THE END!

Clear turquoise water. Soft white sand stretching as far as the eye can see. Early morning sun peeping over the sand dunes. Happy (and rather chubby) dog running alongside me. Dolphins swimming by. Not another person in sight.

Several times in Haiti...for just a small second...I allowed myself to slip into this reverie.

But this morning it was no longer a reverie...it was reality. I'm really in Australia. The reality still feels very unreal.

So little Bunbury is quite the change from the riot scarred city of Port au Prince!

My last blog left off saying that due to the riots our team might have to spend the last few days in the Dominican Republic so that we could fly out on time. Well, the 3 boys on our team went to the D.R. and all the girls decided to stay in Haiti for debrief and hope that things simmered down. It was probably one of my favorite weekends of outreach! We rode on the back of motorbikes on dirt roads up the mountain above the clouds. We arrived at Le Montcel (a beautiful old ranch/retreat) with grey grimy skin from all the burnt tires. Upon arrival we were promptly cuddled up on soft couches with a fire in the hearth and a glass of red wine in our grubby hands. Joy! For a couple of days we were able to relax and spend time together processing the insanity of the past three months. As I walked around the rambling property I was in tears every time I saw a beautiful flower or the clouds lit up with the sunrise. Our souls are created to long for beauty and all earthly beauty is simply a rippled reflection, a hazy shadow of the Beautiful One.

Before we went up to Le Montcel we went to our tent city in front of the palace one more time. Things were very tense as we drove through. There were barely any cars on the roads apart from UN tanks and all the roads were charred, covered in burnt rubbish and tires. Not many people were in the tent city as they had either left for a while because of the violence or they were just not coming out of their tents. It was wonderful to see some of our friends one last time and to encourage them and pray for them before we left. We did almost get hit with a glass bottle as there was one man who went completely off his nut and started screaming and throwing things at us. All our friends there were angry with him and pulled us away, assuring us in Creole that they loved us and it was ok. My heart is so heavy for these beautiful people...I really miss Haiti.

We managed to fly out on time on Wednesday and after rushed goodbyes and frantic escapades through several airports I arrived in Honolulu 21 hours later. Unfortunately the majority of my luggage liked LA too much and decided not to continue the journey home with me...so my wardrobe is rather pitiful! Laura and I stayed in Honolulu for 2 days (talk about culture shock!) and then travelled for 24 more hours until we stepped out of the plane into the excited arms of family and friends awaiting us in Perth on Sunday night.

So. Here I am. In Bunbury. The last year of my life feels like a vague dream that I'll never be able to forget.

Shards of Haiti's brokeness have pierced my heart and are working their way through my veins. Shards of God's hope have pierced my spirit and I am pregnant with faith and hope for His glory to be restored in the sons of man. The very earth groans and cries out.

All of you who have sown into this journey whether practically in finances or in prayer in the spiritual realms will reap the inheritance of the transformation of a nation. I can't thank you enough!

I'm excited and slightly nervous about meeting the mysterious year that is crouched around the corner. A new journey awaits.

THE END!

MISS GOLIGHTLY! I MUST PROTEST!

8th December 2010

I woke up this morning feeling as if I had inhaled a car tire. Delightful.

The sky seemed particularly overcast as I looked over the landscape. It all began to make sense in my foggy morning mind as I saw the pillars of smoke rising up from all over the city. It could be one of two options: either the presence of the Lord had decided to come as pillars of cloud as in the days of Moses or people were burning tires, vehicles and rubbish in the street. My personal preference would be to tell you the former was true. But alas, my loves, the latter happens to be the only unfortunate explanation.

It was confirmed as we watched from our balcony while mobs of angry Hatians threw rocks and bottles at a poster of a corrupt presidential candidate by the name of Jude Celestin. They proceeded to climb the poles of the billboard, rip it down and burn it in the street. Hundreds of crazy protestors stormed down the street screaming "Arrest Preval". Rene Prevel is the current president of Haiti and the father-in-law of Jude Celestin. Well, I'm sure you don't want to read a news report about all the political squabbling going on. Just know that it's bad and corrupt and Haitians are sick of the injustice and desperate for change - hence the riots and general madness ensuing the announcement of the election results last night. You can find pictures of the aftermath on my leaders blog under "media" at www.jasenchung.com.

To be honest I feel perfectly safe and at peace in myself...I'm more miffed because we had planned to make food for all the children in the tent city we have been loving on today and we couldn't go obviously. The tent city is directly in front of the collapsed presidential palace and is the main spot for the riots.

God has been breaking out in this tent city and changing the atmosphere like crazy since the Burn week. We've been seeing healings, people radically encountering God's love, prostitutes giving their lives to the Lord and we have been able to construct new tents for the more destitute families. We have built wonderful relationships with the men, women and children there. The atmosphere is changing over this nation. I could spend hours telling you stories about their lives and our time with them. I'll try write some more in-detail stories soon!

10th December 2010

So we are still on lockdown...Day 3. Fortunately I can report that we have not killed each other yet although the civilised facade is slowly fading...you know it's bad when your entire day revolves around meal times. My senses have become attuned to the bell we ring when the food is ready and when I hear the spritely jingle I feel my ears perk up, my adrenalin kicks in and I start panting and drooling at the mouth. YES!!! RE-COOKED OILY NOODLES FOR THE THIRD TIME TODAY!!! PRAISE THE LIVING LORD! Haha, but seriously God is giving us grace every single day and teaching us to seek him in the times of waiting and frustration and rest in his love. Yesterday was my birthday and we celebrated by eating pancakes and watching Breakfast at Tiffany's so that was a fun interlude (hence my blog title...I thought it was appropriate).

Further riots could explode next week if Preval tries to flee the country so right now things are up in the air (or not) as this means the airport may continue to remain closed and our flights cancelled so we are trying to figure out the best way to get out of the country. We may possibly go to the Dominican Republic for the last few days and then fly out from there - hopefully everything lines up! He will work everything together for the good of those who love him!

I love you all and I will see many of you soooooon! WOO!

