Caring for the Haitian people

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

We Miss you MOM and DAD!

Love Ashley, Kelsey and Josiah

All in a day's work...

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

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

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?

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

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