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54 years of missionary memories
By JEAN JOHNSON BROOKSVILLE -- For 54 years, Carol Herget has given time, energy, heart and soul to helping the poor in Jamaica and Haiti. Her giving nature perseveres despite a continuing battle with cancer. Born and raised in Buffalo, N.Y., Herget married her husband, James, in 1943, after which they both entered Atlanta Christian Bible College. "God blessed me with a husband who shared the same hopes and dreams," said Herget, 83. They earned their college tuition by cooking, scrubbing floors and painting the dormitory. During the summers, they worked on the school farm. Carol cooked for the work crew and canned foods for the winter; her husband milked cows, did carpentry chores and made electrical and plumbing repairs. Carol was a familiar face at the local shoemaker. After one of her frequent visits, where she paid the shopkeeper $3 for his work, she discovered $3 tucked into the toe of one shoe. When she next visited the shop, the owner told her she would get $3 from him every time she came in. The Saturday gifts increased to $5 the next year and then to $10 during her last year in college. That was only one of many ways Herget said she learned to trust in faith. After graduation in 1948, the Hergets left to start their missionary lives in Jamaica. Their first home, which they called Happy Heights, measured 14 by 22 feet. They preached in churches and taught Bible classes to children. Although they wanted children, the Hergets never had their own biological offspring. However, they became surrogate parents over the years to 20 boys who had been born to indigent parents. During the 29 years that Carol and her husband missioned in Jamaica, they built Christianville, a boy's home, a day school, Memorial Chapel, a 600-seat sanctuary and summer camps in the mountains. They also founded a medical clinic with 10,000 babies enrolled in Kingston. Various government agencies and business organizations, including ESSO and Al-Can, donated funds for building needs. In 1976, the Hergets attended an evangelistic event in Haiti. The following year, they took the challenge to administer to children in that poverty-stricken island. While on a missionary trip in 1998 to Haiti with Nativity Lutheran Church in Weeki Wachee, Lilo Horeis met Herget at the Village of Hope and they became friends. Horeis has planned a fourth trip next month. After she was diagnosed with lymphoma, Herget moved to Florida in August 2001 at the suggestion of the Rev. William Roen, pastor of Nativity Lutheran. Horeis said she feels honored to have met Herget and done something for her because (Herget) has given so much. "She's like a saint to me," said Horeis. "There are not too many people like her in this world who have given up their lives for so many children." Horeis remembered Herget giving up her Sunday afternoons to take a truckload of children to her house so they could see what a real house was like. She would make spaghetti or macaroni and cheese for 15 to 20 children and they would watch videos. "Going next year without her to the Village of Hope will be different for me, but I want to go for her," said Horeis. "The Lord guides me in that direction." Ethel Miller met Herget for the first time 20 years ago while visiting missionaries in Haiti. They have been friends ever since. Miller came to Brooksville to be a caregiver to Herget for two weeks before returning to her husband and family in Towanda, Pa. Like Horeis, she also has returned to Haiti several times. Miller contributes hundreds of handmade uniforms for the students at the Village of Hope in Haiti. During the time she was in Jamaica, Herget acquired a West Indian accent. Although she lived in Haiti for 24 years, she still speaks with a slight Jamaican lilt when reminiscing about her exploits. When the Hergets looked at land in Haiti, they walked around, dedicating spots for the medical clinic, church, boys home, dental clinic, eye clinic offering laser surgery, nutrition center, parsonage, three-bedroom staff home, grammar and high school and office buildings. The campus also included agriculture buildings, structures for food storage and apartments for the staff, which numbered 85 when she left. The farm had 27 cows, 45 sheep, 45 goats and 70 pigs. Hundreds of farmers participated in a pig program. "All 26 buildings were built debt-free and only once did we have to stop building due to lack of funds," said Herget. "I am still amazed at what we accomplished. I asked God why he blessed me this way. It was God's will, not ours." As she talks, Herget smiles frequently, laughs aloud and cries, depending on the story she's telling, and she has many. She has a habit of saying, "Can I tell you just one more story?" When her husband, James, got sick with Alzheimer's, Herget realized she couldn't take care of both him and the Village of Hope. They moved in 1989 and converted their home into a Bible college. James Herget died five years ago. Carol Herget underwent chemotherapy for cancer in April. Unfortunately, doctors discovered more cancer in October. The doctors gave her eight weeks to live. However, Herget said she believes she is getting stronger each day. But she's ready for whatever lies ahead: "If I die, I'm going to be with Jesus. I'm happy and have no fears."
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
490 First Avenue South • St. Petersburg, FL 33701 • 727-893-8111 
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