Thanks for the constant love, encouragement and prayers.

xoxo

Kerri

Oh the suspense! Here's the rest of the story ;D

Panic. Screams and shouts reverberated in my ears. I was booking it to the back of the house when someone yelled "It's the bus! The bus is on fire!". There was momentary relief as I realised we weren't being shot at by angry Hatians. Momentary being the key word. The relief was over very quickly as I heard people yelling to help pull water out the well to douse the flames. Adrenalin rushed through my veins. I ran down stairs to a flurry of confusion as three different languages were trying to communicate in a chaotic, panicked frenzy. I picked up eventually that the electric cable above the house had snapped and whipped down massive volts of electric current onto our bus below. Everyone was freaking out cos they were pouring water on an electric fire. Yelling at everyone to put shoes on and not walk in the water or touch the big metal gate as they ran in and out. Despite our best efforts the $62,000 bus was charred inside and out by the time the fire was out.

Some people might just put it down as a strange coincidence that all this happened during our 200 hours of prayer and intercession for this nation. I would naturally try to excuse it as well if it wasn't for several other "coincidences" that same night. Was it just a coincidence that I couldn't sleep despite my exhaustion and was almost forced to pray and worship for 4 hours the night before? Was it just a coincidence that one of the girls was woken up in the night by a dream where she was told that the enemy would attack us with fire but she was too scared to wake anyone up and tell them? Was it a coincidence that one of the staff members was in the middle of a dream where he was being demonically attacked and woke up just as the explosion happened and saw his roommate physically fighting in his sleep as he was being attacked in his sleep as well? Was it just a coincidence that we had a qualified firefighter on the base? He was not even supposed to be there that day as he was part of a team from Guadalupe that was meant to leave the morning before. However, due to "problems" in their schedule they ended up having to stay another night. Was it just a coincidence that it happened at the same time that most people here perform their voodoo ceremonies? Was it just a coincidence that the night after we had spent a day prophetically declaring peace over Haiti, we were all blasted with fear, panic and chaos?

We knew this was not all "just coincidence". We gathered together and prayed over each other, immediately there was such a sense of peace that came over us. In the morning we were all filled with such joy and passion to pray with even more authority and worship with even deeper love. It's a joy to know the enemy is scared and pissed off at what our prayers are accomplishing in the spiritual realm. It's such a humbling thing to partner with God in drawing this nation back to his heart and I know this is the safest place for me to be because I'm resting in the arms of my Father.

The next day as we went to minister in tent cities we saw incredible breakthrough as a prostitute gave her life to the Lord and a old lady's leg was healed! A mother of four who was living in intense shame experienced the grace of her Saviour and we could sense the presence of the Lord in the tent as she started singing her own song of worship. We were able to minister to many people. The day after that we returned to build tents for several families including a single mother with 7 kids who were all sleeping outside on the dirt. Since January, these people have not experienced any other humanitarian aid at all until we felt led to minister there. Their physical needs are overwhelming but their eyes are starting to fill with hope as they experience the love of God.

Thank you all for contending in prayer with us! We are experiencing amazing breakthrough in Haiti. Bring it on!

Love you all!
Kerri

BURN BABY BURN!

12am on Saturday morning. The fire started burning as sounds of worship and intercession were raised up for 1804 - the first year of the 200 years we are praying for in this 200 hour burn. God’s presence was palpable to me as we took communion together declaring the love of the Father and the victory of the cross over this nation. The voodoo covenant of death and slavery has been declared null and void by the marriage covenant of the Lamb of God. The sacrifice of animals and humans married this nation to the enemy of their souls, but the sacrifice of God himself has won victory over the enemy and redeemed his rightful bride. FIRE!

On Saturday we felt the Lord lead us to go back to the orphanage where we worked for two weeks to serve the children with a “feast of abundance”. This was not just to fill their little bellies, but it was a prophetic act, breaking the spirit of poverty and abandonment over this nation and releasing a spirit of Sonship and adoption! It was powerful as I shared with them the story of this loving Father and saw them eagerly pray and receive their adoption as sons and daughters of the King. We then served them a feast! It was a miracle how a tiny 2 year old could fit in more rice, beans and chicken than me! The feast was followed by a rare and precious treat - ice cream. God is raising these beautiful children up to lead a spiritual revolution in Haiti. C’mon!

On Sunday we spent 3 hours in a loud, smelly, jerky, brightly painted tuk tuk as we made our way up a massive mountain. Here’s some maths for you - hard wood benches + pot holed dirt roads = chiropractor appointment please. But it was all worth it as we stepped out of the back of the tuk tuk onto the top of the cold misty mountain. We went to a place called Le Montcel which is this beautiful spacious ranch and retreat which was built in 1910 (YWAM Port au Prince has a vision to raise funds to purchase it to run DTS' which would be flipping sick). I felt like I was in Europe as we walked into the ivy covered, stone building to a crackling fire in the hearth, Christmas decorations and Louis Armstrong cooing Christmas carols. Many of us were moved to tears at the sheer bliss that overcame us as we felt cold, fresh air for the first time in months and drank coffee with real cream (as opposed to powdered milk)! Ahhhhhh. Joy! This, believe it all not, was also a prophetic act which God revealed to us as we interceded for the Burn. We felt like we needed to go up there and rest for a few hours and be filled with peace and to pray and declare for that peace to descend into the chaos and confusion below. Then we hopped in the tuk tuk and spent another death defying 3 hours descending the mountain.

That night I was so exhausted, but for some reason I could not sleep to save my life! So I prayed and worshipped into the night. Eventually I fell asleep but at 2:37 I woke up. I checked my alarm clock, confused as to why I woke up. Literally a minute later there was a massive explosion! The sound of guns and bombs filled the house! The alley outside glowed with flames and smoke. All I could think was “We’re being attacked!”. I fought with my mosquito net as I frantically tried to get out of my bed and run to the back of the house!

My heart was pounding. I couldn’t think straight. Fear. Chaos. Confusion.

Jesus! What the freak is happening!?

To be continued...

Haitian Pick Up Lines

Hand spun clay mug in hand. Brimming with Kona Gingerbread coffee. Sweet fragrance unleashing heaven in my nostrils. Bible on lap. Silence. Mountains covered with a soft blanket of sweeping clouds glowing pink, yellow and blue-grey in the light of early dawn. Sigh. Glorious.

Granted this is all as I sit on a dirty bed-bug mattress, murderously slapping at mosquitoes as I peer through iron bars (nice curly ones though) and over a cinder block wall decorated with barbed wire on the other side of which is heavy, smoky, horn-blowing traffic. But apart from all that it truly is beautiful!

