11 local mission workers remain stranded in Haiti amid protests

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Eleven mission workers from two churches in Seymour remained stranded in Haiti amid protests.

Mission workers from Central Christian Church and Cornerstone Community Church were supposed to arrive back in Indiana over the weekend after a week, but protests over the Haitian government’s proposal to raise the price of fuel has prevented them from returning.

The group attempted to return early Monday, but a road block prevented them from traveling, said Leigh Alcorn, one of the 11 there.

Haiti has one airport in Port-au-Prince, and protests nearby have prevented entrance to the airport. There also are roadblocks throughout Haiti that prevent travel to the airport.

The group returned to camp at Nehemiah Vision Ministries, where they have spent the last few days.

“We are back at camp,” she said Monday morning. “We are safe where we are, though.”

They are in Chambrun, about 5 miles from Port-au-Prince, but can hear and see smoke from the protests, Alcorn said. The airport shut down as they boarded a bus to try to make their flight Saturday morning.

Several barriers are around the area to keep them safe.

“We are surrounded by a fence, which is protected by an armed guard,” she said.

Alcorn’s mother, Janet Kiel, said she feels better knowing her daughter and the rest of the group has a plan to get home soon.

“I feel better knowing there’s a plan in place,” she said. “Before that, I was stressing out a lot. I will be super-happy when she’s out of there.”

Alcorn said she and others spent the week teaching English to children in surrounding villages. She said many of the students were unable to attend classes Friday due to the protests.

“Throughout the week, we taught them about being courageous with stories such as Daniel in the lion’s den,” she said.

That lesson took on a whole new meaning to the group.

“Little did we know we needed to demonstrate courageousness to them,” she said.

Alcorn said the group went on the mission trip to share faith, and they are putting it into practice during an uneasy time.

“We taught the children the simple Bible verse that we are holding dear to our heart at this scary time: ‘When I am afraid, I will put my trust in You,’ from Psalms 51:3,” she said.

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Here are the names of those stranded in Haiti:

Carol Spivey

Kaylee Spivey

Trevor Layne

Martha Brown

Olivia Brown

Carmen Smith

Will Smith

William Smith

Mackenzie Wieneke

Gavyn Stagnolia

Leigh Alcorn

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