The Dooleys ride camels in Egypt, where they ultimately caught a flight back to the United States. (Contributed photo)



 
 
 



 


“Things were changing by the minute. Someone would come up with one plan, and they’d check on it, and a minute or two later, that plan was no longer good. So, someone would come up with another idea, and the same thing would happen, and that was Sunday night into Monday morning,†Matt Dooley said. “When Hezbollah started firing from Lebanon, our tour guide’s exact words were, ‘Your window of escape is quickly closing.’†Â

They decided to travel south, to Egypt, since Iran was sending missiles from the east and Hezbollah from the north. A member of their congregation, Peter Snyder, a former Republican candidate for governor, had been working through various government channels to help the group get out safely. Eventually, U.S. Sen. Mark Warner arranged for officials from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo to meet the church group at the border crossing.

The drive to Cairo was estimated to take 11 hours, following the route the State Department suggested.

“Our bus drivers got us there in nine hours,†Brittany Dooley said.

After a couple of days in Cairo, they took time to visit the pyramids, then hopped on a flight to begin their journey back to the United States, stopping first in London.

“The second the wheels touched the ground, all of that emotion in me just released,†Brittany Dooley said.

The journey wasn’t over, however. From London, they flew to Chicago, where customs agents briefly stopped Matt Dooley before being released. They finally made it to Charlottesville at 4 a.m. on March 7, a Saturday. They took the weekend to recuperate and were back to work on Monday.
 
 
 
 





 
 &न्यूलाइन;&न्यूलाइन; &न्यूलाइन;