In October 2003, Erin had two surgeries to remove a fibromatosis, a rare non-cancerous tumor, but it now has returned.

Erin's surgery is scheduled for March 3 followed by radiation therapy.

Erin is not looking forward to more surgery and casts and now radiation, say her parents, but is in good spirits and is a "tough cookie" through it all.

"She knows that God loves her and has her in His Hands. Maybe Her Heavenly Father will use this time to draw her closer to His heart with a sense of trust and peace that passes all understanding, keeping her heart and mind in Him."

Some explain their departure is not in fear of a coup, but of anarchy. "It's just becoming anarchy," said Dennis Fultonand of Mission Aviation Fellowship, "and that's what makes this one such a scary situation, is that as anarchy continues to spread throughout the country, there's no rule of law, it's just the whim of the mob."

Berger said he was asking forgiveness from "every one of the victims' relatives for the suffering that came from that fratricidal conflict."

U.S. Marines were called upon to escort convoys of U.N. personnel to waiting flights out of the country. France, the United States, and Canada all have advised their citizens to leave Haiti immediately.

International aide and mission societies are also evacuating personnel. OMS International has evacuated its Men for Missions missionaries.

"I don't want to go but I've been told to go," said Yolanda Murphy, 41, a missionary for the Indiana-based Church of God who has been in Haiti for 17 years.

Looters and armed gangs took to the streets of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince Wednesday, determined to stop the advance of rebels who have taken most of Haiti's major cities.

Haiti's President Jean-Bertrand Aristride has called for the international community to send civilian police forces to return order to the country and avoid what he described as a possible genocidal bloodbath if the insurgents take the city.

France has called for an international peace keeper force while the U.S. has said security forces can be sent only after a political solution is achieved.

"Things are a little bit more difficult," said Tim DeVries of The Bible League. "We can't get through to certain areas of the country; we have to be a lot more careful."

DeVries also said nighttime activities have been cancelled and travel is limited for the safety of the staff.

The turmoil has not been all negative for mission work according to DeVriesas. People are increasingly seeking God in the midst of the nation's troubles.

The two-week old rebellion began with protestors calling for the resignation of President Jean-Bertrand Aristide whom they describe as corrupt and of having stolen the last national elections. Aristide first won presidential office in 1990 in a landslide and remained a popular leader for many years.

Missionaries and aide agency personnel are among the hundreds reluctantly leaving the country on advice of the U.S. State Department.

'"I didn't want to go,'' said Maria Tena, a 25-year-old from Spokane, Wash., as she prepared to board a flight out with a group of Spanish nuns in northwest Haiti one day after a U.S. Embassy warning that it was not safe to stay. "But we called [the Spanish] ambassador and he told us to get out as soon as we could."

Haitian police appear unable to stem the violence, often outnumbered and outgunned by rebel forces who include former soldiers and death squad members. Since the mid-1990's Haiti has been without a standing army.

"Innocent people are being killed and houses are burned down every day and night in St. Marc and the police are doing nothing," said American missionary Terry Snow of Granbury, Texas.

The new look does not mean a change in the group's focus, however. The website explains "But our mission to impact the world for Jesus Christ through short-term missions by 'Empowering the Found in Reaching the Lost' will never change."

Former president Alfonso Portillo flew to Mexico Thursday on a 90-day tourist visa saying Guatemala federal prosecutors were condemning him without any proof of guilt.

Portillo left the day after Guatemala's Consititutional Court lifted his immunity as an elected official. Under Guatemala law elected officials cannot be prosecuted as long as they hold office. Portillo left office January 14 of this year but continued as a member of the Central American Parliment.

Portillo said for the past two years the media has ran a campaign against him claiming corruption and human rights violations, but never have they produced any hard proof.

CAN-DO organizes dozens of local and international mission trip experiences each year for youth and adults.

The Guatemala trip is to rehabilitate the Lutheran Community Center to be used by Christ the Savior Lutheran Church and Lutheran Bible Translators. Both the church and LBT are in ministry to the sizable Garífuna community, an ethnic group with it's own language and culture.

Cost of the June trip is now $900 per participant.

The 39 doctors, dentists, and support missionaries were not threatened, but are returning to Georigia "just to be on the safe side." They arrived in Haiti February 13 and will leave tomorrow.