Haiti: The Aftershocks of Hope: One American's Rude Awakening

"This compelling narrative of the inner mind's spiritual reckoning with God on the mission fields and mountainsides of Haiti is beautifully and masterfully revealed through a naked candor and self reflection seldom seen in writing. There are no Oompa Loompas or Everlasting Gobstoppers, but, no doubt, Yolantha Harrison Pace could give even the wily Willy Wonka a run for his money as the reluctant hero and pied piper of hope in the chocolate factory of Haiti. If you have ever wondered what it is like to be born of the black American experience and then to go on the mission field, then this book is a MUST READ!!"-Neo Blaqness

"I believe that when you are in love, you tell everybody. So I'm telling everybody. See I love you Haiti, because you always love me back." This quote by an amazing author, Yolantha Harrison-Pace, is but one of many profound words of wisdom in her book, Haiti: The Aftershocks of Hope. Having, myself, worked many years in ministry, I thought this book was going to be a familiar quick read, informative, thoughtful, and spiritual. After three days of reading, sleeping with it, dreaming about it, and soul searching because of it, I found this book to be life changing. It is spiritually, culturally and emotionally provocative, consciously intrusive and radically transparent. Yolantha Harrison-Pace has you in stitches one moment, tears the next, and often finding yourself standing right beside her saying, "did you hear that?" or "did you see that?" or "who said that?" She is definitely guilty of writing a truthful book about how each of us, as African Americans, have to come face to face with our Americanisms and, moreover, question our beliefs to the point of evoking an authentic conversation with God to confirm whether we need to say "Yes" again to our own Calling. In Haiti: The Aftershocks of Hope, the subtitle being One American's Rude Awakening, Yolantha Harrison-Pace is true to form, skillfully exposing the many gods we pay homage to in our Americanism: the god of criticism and alienation; self-medication, ....the god of negligence and oversight. While reading this book, which I believe is destined to be a classic, new definitions emerged for the words missionary, hope, even food and love. Truly Yolantha's mission and commission was to ignite hope in the starving, abandoned and disenfranchised mountain children of Haiti. The reward she received for her obedience is summed up in this quote: "Everything I learned about the real ME, I learned on the mission field." I recommend this book as a MUST READ for current missionaries and those curious or contemplating work in the mission field, and, for sure, anyone looking for a clarity of purpose. Yolantha makes it perfectly clear in Haiti: The AfterShocks of Hope, that we all have a Calling. The Call is the invitation to work the doing power of God. God is love and love is doing. "This is the Call, the Call to doing Love", says Yolantha. A masterpiece from the first page, this book will return your spirit to the days when there was no Caller ID, when you answered the Call simply because the phone rang, and by not filtering the doing of God, discovering your real self." -Dr. Verlean Hailey

Yolantha Harrison Pace is a performance arts specialist, dance-poet for the Kentucky Arts Council in addition to being one of the first female African-American missionaries to Ronquitte, Haiti. As an artist she uses her creativity to tell others about God's blessings and miracles in her life. She is the founder and facilitator for V.O.I.C.E. (Voices of Influence Creating Encouragement) and S.P.E.A.K.!!! (Stop, Please End Abuse to Kids!!!) Workshops in which she shares her story with victims, civil servants, community leaders, colleges, universities, churches, and anywhere there is a need to educate about the horrendous hate crime-- domestic abuse.