This is how I generally enter into my day here in Port Au Prince (although the gingerbread coffee was a once off). A precious moment of peace before we descend into chaos. Similar to the few seconds perched on the edge of the diving board before the vicious slap and splash of a belly flop.

Haiti is perfect for any person who thrives in adrenalin inducing, hair raising situations. According to Haitian mythology, one day the Haitian people made a pact together to make up for their terrible lack of theme parks. They all agreed to dig massive holes in the road, place as many obstacles in the way (such as goats, pigs, dogs, chickens, wheelbarrows, boulders and children) and crush as many people into one vehicle as possible. The powers that be then gave a mandate that every driver must without exception drive like a raving lunatic. They also agreed that in order to qualify for your drivers license you had to demonstrate two essential skills: you must be able to constantly hold down the horn and you must never lift your foot from the accelerator. This pact is, to date, the only longstanding and effective initiative taken by the Haitian people for the Haitian people. The benefits are fantastic: it provides endless entertainment and excitement for the multitudes at very low cost, contributes to the culling of pests such as mangy street dogs and helps prevent cardiovascular diseases by increasing the heart rate and blood flow, just to name a few.

It is also a well known fact here in Haiti that females with white skin tone (commonly known as a “blancs”) are a rare and valuable species and are to be pursued relentlessly. The pursuit is usually embarked upon as soon as the blanc is within eyesight. It is sometimes very subtle in the beginning stages. Friendly chitter chatter with one added element - seductive eyes. Some are much bolder and before conversation even proceeds they make their intentions clear by pursing their lips and making kissing noises. If the blanc is polite or naive enough to respond in a friendly manner, the process of seduction picks up a notch. The majority of the men are well versed in a language known as Pickuplines and once they have secured their prey they will begin to unleash their well practiced lines which are supposed to have a similar effect as a stun gun: they will not kill the prey but will leave them in a vulnerable and unresponsive state. It is at this point that the question of marriage can be proposed. Some pickuplines that I have personally experienced are as follows:

“Today I have seen an angel. Where are you from? Did you just come down from heaven?”

“You are so sweet...I can see God in you...and I love God very much.”

“If I could paint, I would paint your face, only your face. I would not want to paint anything else.”

“You are single? Oh this is a very good thing! I am single too!”

“Ah! Your brain is very beautiful. I love your brain.”

Needless to say, my head has expanded quite significantly within the last two months.

It is usually at this point I shake myself from under their bewitching spell and I realise that Jesus is the last thing they are thinking about and I will never get through unless I resort to desperate measures (such as “Flirt to Convert”) and that’s just not the way I slice my pie yo. A strange phenomenon then takes place where I suddenly no longer understand a word they say and run away in a wild, haphazard fashion.

Apart from improving my blood circulation, getting my adrenalin addiction tended to and stoking up my self esteem I have also been working with my team at an orphanage this week. The building looks as if it was destroyed in the earthquake and has been cleared out and rebuilt. Each day some of us taught in their school, shared stories and testimonies, did dramas, songs, activities and just played with and held the children. The rest of the team cleaned out the rooms, sanded down cement render walls and painted the house. Substantial amounts of paint ended up on each other...I was very proud of my thick, cream-coloured handlebar mustache courtesy of one of the gentlemen on my team. The children were exceedingly precious and would literally sit in your arms and cuddle all day if they could. It was kinda heartbreaking to say goodbye on our last day. I’m so stoked that we had such a wonderful opportunity to sow into the next generation of leaders...literally impacting the future of this country with the love of Jesus.

It’s been fun chatting with y’all. It’s only one week until we start the 200 hour burn. Hundreds of churches and thousands of people have been mobilised to pray and intercede for this period of time. Not only churches in Haiti but also large groups in Canada, the USA and Korea have heard about it and want to participate. Anyone can sign up to pray for however long they want - check out the website www.ipray4haiti.com.

I love you all and can’t wait to see a lot of you soooon!

Kerri

PS

The cholera epidemic has now spread to Port au Prince. The deaths have increased to over 800 now and it’s not looking good at all. Please continue to fight and pray for this land to be healed!

Beauty in the Breakdown

This is the second installment from my last blog, as promised. Ok, where was I?

Oh yes, so...there I was, lying in my bunk bed at the end of an exhausting day distributing water. Feeling pretty broken and confused. Broken over Haiti and mainly just confused as to why on earth I couldn't fall asleep. As I lay there pondering over the day all of a sudden I felt this deep-inside-me kind of peace and giddy joy. Similar to the feeling you get when you are close to someone you deeply love and trust. Ah, I love His presence. I felt super close, like God was lying in my bed next to me. I began pouring out my heart before him - a whirling mixture of worship, thanks, questions, doubts. Amazement and anger. Gratefulness and frustration. Amazement and gratefulness because of his sweet presence that sustained me through the day, because of the fact that he would choose to use us as his hands and feet, because of his unrelenting love and grace. Anger and frustration because of the overwhelming feeling of ineffectiveness. Because of my doubt and unbelief that Jesus really was enough, that he really is the Way, Truth and Life.

I paused. Took a breath. Waited...and in that quiet moment I felt like my mind was picked up, flipped upside down and inside out and filled with the understanding and revelation of Heaven's perspective!

How did I miss it?! It seemed so obvious! Cholera is merely the physical manifestation of a spiritual disease that runs so deep in Haiti. Waters of death flushing out the waters of life. That which they think will satisfy and heal them is the source of their death by starving them of Life and dehydrating them of the Living Water. You can pour and pour and pour out physical food and water, build new infrastructure, educate and teach, build clinics and water filters, you name it. You can do all of that and more - and these are all valuable and important, essential even. But because the "bacteria" is living inside them, everything you pour in is flushed out straight away.

They are blind to God's truth. They don't know they are loved and valued by their Creator and Father. Therefore they don't value themselves or others. Therefore they don't even take care of and look after the things they have. Therefore they live in squalor which leads to disease. The poor and weak are oppressed and abused by the powerful and strong. It's all a result of sin and the oppression of the enemy.

The reality of the spiritual sickness here is so much more prevalent and dangerous than the physical sickness. They are suffering because they have forsaken God - not cause he is punishing them, but because as a nation they have walked out from under his protection. This sickness is just a symptom, a backlash of their country being willingly given to the lordship of Satan. It was so so in my face and blatant.
Our fight is not against flesh and blood. This is the reality. Jesus is the only way truth and life. It's not a nice Christian answer to problems anymore. This is the hard reality. This is the only hope and only salvation. Nothing but the blood of Jesus.

