You've Got to be Kidding!

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!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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





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





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

Send to: BLESSING HEARTS INTERNATIONAL

C/O Chris Brennemann

5923 CR 324

Palmyra, MO 63461


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

Follow Along, Come join us!

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

www.luke41819.blogspot.com Crash

www.shainainhaiti.blogspot.com Shaina

www.hhcchaiti.blogspot.com High Hill


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

Don't ask why!

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

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

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

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

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

Tas Kafe Cho - A Cup Of Hot Coffee

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



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



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



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

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

Dee

God is concerned with the details.

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

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

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

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

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