CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- A missionary team from Myers Park is in the middle of a long trip home after getting caught in Haiti during Tuesday's earthquake.
"You see a lot of people extremely sad depressed, mourning," Myers Park United Methodist Minister Kevin Wright told NewsChannel 36 by phone Thursday.
Wright and his team are trying to get home.
"Anyone trying to get out right now is going to have a really difficult time. That's why we're going over to the Dominican Republic," Wright said.
Their journey has not been easy.
"My job as a minister is to give comfort to those who are hurting, but sometimes there are just no words," Wright said. "Sometimes all you can do is stand next to someone with your arms around them while they sob."
Wright was doing missionary work at a school 100 miles away from the epicenter when the quake hit.
"We noticed all the school children running out of the school building," he said.
Wright says the school had some students in Port-au-Prince.
"They announced they could not find two of the students, and when they drove by the school building it was collapsed," Wright said. "The stench of death was in the air and all of a sudden 150 people just started screaming and shouting -- wailing, really. The most heartfelt and deep cries you ever heard."
The young minister is struggling with the decision to leave.
"The people of Haiti are truly hurting right now. It was completely heartbreaking to see this and just shocking -- something I've never experienced before," he said.
Wright and his team are expected to make it back to Charlotte Friday night.
He says he feels like he can do more good for the relief effort here, helping collect donations and working with the local Haitian community.
