A Wisconsin pastor is among Americans rescued from Haiti.
Reverend Steve Svensen, of Providence Reformed Baptist Church in Rice Lake, had been working with a non-profit in Port-au-Prince since late February. By last weekend, with gangs in control, he said he was running out of options.
“Because the US Embassy, which was only about 15 minutes from us, was basically shut down. We couldn’t get humans to answer the phone. And a lot of other Americans were having that trouble, too,” Svenson said.
On Saturday, he and 13 others were airlifted off of a soccer field in a helicopter chartered by Florida congressman Cory Mills.
“They said ‘we’re gonna keep the blades running, and you got two minutes to get on.’ And we made it,” Svensen said.
Svensen is back in Wisconsin, and hopes other Caribbean nations can broker a deal to bring help to Haiti.