Grief befalls a congregation

This is Paul Janensch with a Treasure Coast Essay about efforts to comfort a congregation in Fort Pierce after the fatal crash of a church van.  Eighteen members of the Independent Haitian Assembly of God on Orange Avenue were returning from a Palm Sunday revival in Fort Myers on State Road 78.  Near Moore Haven, the van shot across U.S. 27 and plunged into a canal.  Eight people were killed, including the driver.  All 10 others were injured, some critically.  The 35-year-old church has 300 members, mostly from Haiti.  A fund raiser will be held Wednesday at Big Apple Pizza on South 35^th Street.  A unified funeral for seven of those killed will be Friday at the Fenn Center on Virginia Avenue.  To learn more, go to TCPalm.com on the Internet and put van crash in the search box.  I’m Paul Janensch.