When Wayne Graham reached his wife in Haiti by telephone more than 24-hours after an earthquake hit the island nation last week, he expected her to be weeping, exhausted and afraid. Instead, she enthusiastically praised God’s miracles and the faith of the Haitian people.

Linda Graham and three other women from North Carolina saw the bodies in parking lots outside hospitals, men looting and wounded children. Less than two weeks later, they beam when talking about their experiences.

“Who said that women are the weaker vessel?” Wayne Graham proclaimed. “Women are strong!”

Three of those women visited Greenville on Sunday to discuss what they’d seen and experienced in their four days amid the devastation. They spoke before the congregation of Greenville Christian Fellowship, which is affiliated with their home church in Raleigh.

“Haiti is on the mind, heart and every news media (outlet) and nation,” Pastor Mike Williams said. “Sometimes in history, God has a way of showing up and communicating to a planet, ‘I’m still alive and doing well.’”

Kellee Metty detailed how a 20-year relationship with a pastor and his orphanage in Haiti led her there this month to oversee the delivery and usage of some donations. She recruited the other women to come along, and their plane touched down 45 minutes before the earthquake hit Jan. 12. Everything that occurred from there was a blessing, she said. The plane landed early so they weren’t inside the airport when the tremors began, but the pastor was late so they weren’t near the epicenter yet.

“The truck was shaking,” Metty said. “I thought the men helping with our bags were jumping on the bumpers. Trees were swaying like in a hurricane, but there was no wind.”

As their guide navigated his Isuzu Trooper into town, they were struck by the scale of the devastation. They watched a white, chalky cloud rise over the houses in the distance and slowly settle.

“People had run out into the streets from every building, every dwelling,” said Linda Graham, who also described flattened buildings and downed power lines. “It was just mayhem.”

The ladies immediately began handing out clothes from their suitcases — the beginning of days worth of charity, prayer and determination. They spent two nights sleeping under tents on a soccer field, unable to reach the orphanage. While there, they performed triage on the wounded with what few supplies they had: Band-Aids, a tube of Neosporin, latex gloves, scissors, fabric and alcohol prep wipes. As they worked, people all around them prayed and sang.

“These people praised and praised and praised all night long,” Linda Graham said. “I have never, in my life, been in the presence of God that was so tangible.”

“Haitians don’t have much to begin with,” Metty added. “And they lost all of that. You don’t think people who’d just gone through that kind of thing had reason to sing.”

Linda Graham and Julie, a Raleigh dentist who did not come Sunday, delivered babies. When approached by a man and his wife, both knew they were unqualified. But what choice did the man have? At least the women had given birth themselves. They worked in the hospital’s delivery room and were miraculously successful given few amenities, Linda Graham said.

“The God of the Bible is the God of today,” she said.

The women were ushered home when Rick Hendrick Motorsports donated planes to send aid from Orlando. Wayne Graham flew down to assure they’d gain passage, and they hitched a ride on one of the return trips. All three were back with their own congregation last Sunday.

Greenville Christian Fellowship’s flock gathered donations to send to Haiti following the presentation.

“A window has opened to disciple a nation,” Williams said. “These ladies’ lives and their husbands’ lives are forever changed.”

Contact Kathryn Kennedy at kkennedy@reflector.com or (252) 329-9566.