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 
1 comment:
Dee-
My name is Sara. I grew up in a small church in LeMars IA from the time I was 12 until I graduated from college. I remember you coming to our church and giving us updates on your ministry in Haiti. I was always so moved and touched that you invested so much time in the lives of poverty stricken children. I remember praying that God would call me to come work with you in Haiti, but it never happened. Instead, God called me to work with the marginalized children of the inner city in Tulsa, OK. It has been an amazing ministry and I am so glad God called me here. I still think about you and your ministry all the time and through much searching today came across this blog. I was so excited I almost cried! I am beyond excited to know that you are still perservering in Haiti and using all that God has given you to make a difference. Thank you for your dedication to those children and their families. It's amazing! I will be bookmarking this blog so I can access it in the future. I will be praying for you. Thanks again for all you do in Haiti.
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