When three missionaries from DeRuyter left for Haiti more than a week ago, their plan was to help a rural pastor with his church. That plan changed shortly after their plane landed and a massive earthquake struck the island.
On Tuesday, the exhausted missionaries returned and were greeted by a crowd of friends and family at Hancock Airport.
Andy Clendenning, Linda Springer and Reverend Vern Groves were surrounded by hugs, tears and welcome back signs as they explained the conditions in Haiti.
The three missionaries were standing on the roof of a church in the village of Carrefour, just outside Port-au-Prince, when everything changed.
"All of a sudden we felt this shake and I'm not a surfer but I imagine it's what it's like to be on a surfboard," said Groves. "It wasn't just a shake - you could feel it almost like a liquid."
The village was left in shambles and the missionaries quickly became rescuers. Andy Clendenning worked to keep a key water pump going and Linda Springer started treating the wounded.
"The only training as a nurse I have is as a mom," said Springer. Linda Springer added that everything happened so quickly, they barely had time to realize what they had witnessed.
"I don't know if we stopped to think, I just survived a major earthquake," said Springer
All three missionaries all said they were reluctant to leave Haiti, but there wasn't much more they could do with the resources they had.
"There were tears in the eyes of the ones we went to help, said Clendenning. "They understood we had to leave because it got to the point where we couldn't do any more and if we stayed we'd use up their drinking water."
The missionaries said there was reason to believe Haiti could recover but that it's hard to describe the amount of help the country will need. They said they were open to returning if they could provide assistance.
