

Your gift is tax deductible. We thank you in advance. No gift is too small or too large when given to the Lord. He will make all gifts sufficient.

Please continue to lift in prayer all of the people of Haiti as they try to get their bearings, pick up the pieces if they can find them and keep their heads up and keep going. One thing I know is that they are a resilient people. In most cases, like Lonia, absolutely amazing. You can't begin to imagine the hardships those people live through on a daily basis. Pray that many will come to know the Lord personally through all of this devastation. Pray for us and our mission that we will continue to live out Christ before them in a way that would make them hunger and thirst to know the Savior. It is not an easy task but it is the one that is set before us and we know we will reap the harvest if we do not grow weary. It's a promise. The exciting thing is, in spite of the hardships of ministry the Lord is impacting the lives of the Haitian people. People are coming to know Him. This is a baptism by immersion in the ocean near Cariess with fellow believers looking on and encouraging them. Please rejoice with them and pray for these new babes in Christ. Pray for them to remain faithful to Him.

Please pray for wisdom for Wilckly as he and I dream and plan the future of the mission work at Cariess. Pray that we would continue to dream big and dream what God wants to happen there and not what Wilckly and Dee want. Pray that we will continue to grow stronger as a couple whether near or far away as we are right now. Pray for strength for each of us to endure all that we face in this time apart. Pray we, our children and the mission will all be stronger for it. We, as always, thank you as you partner with us in whatever way to help us continue the work in Haiti. Please pray about visiting us in Haiti to actually see the work. May the Lord bless you and yours for a wonderful time of serving Him with everything you have.

In Chist,
Dee

2008-09-12T17:25:00.000-07:00

Hello to all,

I have been so busy with traveling, Lonia's surgery and recovery, Ashley's school, Kelsey's being a three year old who needs her mom, flooding in Haiti, Wilckly in Haiti and not with us and a new recruit, Christine Stevens who is on the field without me. Did I mention being pregnant, staying with the Gates family and praying we don't wear out our welcome, school starting in Haiti and I am not there, just to mention a few.

BUT...GOD IS GOOD ALL THE TIME! Praise the Lord He remains faithful even when we are not. He keeps His promises even when we don't. He loves us even when we are not lovable. He is in control even when we can't make sense of things and don't know how to handle it. If we let Him He will take care of things in His own time but if we try to do it our way it will always be a mess.

We are here in California with Lonia for instance. We are convinced that is where God wants us for whatever reason. We are doing our best to enjoy it here and accept the gracious hospitality of the Gates family. They are truly wonderful and a hug right from the Lord. They do everything possible to make our stay enjoyable. We thank God for putting us with them. We thank God for all of the surgeries Dr. Gates has performed and the great Sutter Medical Center for providing all of Lonia's care.

Lonia is doing well. She had her surgery on Aug. 29 on a Friday and came home the following Tuesday which was phenominal. She came home with a sore bottom and a catheter not to mention the wonderful colostomy bag she already had. We had to do two diapers running the catheter through a hole cut in the first diaper so it could drain into the second. It was quite an ordeal just to change a wet diaper and a stinky colostomy bag. She has been healing fairly well for her malnourished condition. She eats like the food is going out of style. We had a busy Wednesday as we got her catheter taken out and we are all much happier for it. She did have a urinary tract infection with some fever off and on and she is cutting more teeth. We can't complain though because she is a very good baby especially for all she has been through. We will stay until the end of October to see how she is healing. We have maneuvers to do with her new parts so that will be another learning adventure. Hopefully we will be able to return to Iowa around the first of November. The colostomy will be reversed at yet a later date. Nobody had any idea what we were getting into when we started this process and it is still a day by day learning. Thank you for all of your prayers and support through all of this.

Many of you know there was no way for me to be out raising support this summer. This has put a real crunch on things. Some things have been put aside and others have been stopped completely. Our truck has been broken down since I left in June and needs some costly repairs. Money from camps and VBS usually give us something to work from for emergencies without making pleas for extra help. Now we have the second emergency with the four storms and all the flooding that has hit Haiti. It is great to say that Wilckly, all of our people and compound are safe at Cariess. It is another to say we are not affected in any way by the situation. There is no way anyone can be working in Haiti or living there and not be affected. People are starting to stream down from the mountains around Cariess where we have 15 churches we are helping. They are coming one by one to tell of the devastating effects of all the flash flooding. They didn't have much to begin with and now even that is gone. They need food, water, shelter, materials to rebuild, something to start over and encouragement. The needs are great and overwhelming. I pray for Wilckly and our staff as they use whatever resources they have to meet the needs of as many as possible. Yesterday we received 25 boxes of rice from Feed My Starving Children which we usually share with our school children. Yesterday, however there were so many in need that we shared it all with the community.

