Pastor, wife recall Haiti earthquake

A Morehead City pastor and his wife returned Monday evening to Raleigh-Durham International Airport after surviving last week’s massive earthquake in Haiti.

"It was awful,” said Rev. Jerry Johnson of First Free Will Baptist Church.

Within 15 minutes of landing in Port-au-Prince, the capital of Haiti, for a mission trip, Johnson and his wife, Patricia, said they felt shaking.

“We were in the earthquake,” Jerry Johnson said. "The walls were falling away from us.”

The couple said they were soon surrounded by death and destruction.

Pat Johnson recalled the request of an injured woman who said her legs were going to be cut off and that her husband was still in the rubble.

"And she says, ‘I want someone to take care of my four children. Please pray someone will come and take care of my four children,'" she said.

The couple was forced to leave Haiti early due to a death in the family. They left behind their travel belongings to benefit those in need.

Before departing, the couple was able to do some mission work with the Gateway Group in Haiti. They plan to gather supplies from the local community to send back to the country.