The goodness of God, the light of his love and the extent of his deep grace is immensely more beautiful in the light of the revelation of the darkness, evil and depravity of man without God. I can't help but to daily stand in awe of his love and truth. All I want to do is know him more and become just like him. All I want is for every living organism to know and experience this exquisite love.

So. Pray. Intercede. Fight for this nation. Please lift up our team. Through your prayers the bride of Haiti is being restored to her Beloved Husband.

I love you all and am increasingly grateful for your friendship and support.

He loves you more though.
Kerri



PS - check these websites for more info on the 200 hour prayer burn and how to get involved!

www.ipray4haiti.com
www.jasenchung.com

Captain Crunch

"Please Pray!"

I sent out the desperate message when I first heard of this disease that was killing these beautiful people I have fallen in love with.

"As if that's gonna help"

"or you could or help with infrastructure development, job creation, eradication of diseases, and recreating a stable democracy there..."

The few sarcastic replies I recieved echoed incessantly in my mind and cut me deep to the core of my faith and my spirit. All I believed in was coming to the crunch. People are dying of a preventable disease and I'm sitting here...praying. People are living in squalor and poverty and I'm looking them in their eyes and telling them "Jesus loves you, he cares about every need". Is praying really going to help? Is this really addressing the deepest needs of these people? Is God really the only solution for Haiti?

Is Jesus really the only Way, Truth and Life?

I knew it was true. I had the "good Christian" answers all stored up for this rainy day. I could quote scriptures and relay information that explained this situation: "This isn't a battle against flesh and blood", I would say. But people were dying. That's about as fleshy and bloody as you can get. But I still prayed because I "knew" it was the right thing to do. I knew in my head, but still that voices nagged and nagged "as if praying's going to help", "why are you teaching them about Jesus when you could 'help with infrastructure development, job creation, eradication of diseases, and recreating a stable democracy' "

Oh yeah, we've been doing all of that as well. To the point of exhaustion. Food, water, clothes, building, etc. For 3 weeks before cholera came on the scene. YWAM St Marc has done more than the government probably ever has for the people. So I understand that faith and acts must go hand in hand. But I felt like my hand of faith was growing limp and weak.

I was wrestling with this confusion constantly up until the Saturday I wrote about in my previous blog. We went out to distribute water! YES! Excitement! Purpose! Physical results! Finally, I thought, doing something that's really going to make a difference! Well...water distribution very quickly lost it's glamour. It wasn't really the heat, dust, mud, heat, waiting, heat, sweat, heat and thirst that caused me to loose steam. That really didn't bother me much. It was the angry, vicious, ungrateful, greedy, manipulative, grabbing hands and faces that bothered me. It was the healthy taking advantage of the sick so they could get more water. The young men stealing water from old frail women. The strong overpowering the weak. The fists and machetes. It wasn't even just desperation, every time we do any kind of distribution, even giving out pieces of paper...this madness takes over. It's an unquenchable thirst. Like pouring into a bottomless hole. Many only seem to know two words of English: "Give me". "Ay, you. Gi me dolla. Ay, you. Gi me dlo (water)". And we give and give and give and give. They are never grateful. They are never satisfied and fulfilled. They still don't understand they are loved.

It's exhausting. Disappointing. Lying in bed at the end of that day, I was broken.

But, as They say - there's beauty in the breakdown. So much beauty, it's exhilarating.

The breakdown will have to wait for the next blog.

I'm really excited to write it. I hope you are excited to read it.

LOVE YOU!

Kerri.

PS

And I can now say with complete confidence and wonder...please pray! I shall explain sooooon xoxo

Vibrio Cholerae

Water.

Brown. Stagnant.

Contaminated with bacteria. Vibrio Cholerae.

Once ingested the bacteria ruthlessly attacks the small intestine by releasing toxins which cause watery diarrhea. This essentially drains the body of fluid and causes severe dehydration. The excreted fluids are loaded with the highly infectious bacterium. The faeces drain into the water system and the cycle continues.

What was trusted and expected to bring health and life becomes the cause of disease and death.

If it's completely preventable and easily cured...why are over 300 dead and over 3000 infected? Welcome to Haiti.

It started off on Wednesday morning when we recieved word that the area we have been working in for the past few weeks had been experiencing a abnormal number of deaths within the last 24 hours. An unknown disease. This area is commonly known as the 5th Section and is the poorest, most destitute area near St Marc. We began praying and interceding 24/7 for the people we have come to love. By the time Thursday rolled around it was confirmed as an outbreak of cholera with the number of reported deaths and infections dramatically rising into the hundreds. The St Marc YWAM base immediately switched into emergency relief mode and we started off going out the the villages installing water filtration systems and cleaning out water tanks with bleach to fill up with clean water. The YWAM ambulance was mobilised and nurses on our team and on the base began going out and picking people up who would otherwise have died. Some people did die on the way to the hospital. It messes with your mind when you have to clean the back of a pickup truck in which someone had just passed away. The hospital here quickly became overwhelmed with patients dying of cholera. Some people on our team went into the hospital and the chaos and confusion was awful. People lying everywhere, all over the floor, sitting outside holding their IV's. Every room packed. One second a person is alive, and when they turn around they are being covered with a sheet and taken out of the room. The few doctors left after the earthquake working until they are burnt out.

Huge trucks of water started arriving at the base and we spent hours unloading them (it's a good work out I tell ya!). On Saturday we filled up a big van and two pickup trucks with water and headed out to the 5th Section. In the first days of hearing the news we had done a couple of water drop offs to the villages and it was already very uneasy. They just threw the water out and drove away because it was getting violent. So when we drove in on Saturday we weren't sure what to expect but were quite wary. The whole way down the road almost every person we passed would chase after the trucks. In order to get to the most remote and affected villages we would have to drive through many other villages along the river. The roads are not worthy to be called roads - they are just mud tracks all flooded over and covered with massive pot holes. We made one run to one of the villages further down the road and dropped off the water without too much chaos. We had to speed through crowds of people on our way through the other villages so that they couldn't mob the trucks. We drove back to the pick up spot to fill up with more water.

