An American doctor who was shot while on a mission trip to Haiti is telling the story of the harrowing moments when he thought he was going to die and of the man who served as “an angel” by turning away the gunmen. 58-year-old Doug Burbella traveled to Haiti with a missions group through Living Waters.

In the months before the team arrived, protests and riots broke out across Haiti. Their petroleum deal with Venezuela had come to an end and the price of fuel jumped by 50 percent. Gang violence, tire burning, and roadblocks became commonplace around the country.

Burbella and his team arrived in Port-au-Prince in April with a load of computers for a community center. About four hours outside the city, they came upon a group of men who were stopping traffic. Team member Jackie Brandon described the scene. “The truck was just totally swarmed with men and guns and weapons. And they were pounding on the windows trying to break all the windows to get in. One man’s standing there with his gun and he has two white lines down his cheek and his chin. And it reminded me of voodoo.”

Drew Pasler was driving the second vehicle and Burbella was in it with him. Pasler said “As we were approaching, you know, he said, ‘slow down a little bit,’ so I’m kind of cautiously approaching as I’m watching these people start pouring in from the side of the road swarming the…