New Update from Dee Dorce'

an update from Dee Dorce' ... be sure to check out Dee's blog for additional insight and pictures (www.mdmekiki.blogspot.com)


Catastrophe has a way of changing everything so we pray that this is Haiti’s chance to change for the better. She’s a little country sitting on one third of the island that she shares with her neighboring country, the Dominican Republic. Location and weather are the two of her greatest attributes, being about an hour and a half flight from the shores of the United States with temperatures ranging in the eighties and above, year round. Sunshine and warm temperatures are as common as the nasty snow and below zero temperatures of the Midwest this year.
The things stacked up against her are numerous. Years and years of slavery and turmoil which ended in a slave revolt which actually gained their freedom in Haiti. In spite of that fact, the history of Haiti has been written in blood. A bloody slave revolt, president after president put in power which usually ended in his death unless he was able to escape into exile outside the country of Haiti. Each president that was removed from power by death would be replaced by another group of people who had the guts to overthrow him by force. Each time this happened, the country was in total chaos and turmoil as the people would attack anyone they thought to be connected with the one in power. They would break their houses and steal everything in them and carry them through the streets in triumph. This is called dechoukay.
It is just in recent history, since I moved to Haiti seven-teen years ago, that this has begun to change as the U.S. stepped in and held elections and declared they were returning democracy to Haiti. Since then we have had “democratically elected” presidents. Rome wasn’t built in a day and neither does democracy come into existence over night in a country that has been ruled by a dictatorship for years. Haiti’s struggle continues.
On January 12, 2010 the greatest dechoukay ever took place. This one took everyone in her path totally off guard. There has been a corrupt skeleton of a government in place for a long time. The earthquake didn’t care about that. No amount of money could have been passed under the table to stop her destruction. She took everyone in her path, rich and poor, young and old, the powerful and the weak.
There is an amazing thing that has happened this week as a result of this catastrophe. A little history that is very important in this story is the fact that years ago, after the successful slave revolt, a special ceremony was held to dedicate the country of Haiti to the service of the voodoo gods who had given them the power to overthrow their masters and gain their independence. People ask me why does a country, like Haiti, which is no larger than the state of Maine, have so many missionaries but yet it seems Haiti is not changing for the better. Instead, it has become a graveyard for missionaries, taking young and old people alike, with the best of intentions, great ideas, money and materials to make a big difference and leaving them hurt, bitter, torn, fragmented, very frustrated and even ready to leave the ministry completely if not just the mission field. My answer to them is that until the country of Haiti as a whole can stand together and say that they are taking their country back from the devil who causes them nothing but misery, pain, poverty, anger, and political unrest, there can be no positive, measureable changes in Haiti.
Now I want to come back to the amazing part, but I must also tell you that this week in Haiti is one of the biggest and most loved cultural explosions in the form of a holiday week called “Carnival” and known to most of you as “Mardi Gra”. It is the one week out of the year to get a grasp on the temperature of the whole country. If the people are happy and feel things are going well, there will be lots of money spent on “Carnival”. Every singing group, business person and political figure will be involved. They will make enormous “floats” to parade around downtown in Port-au-Prince. Basically they stack huge speakers, one on top of the other, as high as is “Haitianly” possible. They decorate them with bright colors and their group or business logo. If the people of the country are not happy, or they are protesting the rising prices and political figures they don’t approve of, all of it will be reflected in the songs they write and the messages portrayed on their floats or chas. Christians usually tend to hold revivals during this week to provide a place of refuge from the whole carnal, immoral mess that surrounds the week. The hospitals are busy because the people take to the streets in full crowds, dancing, laughing, and carrying on which usually turns to fighting and someone getting seriously hurt.
Now the amazing part is that after the earthquake Carnival time has come. The whole country is in mourning. People are still dazed, but the last thing they could do this week would be Carnival. It would be totally disrespectful to observe Carnival this week. Being the very vibrant, resilient, charismatic, colorful people that they are, they are in deep need to let out their feelings, frustrations, hurt and absolute grief in the harshest form. Instead of Carnival, this past week has been declared as three days of prayer and fasting. Large groups of people gathered together all over the country in every section, Christians and non-Christians alike. They gathered outside, under tarps and under trees. They stood. They sat. They kneeled in prayer. They laid prostrate on the ground before the Lord. They jumped up and down. They shouted out their grief. They sang. They cried. They laughed.
Each day was declared with a special purpose. A day to ask God for forgiveness. A day to reconcile their differences with each other and pray for the restoration of the country of Haiti. A final day to ask God’s blessings to be poured out on the country of Haiti and her people and a chance for those of us left behind to thank God for preserving us to continue doing his work. I never thought I would see in my life time, in the country of Haiti, a week where Carnival was not observed and prayer and fasting would take its place.
The results are coming. Walls are coming down. Churches that we have extended the right hand of fellowship to, since beginning our work at Carries, are now coming to seek us out personally to reconcile our differences and work together in the community. What a sweet answer to prayer. We combined with them for the prayer and fasting over the weekend in their church yard. Sunday they gave the entire service to us for us to lead singing, do the preaching and share words of encouragement.
We rejoice in this triumph. We have had two baptisms in the ocean since then. Last night at the revival, fifty-two people came forward to make a decision for Christ. Sunday the church from Montrouis will be coming with others wanting to be baptized into Christ. There isn’t enough water to do the baptisms at Montrouis. We praise God for this and we ask that you pray for strength, courage and wisdom for these new babes in Christ and for us as we help them grow in Him. Scripture says that when a sinner comes to know the Lord, that is when the angels rejoice.
Revival is slowly coming to Haiti. Pray for revival in this little country. Pray that it would be more explosive than the earthquake that demolished this country. Pray that it would be constructive and that the people, as a whole, would turn to the Lord and realize that Satan is only a dead end street. Keep the faith.

In His Service,
Wilckly and Dee Dorce’