It got very interesting rather quickly as we were driving out the second time. This time the villagers knew we were coming and were prepared. They had barricaded the road with a palm tree and luckily we were able to turn around just before the barricade but not before our trucks were completely mobbed by violent and desperate crowds. We had to fang it back to the pick up spot, trying to keep people off the trucks the whole way back. We waited a few hours for the police to come and accompany us before we went out again. Apart from a few hiccups with blocked roads, we were fine as no one wanted to mess with the big guns. We managed to make it through to a more remote village and started handing out the water but it got ugly pretty quickly as people became wild and violent. We couldn't get out to the most affected village though because the roads are completely impassable. One of our trucks broke down which was fun! We had to pull it most of the way back through the awful roads. We were also able to pick up a few very sick people on the way back and we had the ambulance waiting for them at the pick up spot.

So...what an adventure this has turned out to be! No one expected this at all but I don't think it's a coincidence that we are here at this time in the very area that is affected. My whole perspective on God and life and people has undergone some serious work and I feel very different to how I felt even one week ago. This blog has been pretty much just the facts. A lot more has been happening in my heart and mind that I would love to write about soon.

This week the DTS will be going to Port Au Prince and us Fire and Fragrance peeps will be staying serving on base, helping run the operation while emergency relief teams come in and out. Hopefully we will be able to go out more and give some practical hands on help as well. Please continue to pray and intercede for this nation and these precious people as well as our team. There were many times on the road that we were desperately crying out to God for help and to call people to intercede for us. If anything, God has revealed to me the truth that this is not a battle against flesh and blood but against principalities and powers in the spiritual realms. For real. More on that in my next blog.

But that's the low-down right there!

I love you all with all my heart and every day I grow more thankful for friends and family like you.

Keep praying!

Love

Kerri

Would you like some fish bread with that?

Korean people. Korean food. Korean language. Korean culture. Take off your shoes before you come into the building. Cross your legs when you sit down. Show respect to your elders. Efficiency. Cleanliness. Kamsahamnida. 감사합니다

So we went to Korea for a week, just in case you were wondering. Well, technically we were still in Haiti but I was very locationally confused for a while. We stayed at a Korean Methodist missionary base in Port Au Prince where they make bread...bread shaped like fish mind you. Very random. Very Korean. It was very interesting communicating at times as one conversation was often a combination of English, Korean, Spanish and Creole as people spoke all the different words they knew in different languages to try and understand one another. Rather funny! We also spent some time with the Korean UN which was interesting!

So the city of Port Au Prince is a totally different animal to smaller town of Saint Marc. Insanely colourful and wildly designed buses packed to the brim and overflowing with passengers careering down the pot-holed roads...well more like a continuous set of potholes with little bits of road in between. Collapsed or badly damaged buildings still line the roads with very little of the rubble having been cleaned up even almost 10 months since the earthquake. Tent cities cover the hillsides and fill every park and open space with blue and white tarpaulin. Pigs and goats roam the city streets. Roosters BEGIN welcoming the dawn at 11pm and intensify until 6am which means sleep is sometimes hard to come by. When you do sleep you have weird dreams of teammates singing in strange, high-pitched, gargled tones. Our whole team now has a pronounced loathing of roosters and we all eat chicken with bloodthirsty glee.

We went into two tent cities during our week and half the team sweated profusely making fish bread while the other half preoccupied the children and anyone else interested with skits, songs, games, testimonies and teachings. Tears filled our eyes as we shared our testimonies with the people, desperate for them to have revelation of the wonderful love of God. Desperate for love and attention the children attach themselves to you and have to be touching you the whole time. One child on the back, one on the front and five on each limb. We also visited two orphanages and I fell in love again. I talked to several of the teenagers there and most of them have grown up their whole lives in the orphanage. I asked them what their dreams were for their lives and their answer was that they couldn't dream because they can't possibly fulfill their dreams. We take for granted even the ability to have a dream, let alone the opportunities to fulfill it.

After a 3 hour drive up a mountain to an orphanage we stood at a lookout point almost breathless at the beauty that poured into our wide eyes. Pink, orange and purple strokes brushed the sky and poured their golden tones down the mountains and into the city resting in the valley. The mountains and oceans faded into a soft haze in the distance. It was hard to believe the mania, devastation and heartache that filled the seemingly peaceful valley below us. But God says that though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death we need not fear any evil, for he is with us. He says blessed are the poor in spirit for they shall inherit the Kingdom of God.

This next week ahead we will be living in a tent city running a mini-DTS with the people there. The 200 hour burn is gaining momentum. For more info check out my leaders blog www.jasenchung.com. It's insane.

Please keep praying for health, protection, wisdom, love and for the Prayer burn.

Love you guys!

Kerri

A Girl Called Lovely

I stood under the grass shack and blue tarpaulin. Eyes wide and heart bursting.

She was the tiniest little girl I have ever seen. Milky light brown skin and tight black curls on her delicate head. Tiny little limbs. I didn't want to touch her in case I broke her. Resting in the loving arms of her mother. Next to her mother stood her big brother - a 2 year old by the name of Kevin (that's my Dad's name I thought)

"Koumon ou rele?"

"What is your name?" I asked the mother. Lovely. Her name was Lovely. Perfect description.

"Kil ouj ou?"

"How old are you?" She was 22...I'm almost 22...

I looked at the precious delicate life her arms was overwhelmed. Her baby was only 8 days old. But this little girl, Kristen, is 2 months premature. 2 MONTHS. My thoughts: Oh Jesus! How is this beautiful scrap of life going to survive here!

Unbearable heat and humidity. Plastic tent. One room. No electricity. No running water. No nutrition.

Lovely, her husband and little Kevin were in Port au Prince when the earthquake hit...everything was destroyed. All gone in a moment. They have been in this tent for 7 months.

I looked in her eyes and was surprised to see something very rare here - hope. She said that she was excited because next week her family would be moving into a house. This house is the first one of many that YWAM Saint Marc are building for the families from this tent city.

Today, my heart was broken. She's my age...how are our lives so different!? Lovely is just one of the people we met in this tent city. This is only one of the stories I heard. All of them leave me at a loss for words.

In a weeks time we will be living in this tent city running a week long Discipleship Training School and just building relationships and loving. I can't wait!

Keep praying for our team. The 200 hour burn is turning out to be much greater than us - it's so much bigger than a good idea. This is a heaven sent strategy. VERY very exciting! Meeting with 200 pastors on Wednesday to present it to them. Our leader presented it to a presidential candidate today as well which is awesome.