There are five bridges out between PAP and Gonaives alone. There is ONLY ONE ROAD between here and most places. This means even Marcs weekly, sometimes daily trips to PAP will be much more treacherous and tiring. Pray for him and for his safety. We already had food riots before I left in June. Now food prices will sky rocket once again. It is more important now than ever for us to find a source of food to be able to share with the people. Please pray for this. Clothes we have in our depot will be given to those who have come from the mountains. Bioude will be busy cooking and planning for extra people everyday not knowing how many people will show up for a hot meal. The girls will be washing all the extra sheets by hand to be ready for many who will come to share their story and spend the night or the week depending what they have to return home to. Some may call it total chaos, we just call it .....Another Day in Haiti!!! How could I miss something so chaotic and unpredictable so much??? It's just home.

The government has postponed the opening of school from the first week of September to October the 6th. Many will still not be opening at that time. Thank you to all of those already sponsoring kids in our school and that continue to do so. We haven't been able to take care of uniforms yet. When I spoke to Wilckly today they had purchased part of the books needed and they were stamping all of them. More are needed.

There are so many needs. We appreciate each and everyone of you who continues to pray for our ministry and all of you who continue to support us financially. Please prayerfully consider how you could do something this month to help relieve the pressure in Haiti. We would appreciate it whether it is above and beyond what you usually give or just a one time gift because you feel now is when your gift could be used best.

Thank you again. You are a blessing to us, our ministry and the people of Haiti. Keep praying that one more will come to know Christ because of the ministry you help us maintain there.

In Christ,
Wilckly and Dee Dorce'
Please join us in prayer

Commit your works to the Lord and your plans will be established
Proverbs 16:3

How you can help.

2008-09-08T23:29:00.000-07:00

Hi,
Many are concerned, have seen the weather, have got bits and pieces and want to know how things really are in Haiti. I am not there, I am here in California but from experience and talking to Wilckly I know this article I have copied to my blog is pretty straight forward and truthful about what is happening.

Yesterday I heard the road was flooded at Cabaret which is our only way to get to PAP where we have to change money and buy food. I tried not to panic thinking they couldn't get through. Then I heard the bridge was out at Montrouis which is the only road in the other direction and possible way to get to another bank at St. Marc for money to buy food. I tried to keep telling myself that everything was okay but it sure was good to finally hear Wilckly's voice this morning as I got through to him.

He said they are safe at Cariess. He said the water went down and our head mason was able to pass at Cabaret to get to Cariess. This is a blessing but still a lot of devastation to the people of that area. We have dear friends there and we haven't heard from them yet.

Wilckly said the people are starting to come to him to ask for food, clothing and help, money and materials to help rebuild their homes and churches. The church where Lonia is from is in shambles as it is made of sticks and wood that could not withstand the pounding rains. This is only one in the story of many that will come before Wilckly in the days to come. People will come from the other churches we help, families will come. All of them are counting on us, Dee and Wilckly as you know us but Pasteur Kiki and Mdme Kiki as the Haitians know us. They are not counting on the UN, the Haitian gov't, or any other organization because it is Pasteur Kiki and Mdme Kiki they know and count on to help them in their time of need. We in turn are counting on you. We know without you giving to help with this situation it will be very difficult to carry this burden. We know that with the Lord's help, through you, we will manage to continue helping them. Wilckly, Christine Stevens, Marc, Bioude they are all there to help those people. I am busy about what God has me doing here with Lonia but my heart is there. I know people will show up daily and unannounced and they will be given food, clothing and a place to sleep and money or food or clothing to take back home.

If you feel you can help us carry this burden as Haiti has been hit hard with four storms in four weeks, please do. God only knows we can use your help.

The best way to help right now is to send money donations to Fred Green.

Fred Green
900 South Clark St.
Moberly, Missouri 65270

Make checks payable to : Northeast Evangelism Memo: Dorce/Disaster aid

Fred will send this all immediately to Wilckly in Haiti where he can buy food, building materials, possibly even send masons to help with some of the rebuilding. The church at Cupois is also used for school. There were 30 students last year. They are anxious to start school this year and they have already come to Wilckly with the news of the devastation. This is again, where Lonia is from.

We appreciate all the prayers, calls, e-mails and contributions to help with the situation in advance. May God continue to bless you richly that you might bless those around you and around the world that one more lost soul would come to Christ.

Dee