From South Carolina-
Joyce and John Pipkin were just two miles from the epicenter of Haiti's earthquake but it wasn't until they returned to the United States and saw the televised images from CNN and other news outlets that they realized the depth of the devastation.
Now, John Pipkin, a pilot who flies for the Christian organization Mission Aviation Fellowship, is preparing to return to the Caribbean country to help move needed personnel and supplies to those in need.
He will work out of the Port-au-Prince airport, and "probably sleep on the ground," when he's not working.
But the Pipkins, who left Haiti last Friday, cautioned this is not the time for impassioned volunteers with no training to jam into the country.
"Unless you are part of a first responder team, this is not the time to go down," John Pipkin said Thursday.
The Pipkins have carried out short-term mission projects to Haiti through their church, St. Mary's Episcopal on St. Andrews Road, for more than a decade. Joyce Pipkin works out of Les Cayes, where the Episcopal Church runs a school that supports 261 children.
Joyce Pipkin said she had a brand new agenda book and lots of plans when the couple arrived in Haiti on Jan. 12 at noon, five hours before the earth shook. She had scheduled a meeting for Wednesday in downtown Port-au-Prince with about 40 Haitian women who wanted to form a chapter of the Episcopal prayer organization Daughters of the King. She has yet to hear about the fate of those women, all of whom lived downtown, she said.
"I also had this overwhelming sense of helplessness," she said.
Now, she said, she will stay in Columbia for the time being until the Episcopal Church determines the best time to send mission teams to help. The church is discouraging any missions until Haiti is stabilized and the vast medical needs of the people are met.
http://www.thestate.com/local/story/1122015.html
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