North Texas teens experience missile fire in Israel mission trip

MCKINNEY, Texas - A mission trip, with an unexpected turn of events as a group of North Texas teenagers found themselves caught up in the missile fire between Israel and Iran. 

Mission trip itinerary

What we know:

Initially their itinerary was to visit Poland, then Israel. However, something prompted a change as Poland was canceled, and they arrived in Israel just two days ahead of schedule.

If things had gone as planned, the group would’ve seen the headlines about the bombings and steered clear of the region. 

This cell phone video is from the bomb shelter at their hotel, three stories below ground.

What they're saying:

17-year-old Sadie Blake and M.E. Brasher were roommates on the trip. 

"Honestly, throughout this whole trip I was very at peace. Our group, I would say overall, was very much at peace. We did worship like every night, and we prayed all together and brought it back to God," said Sadie.

"Whatever happens, God planned this out so long ago. None of this came as a surprise to him so, let’s just leave it in his hands," said M.E.

FOX 4’s Dionne Anglin asked about their experience in the bomb shelters at their Israel hotel and how many times they utilized the shelter.

"Fifteen," she said. "Sometimes it would be like two hours, sometimes 15 minutes, 30 minutes. It would just depend on if there was another one coming. Did they get it down, shoot it down?" 

Brasher described her experience inside the Israeli bomb shelter.

"Honestly, it kind of felt like a basement because it had couches, it had Internet, a bathroom. It had water, food," said Brasher.

Dig deeper:

Sadie’s mom, Heidi, was a chaperon on the mission trip.

"The hardest part of the whole journey was when we didn’t know how we were going to get home or when we were going to get home. We had several people saying this could be weeks," said Heidi.

After roughly a week, an official exit plan materialized. 

A flight to Rome and eventually back home to North Texas. 

Concerned parent in North Texas

Local perspective:

Julie Hutchings, M.E.’s mother, was at her North Texas home, and she admits she was worried.

"The most stressful conversation I had was when I called congressman’s office. That was actually when the reality hit me of how serious this was on getting them home, because we didn’t have a plan," said Hutchings.

Hutchings, who works from home, adds perspective as she often interacts with people who live abroad. 

"I’ve been on calls with people who have had to hang up to go into a bomb shelter. To have my child be on the other end of that call was a whole different eye-opening experience."

WorldMcKinney