Story lucky

Singer/songwriter Kelita Haverland has weathered several lifetimes' worth of tragedy; yet she turned adversity into an advantage to share her music ministry and message of hope with others. Kelita, who knew she wanted to be a performer at age four, has just released an auto biographical. album of country and gospel. Lucky Ones reveals the pain felt in Kelita's own life: sexual abuse in preschool, and later, between the ages of 11 and 17, her father's suicide, her young mother's untimely death from breast cancer and her brother's fatal heroin overdose at age 27.

As an adult, she went through the anguish of leaving a bad marriage. "It's a very personal album, and yes, I'm truly putting myself "out there" for the world to see," Kelita said. "But I think it's a big step for me to come to terms with all that's happened in my life. It's about who I was, and who I am becoming." The little girl who once sat under her rural Alberta farm's yard light imagining that it was her spotlight, tapped into her own musical ability shortly after her father took his life. "I can remember the day I wrote my first song vividly," Kelita said. "It just moved out of me. It was really special, like somebody had given me a wonderful gift." Music was a mainstay in her life as she grew up, especially when tragedy struck again. "My mother died when I was only fifteen. It was pretty rough. Again, I wrote songs and poetry to help explore my feelings," Kelita said.

After years of performing in everything from church choirs to a youth gospel band to dramatic arts troupes, Kelita recorded her first album. It brought the then-pink tufted singer some minor celebrity status in Canadian country music circles, garnering four Juno Award nominations (Grammy equivalents), and the Canadian Country Music Association's Vista Rising Star Award. She was pleased with her degree of success, but somehow felt strangely unfulfilled. One night in 1989, Kelita and her band were returning from a show at four in the morning. Suddenly, their van hit a patch of black ice, rolled into the ditch and was totaled. Kelita considers it nothing less than a miracle that she was able to walk away "without a scratch." That accident was no accident, Kelita figured. She was convinced that God was giving her another chance to minister to others through her gift of music. Kelita rededicated her life and her musical talents to Christ, putting herself in His hands.

She spent the next few years touring with United Nations peacekeeping tours, entertaining troops stationed overseas. But it wasn't until the release of Lucky Ones, aptly titled for her second chance at life, that Kelita felt like she was doing the work that God meant for her. Kelia's compositions now reach far beyond the surface of simple entertainment. Her introspective ballads are heartbreaking in their honesty, yet uplifting and filled with a gentle healing quality. No secrets of the past are left unspoken: abuse, grappling with vulnerability, coping with a dysfunctional family, and finally, finding strength in Jesus Christ. Unlike some other Christian artists, who distance themselves from these themes in order to maintain a pristine image, Kelita feels that wearing her heart on her sleeve will give others the message of hope and healing through a Higher Power. "If you're hurting, dealing with garbage from your past, the first thing you have to do is be honest with yourself and let it out," Kelita said. "My message is, 'If we have the Lord, we can get through anything.'"

Barbara Chabai lives in Winnipeg, Canada with her husband and daughter. She is a freelance writer who has been published in Today's Parent, Winnipeg Parent and Home Sweet Home and other local papers in her community. Please go to Canadian Imports music site to buy her album Kelita's album. Lucky Ones is currently only available from Peg Music in Canada. For more information call (204) 694-3101.