I have so many stories...will wait for another time.

Love love love
Kerri

Bon Bagay "Good Things"

I sat there on top of the mountain this morning, my eyes greedily taking in the exquisite tropical Caribbean waters glowing and sparkling in blues and turquoise far below the steep green slopes, my lungs eagerly sucking in the fresh breeze, my nose sniffing up the wonderful scent of...cow dung? YES! I thought...I'm in Haiti and there's no place in the world I'd rather be! As I looked down over the town of St Marc with my Danish, German, Canadian and American friends surrounded by our recently aquired Haitian brothers and sisters my mind was filled with one word. This word has been overwhelming me since I arrived...HOPE. Hope hope hope. This hope is anchored deep in Heaven and it's this sure hope that leads me to confident faith that this nation will be transformed in one generation. And this is the generation of reformation.

Coming down the mountain, the ocean water that once seemed so appealing now made me want to gag slightly as rubbish and sewerage floated and bobbed on the gentle waves. The air that was so fresh at the top now choked me with heat, sweat, dust and pollution. The bleating of fat goats, clucking of scraggly chickens and whining of skinny dogs mingled with the unrelenting horns of overloaded trucks and mopeds as we manouvered our way down the pot-holed dirt road towards the YWAM base. Worn out yellow school buses from the States tore by at frightening speeds with people packed inside and ON TOP! Beautiful, bright eyed children yell "blanc blanc blanc" at us and burst into fits of excited giggles when we laugh and wave. Rusty tin sheets, grey concrete bricks and miscellaneous findings make up most of the buildings - one half of which are falling down and the other half are only half built. Women walk down the streets skillfully balancing HUGE baskets of their wares on their heads, children do the same carrying buckets of clean(er) water. People just sit everywhere on the side of the road...just sitting and talking, chewing on sugar cane. Waiting on the world to change.

The poverty is beyond any other country I have experienced. Haiti is the poorest nation in the western hemisphere. It's also known as a black hole for NGO's. It's known as a cursed land. People say it will never change. But I'm not listening to what people say - I'm listening to what God says. He says there is a hope and a future, he says he hears the cries of the oppressed and the fatherless, he says he will rise up with righteous indignation and holy zeal. He is the only salvation, the only solution, the only way, truth and life for this nation. He's moving, he's working, he's stirring, he's calling this nation to repentance. Haiti was once known as the Pearl of the Caribbean - Satan has stolen, killed and destroyed in this land for long enough. It is time for the treasures of this nation to be reclaimed and restored. Haiti will no longer be known as a black hole. It will be known as the LIGHT of the world revealing the glory of it's Creator.

In just one week we have been overwhelmed with opportunities. Our main purpose for the first two weeks is serving the YWAM base here in St Marc. They have served and loved and trained Haitians for 20 years and have had an especially draining year with the earthquake relief. So we have pulled out our machetes, paint brushes, mops and gatorade and got to work chopped vines out of sewerage drains, cleaned and painted on the base. We also worked all week with a medical team in a clinic out in one of the poorest villages - this included getting covered head to toe in clay mud as we pulled and pushed two trucks and an ambulance through a couple hundred meters of thick clay mud. We took over wards in the hospital going from bed to bed, loving on people and praying for healing. A few people spent some time at an orphanage. The most impacting time was at the prison on our second day here - but that will have to wait for the next blog...

Prayer requests:

- Health...couple people with minor colds and stuff. Gotta put our foot down now.
- Protection over our minds from spirit of poverty, hopelessness, etc
- Financial blessing for the prayer burn in November
- Right contacts for organising the prayer event as well as other activities
- Blessings for the base and leadership here
- Power and anointing for preaching, healing, deliverance, etc
- Faith and courage

I love you all and I thank you deeply for sowing into this in prayer and support. You're incredible.

xoxoxox
Kerri!

Malaria pills *check*, immunisations *check*....Haiti here we come!

It’s two days till I leave for Haiti and my spirit is stirring up in anticipation! I can barely believe the last 3 months have been and gone already and it still feels rather surreal to think that in two days time I will be hopping on a plane and launching into the air!

I can already see the beautiful people in my mind as I pray and I’m so excited to meet them in person. We will be spending the first couple of weeks on the YWAM Haiti base serving and blessing them as well as possibly joining in their ministries in orphanages and brothels. After this time we will be living in the tent cities with the people and running week by week mini discipleship training schools with the people for about a month! I’m so stoked about that, I’m expecting that God will be doing incredible things during this time. One of the most exciting things, though, is the prayer burn we will be running in the lead up to the national elections. God has given us contact with over 150 different churches in Haiti and we will be calling the church in Haiti to 200 continuous hours of prayer and intercession for their country. One hour for every year that they have lived under the voodoo blood contract. God wants to redeem and bring restitution for every year this land has suffered injustice and oppression. We want to reinstate Jesus as King over Haiti!

It’s been a crazy journey watching the Lord pour out his blessing on our finances as a team. We only need $4176 now for the whole team – when we split that between us all it’s only $250 each! So even though some have enough money and some don’t we are all trying our best to see the last little bit come in! We are trying to have all the money raised by the 22^nd of September. So this is my invite to you again...if you would like to partner with us and the work God’s doing in Haiti this is your opportunity! The easiest way to donate is online at this address:

https://apply.uofn.edu/OnlineAppDocs/OnlinePayment.cfm

We have a team account that the money will go to called ‘Revival and Reformation: Team Haiti’. If we get more than enough money we will donate the rest to the earthquake relief fund. If you are doing it this way please let me know how much will be going in so that we can allocate it correctly ;) If you would prefer to donate to me personally then choose the Revival and Reformation and my name.

I want to thank you all so much for your prayers and for those who have been able to donate and partner with us financially. You have no idea how much it all means to me and the inheritance that you have in God’s work in Haiti as you have poured out your prayers and resources.

I probably will be out of contact for a lot of the time I’m in Haiti but I will try to update as much as possible!

All my love!

Kerri

You are OUT OF THIS WORLD!

What would your life look like if you fully believed that you have been raised up and seated in heavenly realms with Christ? How would you see the world? How would you see yourself? How would you see God?

What if we got a hold of the astounding truth that we are extravagantly loved and adopted by God as his Sons and Daughters? If we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that He's our Daddy and he LOVES us!?

