DALLAS (1080 KRLD)- Nine students, staff and alumni from Dallas Baptist University landed at DFW Airport Wednesday morning after their trip home was delayed by the war in Israel. A total of 18 people from the school left for Israel on September 29; the other nine arrived earlier this week.
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"We did a little bit of everything," says student Kendalyn Burdett. "Mount of Olives, Dead Sea, Nazareth. We did so much."
When fighting started, she says they had started gathering for their morning tour which was then cancelled. She says they didn't know what was happening at first, and pieces of information came in through the day.
"It was very tense. We were in a very secure location, but you could just feel it all in the air," she says.
Burdett says they began to cling to their faith, and she feels grateful for friends in Israel who helped them during the trip and helped them get out.
"That definitely left an impact on my life," she says. "Please pray for them."
Her family met her when she came out through the international arrivals exit in Terminal D.
"It's been very taxing on us," says her dad, Roy. "We've been very sleep-deprived and exhausted, so we're totally relieved."
Roy Burdett says DBU was providing updates, and Kendalyn was texting or calling every few hours.
"We're so grateful," he says. "It's just very, very stressful. She had missiles overhead, air raid sirens. That's pretty scary."
The group had gone to Israel during DBU's fall break. Jay Harley, vice president for student affairs, says they had four other international trips scheduled at the same time.
"Obviously, we have contingency plans in place for any international trip before we even go, no matter where it is, with safety and protocols for what we would do," he says.
Harley says Emirates was the only airline flying out of Tel Aviv, so they flew out and connected in Dubai to reach DFW.
Harley says this was his 54th international trip with DBU and 12th trip to Israel. About ten years ago, he says conflict started in Israel after they had landed there, but he says that ended quickly.
"We got to experience something unique which, unfortunately, is part of real life for Arabs, Jews and others who live in Israel, so it gave us a glimpse into their life," Harley says.
He says he maintains a group text message during international trips with all the participants. During this trip, he says he was sending screenshots of updates he received from the U.S. State Department.
"I copied and pasted what they told me so our group knew exactly what was going on and could send that back to family and friends," Harley says.
He says the group text also gave him a way to provide updates to the travel schedule.
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