The mood inside New Horizons Christian Fellowship Monday afternoon was one of excitement, hope and a little apprehension.
Eleven volunteers and their loved ones rushed around the church at Highway 12 and Spring Street, organized boxes of medical supplies and received last-minute Tetanus shots. The group then left the church bound for the rescue effort in Haiti, where an earthquake last week killed thousands and left the country in ruins.
The Mississippi State University Athletic Department donated a bus for the local effort, which the group rode Monday from Starkville to Fort Pierce, Fla. After spending last night in Fort Pierce, the group was scheduled to fly this morning to Haiti”s capital city, Port-au-Prince.
“We”re going right in to ”Ground Zero,”” said New Horizons Christian Fellowship Pastor Johnny Buckner.
The group plans to stay in Haiti for eight or nine days, Buckner said, though some people may stay longer.
“We”ll be working with a hospital,” Buckner said. “We have several hospitals we could be working with, but we will be working with a hospital that”s functioning. It”s just completely overloaded, so we”re going to do whatever we can.”
Among the volunteers is an orthopedic surgeon from Jackson, several nurses from Oktibbeha County Hospital, a mechanic, an electrical technician and a French translator. Haiti is a French-speaking country.
Donald Rule speaks fluent French and will serve as the group”s translator. He decided to make the trip because of “concern and compassion” for the people of Haiti.
“We”re going to see stuff that I”ve never seen before and I”ll probably never see again, but these people need some help,” Rule said. “So, they need help, we go.”
Oktibbeha County Hospital donated boxes of medical supplies, with everything from syringes, gauze and splints to gloves, sutures and surgical materials. Lowe”s donated respirators for the volunteers to wear.
Nurse Emily Sesser was excited to offer her help to the people of Haiti.
“I”ve just always been interested in doing medical missions and this was a really great opportunity to take advantage of that,” Sesser said. “There”s a real need in Haiti right now. They need nurses down there. I”m excited for the chance to go.”
Like the other volunteers, Sesser was a little nervous about traveling to the devastated country.
“I”ve never been in a situation like that; I”ve never been to any place that has been struck with this size disaster like Haiti has, so I”m not sure what to expect when I step off the plane, but I”m excited about it,” she said. “It”s the right thing to do.”
Volunteer Tommy Newland will serve as the group”s electrical expert and shared a similar sentiment.
“I realize that we have no idea what we”re going to experience once we get on the ground, but I”m just really excited about the opportunity to be able to help,” Newman said.
The Haiti earthquake isn”t the first natural disaster to which Buckner and other local volunteers have responded. He also led a team to Thailand after the deadly tsunami of 2005.
“This probably has more seen and hidden dangers than any mission I”ve been on, but there”s a real confidence that God is with us and we were sent out by a loving community that has contributed, and that has been praying for us, and we feel pretty confident that God is going to use us in some pretty powerful ways,” Buckner said.
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