Jesus downloaded a story to me the other day. I warn you, it's very intense. But I invite you to imagine this with me:

Imagine 9 months. 9 months of joy, expectation, anticipaton, excitement, and travail. 9 months carrying this precious child inside you. 9 months. And now, filled with the most overwhelming and delightful love possible in life, you look down into the bundle in your arms. Your heart swells and bursts with the kind of joy and love that is beyond words or explanation as you gaze into these sparkling eyes that reflect your face. Imagine. Maybe you've experienced it already. If you're like me and have no idea, just close your eyes and pretend you're holding your firstborn child in your arms - can you even catch a taste of the fullness of this love and passion? Seriously, don't read any further - just try and imagine this for a second.

Now imagine that as you stare in wonder at this beloved child, memorizing every shape and tone, you notice someone running towards you. You look up just as they descend on you and violently attack. Fear fills your heart as your body is wracked with pain but all you can think of is protecting your child. As you try to cover your baby, he is snatched from your arms and you are left on the ground helpless and unable to do anything as you watch your child brutally murdered before your eyes.

Sorry this is super intense and raw. But can you imagine the intense grief and pain and trauma? How would you feel towards the attacker? How would you feel? How would you cope?

Now imagine you are on the other side of this story. I want you to imagine you are lost, angry, hopeless, and out of control. Imagine yourself as the attacker. Take a second and really think through it. What have you just done? After this atrocious act, you look into the eyes of the mother of the child as she is completely overcome with horror and shock and pain. How do you feel when you look into her eyes and hear her piercing cries? The guilt. The shame. The reality of what you have just done sets in. You sink to the ground and start screaming, crying - you are dead inside. You want to die. You deserve to die. As you fall on the ground and prepare to kill yourself you are suddenly stopped as you are held in a fierce grip. The mother of the murdered child falls on you. As you prepare to recieve the judgement you deserve from her you are shocked to find that she is embracing you, not killing you. The fiercest embrace, the most violent love. She lifts up your downcast head and pulls your gaze into hers. Her tears fall hot upon your face and she whispers tremuously

I forgive you. I forgive you.

I love you. I love you.

Over and over and over and over again she whispers and cries until it becomes gut wrenching, ear splitting -

I FORGIVE YOU! I LOVE YOU! YOU ARE MY CHILD! I ADOPT YOU AS MY CHILD! I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU I LOVE YOU!

It's unbelieveable right? Unthinkable. That the murderer of the child, is adopted as the child.

What is this? Who can possibly love like this? To love the very one who stripped love away.

But this is the gospel...it's insane. It's beyond amazing. Even while we were nailing His beloved Son to the cross, even as we were mocking and spitting and whipping Him, he loved us and died for us so that we could know the love of the Father. So that we could know what love is. And he took us in our wretched depravity and he forgave us, but he didn't just forgive us - he adopted us as his children! He loves us with unfailing love.

As far as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his love!

As far as the east is from the west, so far has he removed our sin!

Ephesians 2:4-6
"But God, so rich is He in His mercy! Because of and in order to satisfy the great, wonderful and intense love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our own shortcomings and trespasses, He made us alive together in fellowship and in union with Christ. He gave us the very life of Christ Himself...for it is by GRACE (his favour and mercy which you did not deserve) that you are saved. He raised us up together with Him and made us sit down together, giving us joint seating with Him in the heavenly sphere in Christ Jesus. He did this that he might clearly demonstrate the immeasurable, limitless riches of his free grace in his kindness and goodness of heart towards us in Christ Jesus."


I ask you again. What would your life look like if you truly believed that you have been raised up and seated in heavenly realms with Christ? How would you see the world? How would you see yourself? How would you see God?

What if we got a hold of the astounding truth that we are extravagantly loved and adopted by God as his Sons and Daughters? If we knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that He's our Daddy and he LOVES us!?


I am broken but completely whole. Forever changed. It's finally sunk in: My Dad loves me. This love is joy and full freedom. Love IS revival.

THIS LOVE WILL CHANGE THE WORLD. And I'm starting in Haiti.

HAITI HERE I COME!

• 80% living beneath the poverty line
  
• 54% in abject poverty

• 20 is the median age
  
• 60 is the average life expectancy


• 80 out of 1000 children die before the age of 5


• 120,000 living with AIDS (in 2007)


• 230,000 killed in January earthquake


• 2,000,000 homeless

Although the facts and statistics paint an extremely bleak and painfully depressing picture, somehow my heart for Haiti is one of deep expectation and hope. Haiti is actually taken from the Native American name for the nation - Ayiti - which means "mountainous". When I first discovered this I immediately thought of the time Jesus spoke about how faith as small as a mustard seed can move mountains. Haiti is not only mountainous in geography, but the extreme height and vastness of the mountains of sickness, poverty, death, violence, corruption and devastation strikes fear and hopelessness into the hearts of most people. However, I believe the roots of these mountains are largely spiritual. Our fight is not against flesh and blood, but against powers and principalities in the heavenly realms. And we have been raised up together with Christ where he is seated at the right hand of the Father, far above every rule and authority and power and dominion and every name that is named, not only in this age and in this world, but also in the age and the world which is to come (Eph 1:20-21). For whatever is born of God is victorious over the world, and this is the victory that conquers the world - our faith (1 John 5:4).

Our FAITH expressed in LOVE will MOVE MOUNTAINS.

This is what we will be doing in Haiti.

My team is not just another humanitarian aid group. Haiti has been overwhelmed with humanitarian aid and relief services. We are going in to pray and intercede. We are going in to worship and prophesy. We are going in encourage and unify the church. We are going in to teach and train the future leaders of the country. We are going in to preach good news to the poor and afflicted, to bind up and heal the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the physical and spiritual captives and the opening of the prison and of the eyes of those who are bound.

We want to give them an ornament of beauty instead of ashes. The oil of joy instead of mourning. To clothe them with a garment of praise instead of a heavy and burdened spirit. So that Haiti will be known as a place of righteousness and justice. A place of light and life. A dwelling place for the Lord. A place that glorifies and loves their Creator and Father.

Over the months of October, November and December we will be ministering in orphanages and tent cities. We will be loving on prositutes. We will be teaching in schools. Preaching in churches and on the streets. Worshipping and praying LOTS. Our team will be there during the presidential elections in November and we will be running a 200 hour burn of worship and intercession. One hour for every year the nation has lived (and died) under spiritual oppression and affliction. We envision the church of Haiti rising up in prayer and intercession for retribution and justice. Praying for a righteous man to finally rule. Crying out for revival and reformation.

