Some might say the mission team from First Baptist Church of Forney landed in the wrong place at the wrong time, getting trapped in Beirut as deadly fighting erupted between Israel and the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

MEI-CHUN JAU/DMN

James Walker (left), 19, of Marshall, and his girlfriend, Raechyl Pritchard, 19, of Forney, were part of the 10-person group that returned from a mission trip in war-torn Lebanon.

The Forney team members insist they were right where they were supposed to be, though they spent one Sunday morning worshipping in a church rattled by bomb blasts.

"I've never felt more in the center of God's will," said the Rev. Jimmy Pritchard, pastor of First Baptist Forney.

All 10 team members arrived home safely just more than a week ago, and on Sunday they told their story to reporters between morning church services.

They spoke of Beirut's shift of mood as fighting began, of changing their lodgings twice for safety, of watching bombs fall, and of taking an overnight evacuation cruise to Cyprus.

"This was the greatest adventure of my life," said team member Amy Byrd, who runs a teachers supplies store. "Lord willing, I'm going back."

Like many churches, First Baptist Forney sends volunteers on short-term foreign mission trips for social work or evangelism, or both.

This trip – which was supposed to be eight days, but stretched to 15 – began smoothly. The group arrived in balmy, tourist-packed Beirut on July 8, and checked into a hotel in the Muslim district. The members spoke in Baptist churches the next day.

"Sunday evening was the final of the World Cup, and the entire city was bursting with excitement," said Dr. Pritchard.

Early that week, the group went door to door in an upscale part of Muslim Beirut, handing out Arabic New Testaments and sharing their faith.

But on July 12, Dr. Pritchard and another team member were in a cab when the driver grew agitated at a radio report.

"It was obvious something had happened with Israel," Dr. Pritchard said.

Israel's attack on Lebanon, triggered by a Hezbollah raid, began that day.

The Forney group quickly changed its flight reservations, to get out on July 14. But on the 13th, Israel bombed the Beirut airport.

"That kind of messed us up," Dr. Pritchard said.

Team members moved that day to a hotel in the mountains of Christian east Beirut. Though safe there, they had a disturbingly good view of Israeli bombs falling on south Beirut, the Hezbollah stronghold, and of a Hezbollah strike against an Israeli ship.

"It's kind of like a fireworks show when you're watching it," team member Alan Nelson said, adding that it was horrifying to think of the consequences.

By July 15, the team's hotel was seeing many refugees, including some with Hezbollah sympathies.

"We did feel like if Hezbollah got desperate, they might want to nab a [U.S.] hostage," Dr. Pritchard said. The group moved again, to the Arab Baptist Theological Seminary in elevated east Beirut.

On July 16, most of the team took a harrowingly fast cab ride to a Baptist church near the Muslim sector. Dr. Pritchard preached on Proverbs 18:10: "The name of the Lord is a strong tower. The righteous run into it and are safe."

All were safe at the service, but the circumstances were extraordinary.

"The moment they introduced Brother Jimmy, a bomb went off," said Ms. Byrd, noting that it rattled the sanctuary.

Dr. Pritchard said far-off blasts could be heard intermittently during his sermon. But he said he felt at peace, and the service was intensely spiritual.

"It's probably the most authentic and true worship I had been part of," he said.

For the next three days, the Forney team stayed at the seminary, holding frequent prayer services with Lebanese Baptists. The Texans e-mailed family members and kept in touch with the State Department about evacuation plans.

Their turn came on July 20. They were driven to a coastal staging area. After a long wait, they boarded a landing craft to the USS Nashville.

Dr. Pritchard said he stood next to a small boy who noticed his Texas drawl and asked, "Why are you talking rodeo?"

Dr. Pritchard replied, "Rodeo is who I am, son."

The Forney team had cots on the deck for the overnight trip to Cyprus.

They got a Saturday morning charter flight to Germany. The plane spent four hours on the ground – with no one allowed off – then flew on to Philadelphia.

There, on July 22, team members checked into a hotel and took their first showers in three days. They flew to Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport on July 23, experiencing a joyful reunion with their families.

Though some Americans in Lebanon criticized the U.S. government for the pace of the evacuation, the Forney group said the job was done as safely and efficiently as possible.

The team would not comment in depth on Middle East politics. Dr. Pritchard did say that, in his view, a key problem is that Lebanon doesn't control Hezbollah.

The team members spoke warmly of the Lebanese people, and ecstatically about the food.

To be spreading the Gospel in that city was a privilege – especially under the circumstances, they said.

"If you ask any member of our group," Dr. Pritchard said, "they would tell you that it was the most incredible spiritual experience they ever had."

E-mail samhodges@dallasnews.com

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