Leaving Missionaries Behind

The evening of March 19, 2020, was met with an announcement from the Haitian government that all airport operations were closed. From that moment the calls began to come into the Missionary Flights (MFI) office from missionaries and travelers seeking to evacuate. Those passengers that were scheduled to fly into Haiti were cancelled.

Early the next morning, MFI staff finalized preparation for both of the DC-3 planes. It was determined that a second plane would be needed to provide evacuation for non-Haitian citizens. While one plane flew cargo down to Port-au-Prince and a plan to fly evacuated missionaries home, the other plane flew down empty with seats in order to extract missionaries from Cap-Haitien and Pignon.

We flew based off of a NOTAM: “In accordance with government instructions regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) and due to state of emergency, all scheduled and non-scheduled flights to Cap-Haitian Int’l airport are suspended. Cargo, Domestic flights, Emergency, Search and Rescue, Humanitarian, Medevac, and Government Flights are excluded.” 

From that point, the following dialogue took place on our satellite phone aboard 500MF:

10:10 a.m. - Call comes in from Kevin Stratton. Roger Sands has been given word that the government is not allowing passengers on 200MF in Port-au-Prince. There is a chance that we can still pick up our passengers for 500MF from Cap-Haitien and Pignon.

10:16 am - Joe (Captain of 500MF) calls back Kevin to see if the Port-au-Prince passengers can get to Missionary Aviation Fellowship (MAF). Kevin shares that it is possible that MFI “will not be allowed to land” in Haiti. Roger continues to talk with government.

10:20 a.m. - Joe turns to Phil (First Office of 500MF) and prays, “Father we just pray right now that you will give us a safe flight. We know that there are a lot of people stranded. Help the declaration be what people will follow and that as a humanitarian flight we will be allowed to land. We ask you to help those in leadership to be gracious and flexible and to allow these flights to happen.”

10:23 am - Phil and Joe discuss fuel on the plane and what the potential of forcing a return home could mean. Maybe land in Exuma? Maybe land at Miami? Joe wants to go to the Bahamas.

11:20 am - Kevin calls: Still don’t know much more. U.S. services in Haiti is surprised we are flying. Ray may have just landed. Roger heard from immigration, they are expecting us. Right thing to do is continue on. With hopes that Cap-Haitien will be better than Port-au-Prince. May be just fine. Passengers going over to General Aviation is not an option at this point. Talking to David. Worst case, put on fuel and come back home. Joe, “we will try to check with immigration before we fly to Pignon.” Head of immigration in Cap-Haitien doesn’t seem to be very helpful.

Phil: “Well, if immigration is expecting us…But if we can’t get ahold of immigration then what does that mean.”

Both pilots think that Ray (Captain of 200MF) will be able to get to Pignon.

Joe: “If we find out that we can not clear people out through Cap-Haitien. We need to avoid going to Pignon and tell Ray the same.”

11:26 am - Joe exclaims, “They haven’t turned us around yet!”

12:19 pm - Spoke with tower in Port-au-Prince. No issues stated with Cap-Haitien as destination. Will see what happens at landing. Scheduled to land at 12:42 pm.

12:45 pm - We land in Cap-Haitien. Joe is greeted by a medical emergency vehicle. Everyone at the airport is wearing gloves and masks. Joe is escorted inside where his temperature is taken. Joe is told there is a problem flying passengers, but he could call and make a request. After explaining on the phone that we are evacuating our humanitarian workers, Joe gets called back in 5 minutes with approval from OFNAC (Haiti’s ATC) and told him to just inform immigration.

1:36 pm - Wheels up in Cap-Haitien toward first pickup in Pignon.

1:39 pm - Kevin calls phone: We are told we will pick up 19 people total. 12 people and an additional 7 members of the DeRuischer family. We are told to leave DeRuischer’s in Cap-Haitien and 200MF will bring them home. Ray will bypass going to Pignon to save on time. Ray is getting passengers in Port-au-Prince through General Aviation.

Minutes later those plans changed. As MFI landed in Pignon, the missionaries were overjoyed to see us. 19 people total were ready to board the plane. However, we had just received word that we were not allowed to fly them out of Haiti. No passengers allowed out of Haiti.

“As the door opened, I heard Micah with Many Hands for Haiti yell my name,” shared JJ, flight attendant on 500MF. She shared that she could not wait to get back to Fort Pierce where her dad would be waiting to pick her up. She had spoken with her father earlier in the week and he had decided to drive down from Iowa to provide a ride for Micah and her friend Liz who was also flying out.

Collin and Carla Wilson, missionaries with Haitian American Friendship Foundation, had originally made the decision to stay in Haiti. After sharing with them our concern for being able to fly in cargo, and the notice came in from Haiti to suspend commercial flights, they made the choice to book a flight home. We began to load their bags onto the plane.

The DeRuischer family was glad to be getting their family back to the United States. They and their five children were excited to be going to Florida to spend a little time on vacation before returning home. We shared that there wouldn’t be much to do, considering the shutdown of so many theme parks. But they were looking forward to the added safety of being back home near family.

But these meetings became nothing more than a short visit. Clearance to return back to the States with two planes and a total of 47 passengers had quickly changed. Joe received word that the Immigration Office was denying departure for these passengers. Furthermore, all agencies that could potentially give clearance began to give MFI the run around. Back in the States, the MFI office tried frantically to get in contact with somebody who could make a decision. Meanwhile, Joe worked with missions on the ground in Pignon to try to get clearance.

Negative.

The group gathered around Joe to pray. “Lord you are in control…Father let your will be done…”

A few more calls. More brick walls.

“We closed the doors to the plane on our missionaries,” recalled JJ, “it hurt to have to do that to my family in Christ.”

Many in the office felt the same. At the end of the day on Friday there were tears shed both on the ground in Haiti and from those who felt guilty in their comfort at home. But the story does not end there.

The Lord has called us to stand in the gap for affiliated missionaries in the Caribbean. We have been called as pilots, volunteers, and office staff to provide logistical support for those who transport the Gospel. Our hope is not found in what happens now, but on what the Lord has promised us in a future. That one day, every knee will bow and tongue confess that He is Lord. Therefore, we are prepared to make the most of each day regardless of the challenges that lay before us because we know that the Lord is in control.

While the seats aboard our plane remained empty on March 20, we are working to fill them for a flight soon. We know that the Lord calls on His people to turn to Him and pray. We encourage you to pray with us now:

• That we be granted the clearance to fly into Haiti and bring missionaries home.

• For the safety of all Haitians and missionaries living in Haiti during the Coronavirus and these uncertain times.

• For the medical professionals who are working to contain the Coronavirus and the decisions being made in each country.