Anything is possible. I have more expectation for this mission trip than I have ever experienced in previous expeditions. What a privelage and honour to partner with God in restoring Haiti! YOU ARE A VITAL PART OF THIS MISSION TOO! I want to encourage you that though my team may be on the "front lines" (as the saying goes) - the success of this mission and our ability to GO is vitally dependant and connected to YOU. Your prayer support and financial support is what will enable us to put action to every word I wrote above.

I would like to invite you to pray about participating and co-labouring with us through committing to pray and/or support us financially.

I personally need about $3000 within the next month to be able to fly there and live for three months. If you would like to join in supporting me you can do this through the ways listed below.

Thank you for your love and support! It means the world to me ;)

Love you heaps!
Kerri

By Check
Kerri Lewis
Fire and Fragrance School Fees
Fire and Fragrance II
University of the Nations 75-5851

Kuakini Hwy Box 255

Kailua-Kona HI 96740

Credit Card
https://apply.uofn.edu/OnlineAppDocs/OnlinePayment.cfm

Pay-Pal
kerri-berri@hotmail.com

Call me Confucius

Here's some of my heavy revvy:

• Wonderful friends are like salt - they enhance every experience (Jess Harris for example)

• God is to my spirit as the sun is to my eyes - when I fix my gaze on him, his image is burned onto my retina and then everything else and everyone else I see bears his image.

• Hype, hysteria and religion is like spiritual McDonalds - it might satisfy your desires, but you're just gonna get fat, ugly and sick. I want it fresh and organic.

• Boldness is being willing to take the risk. Confidence is knowing that it's not a risk.

• There is a lot of injustice in the world just to point out the obvious. But the greatest injustice is that the very children the Father came in love to save and restore, rejected and scorned him. Justice = that the Lamb would recieve his full reward.

• Unbelief is often a protection mechanism because we are afraid of being disappointed if we do believe - that is not my revelation though. My revelation is that we WILL NOT be disappointed!

• We ARE the intercession for our generation. Our lives are a living prophecy, a living testimony of God's heart and God's will for our world.

• Requirements to change the world = in-filling of the Holy Spirit and obedience to his call. We don't have to wait till we're 40. We don't have to wait till we are qualified. We don't have to wait till we are wiser or stronger or have enough money. (Although these are all good and helpful things) We only have to wait to be filled with the Holy Spirit.

• There are are two things in life that must never be compromised: LOVE and HOLINESS

• There is no lid. Only you can limit yourself by not allowing God to be who he says he is.

Two weeks ago we had four days and nights of 24/7 prayer and worship. Praying specifically for our generation and for universities. There was an explosion of creativity - art, music, poems and writing. There was an explosion of passion as we caught God's heart and cried out to him. There was an explosion of praise - literally people swinging from the rafters. Haha! JOY! It culminated in the end in Thursday night corporate base meeting where I encountered the Lord and caught a glimpse of his beauty...flip.

This past week we have had a guy called Shawn Bolz who works mostly in LA and Hollywood. Champion. Spoke about living a supernatural life, shared amazing stories from his life and friends of his, encouraged, inspired us. Challenged us not to be religitards and charismaniacs. Keep it real and live in agreement with Godly reality.

Finally I would like to finish with a poem about something very close to my heart: VEGEMITE

Vegemite and butter on a hot piece of toast

Attracts disgust and ridicule from most

However I find that although it does reek

It never fails to put a rose in my cheek

Love, peace and goodwill to y'all

Kerri

SHABA!!!!

How do you describe two weeks of utter craziness and insanity getting my brain and heart impacted deeply and profoundly by the wonders of God and his love and his holiness? It's gonna be tough, but I'm gonna try!

It is now the beginning of the fourth week of my school (ah!) and the past two weeks have been fabulous. The second week we had a speaker called Aaron Walsh from New Zealand speaking on prayer and intercession and this past week we had Ray Hughes (from somewhere around the Appalachian Mountains in the deep south of the USA) the president and founder of Selah Ministries speaking on praise and worship.

I had a few chuckles quietly to myself during both weeks as both their accents were rather absurd. Just imagine going from a All-Black mad Kiwi speaking on "prur und untercussun' to a southern cowboy style moustache toting fella speaking on "Pah-raze and wahrsheeip". But mate, their teachings just about floored me with the wisdom and revelation that poured forth!

On week two I was deeply impacted by the revelation of God's heart for his children and the reality of that dreaded word "Hell". It's not PC to talk about it anymore, and it wasn't even a topic in the class but I was a mess for a while as my heart shattered at the grief of a world living in a Kingdom of death, going to an eternity of death when their Father has made a way and welcomes them into life, if only they will accept his gift. AGHHH! It is so painful. But so good.

On week three I regained an overwhelming sense of awe and wonder and excitement at this freaking amazing God we serve and get to worship and adore! Such a depth of understanding of why and how we worship God and the power of music, art and all creativity when it's breathed into being in heaven and then becomes reality on earth. Totally inspired me in my music and art and I feel like I gained a bit of insight into how these giftings tie into my future! I was also able to be a part of a memorial kinda thing of the work of God in Keith Green's life. Melody Green, his widow, has been here the last few weeks and she spoke. There was a time of prayer and it was super powerful as this mantle was passed on to the next generation. It felt very significant and honouring to be a part of that!

Ugh, I have sooooo much to say! I can hardly contain it.

Oh and HAITI!!!! I'm going to Haiti in September for 3 months. I know. Amazing. We will be working at a couple of locations. Some things we will be doing include teaching in a DTS, building and planting a church in Port Au Prince as well as living and working in an orphange. I feel like God wants do wonders in Haiti, to raise up a next generation of leaders there who will transform their society in the love and power of God. Woo! So stoked.

Ok, welllllll...there's more - but I'll restrain myself ;)

Prayer requests...just praise God for his glory and his blessings! I'm doing so well and have been blessed financially, physically doing so well and spiritually becoming more and more alive every day. Can I also ask you to pray for my friends in my school as finances are due this Friday for lecture phase and we are looking forward to some miracles ;)

Ok! Thanks! Let me know how you're going too xox

Love yas!
Kerri