Shock. That is what math teacher Diana Blessen felt when she heard about the earthquake measuring magnitude 7.0 in Haiti Jan. 12. Blessen, who has traveled to Haiti on mission trips three times prior to the earthquake, immediately emailed coordinator of the Haiti Christian Development Fund, Haitian resident and good friend, Mr. Jean Thomas.

With his reply affirming that he and his wife Joy were both safe, he also gave her bad news. His long time friend Bebe

Enette Dumerin holds her twins, Carlebre Dumerin and Jeff Dumerin, 3, right, in a C-17 on route from Haiti or Orlando, Florida, Sunday, January 17, 2010. (Erika Schultz/Seattle Times/MCT)

who used to pick Blessen up from the airport in Port-au-Prince, Haiti’s capital, was killed during the earthquake.

“[Bebe] took care of us,” Blessen said. “Port-au-Prince is very dangerous. There are mobs of people who see Americans and try to get money from them.”

Including Bebe, over 150,000 Haitians have died with the numbers continuing to rise as more of the rubble is removed, according the BBC News.

Blessen, overcome with the news of the devastation in Haiti, began to wonder if God was calling her to go and help. She pondered the question over the weekend and decided that God was asking her to go to Haiti.

“I thought if I’m not supposed to go then it wouldn’t work out,” Blessen said. “But it all has.”

Blessen will be in Haiti Sunday until Feb. 7 and will assist Thomas’ sister Gladys, who has founded a hospital and an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. Gladys, who is known as the “Mother Teresa of Haiti,” told Blessen she would have water and shelter and would be working for her hospital and orphanage.

“The kids [at the orphanage] are all safe, but they’ve been traumatized,” Blessen said. “No one is caring for them.”

This will be Blessen’s first time working for Gladys. Although she has no medical training, Blessen believes the fact that she is a mom will be helpful.

Nine other volunteers are joining Blessen in Haiti, five of them are doctors or nurses. Among the five without a medical background is Blessen’s daughter Melissa, a junior at Kansas State University.

Originally, Blessen said, there was not enough room for Melissa to go, but when one person dropped out, Melissa gladly filled the space.

“I am kind of nervous for [Melissa] to go,” Blessen said. “We don’t know what we are getting ourselves into.”

According to a daily newsletter sent to Blessen from Joy, most of the Haitian people do not know what is going on in the rest of their country.

“We have always understood that much of the world understands more of what is happening in Haiti than the Haitians themselves,” Joy wrote. “[Many Haitians] have been living the tragedy 24 hours a day, but do not have access to televisions to get a broader picture of it all.”

The Thomas’ have been recording news programs about the earthquake and showed them at their church meeting on Jan. 21. They plan on showing the tapes again because of the overwhelming amount of people that showed up to see them.

“The church was full to overflowing, standing room only (approx. 400 to 450 people) and that many or more [were] standing outside trying to see through the windows or get news from those closer than they were,” Joy wrote.

Despite fearing what might happen to her and her daughter, Blessen is ready to go over and help.

“I feel like I’m doing what God wants me to do,” Blessen said.