Nine months for a Rooster!

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

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

O