Global Rescue rescues mission group from Haiti

Six armed men whisked a group of Berks County missionaries out of Haiti over concerns for their safety following last week’s devastating earthquake.

Following two days of rest in Santa Domingo, Dominican Republic, the group of 14 people from Christ (Mertz) Evangelical Lutheran Church in Dryville, near Fleetwood, returned home Tuesday night

“We wanted to come home to our families, but we also wanted to stay and help,” said Sara J. Trupp, 19, of Oley.

The group was in Haiti for nearly a week to do missionary work at a church and orphanage. The earthquake struck Jan. 12, a few days after they arrived.

The group’s travel insurance company, Brotherhood Mutual, hired employees of Global Rescue to get the group out of Haiti.

The men arrived at the compound in the town of Croix des Bouquets on Saturday night, each armed with automatic weapons, said Courtney Renshaw, 20, who is a junior at Alvernia University.

One of the men was an ex-Navy SEAL. Two others were former Green Berets. One didn’t speak English, Renshaw said.

On Sunday morning at 5, the men drove the group in a four-vehicle caravan to the nearby Port-au-Prince airport.

They boarded the first charter plane out of Haiti, Renshaw said.