HOUSTON-BASED MISSIONARIES ESCAPE WAR-TORN GEORGIA

MyFox Houston
12 Aug 2008, 12:06 PM CDT
TX

A group of five teachers are lucky to have evacuated from the
war-torn republic of Georgia when they did and are very happy to be
on Houston soil.

The group arrived at Bush Intercontinental Airport on Monday night,
much to the relief of their families.

They had been visiting Georgia on a church mission to teach English
when Russia invaded the country.

The group quickly made flight arrangements, but even that became more
of an adventure than they expected.

One member of the group, Ethan Collins, said they had already boarded
a passenger jet for a flight out of Georgia when Russian bombs began
falling close to the airport.

The airline made the passengers quickly get off the plane and announced
the flight was canceled.

The airline had a change of heart after a few hours and allowed
passengers to board again. This time the plane was able to take
off safely.

The missionaries believe they may have been on the last passenger
jet out of Georgia.

Collins said two other members of the group had already flown out of
Georgia on Saturday, but there are four other missionaries in their
group who boarded a US State Department convoy evacuating Americans to
Armenia. That group is expected to fly back to Houston in a few days.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress