May 7, 2001

Arlington pastor hospitalized in Germany after crash
___By Ferrell Foster
___Texas Baptist Communications
___FRANKFURT, Germany--A car accident Saturday, April 28, in the nation of Georgia sent a Texas Baptist pastor to the hospital and interrupted a Texas Partnerships fact-finding trip to the former Soviet republic.
___Dan Curry, pastor of South Oaks Baptist Church in Arlington, suffered a broken arm and pelvic bone in the crash. Ron Walker, a deacon at the church, received bruises and cuts but was not hospitalized.
___They were part of a small group of pastors and key people visiting Georgia to determine how Texas Baptists can assist in refugee ministry efforts, said Don Sewell, director of the Texas Partnerships Resource Center of the Baptist General Convention of Texas.
___Curry spoke via telephone from his hospital room in Frankfurt, Germany, Tuesday, May 1, and expressed hopes that the accident would not harm the possibility of a partnership between Texas and Georgia Baptists.
___"I don't want this to be a bad reflection on the Georgia Baptists, because they are a wonderful people," Curry said. "I could have had a wreck in Dallas."
___Curry, Walker and several other Texas and Georgia Baptists were returning to Tbilisi, Georgia, in two vehicles Saturday afternoon after meeting with about 50 Georgia pastors at a resort city 100 miles from the capital. About 15 minutes into the trip, the driver of the lead car lost control and crashed into a fence with a cement-fortified gatepost, the Texas pastor said.
___He sat in the center of the backseat, with Walker to his left. "I was bracing myself" against the headrest on the passenger-side of the front seat, with one foot on the console between the front seats, Curry said.
___"I knew immediately it was broken," Curry said of his arm, which hung loosely at his side. He got out of the car, realized something was wrong with his leg, as well, and passed out.
___All occupants of the car, including the bishop of the Georgia Baptist Union, were transported by ambulance to a hospital in the town. The bishop had received head and back injuries.
___"The doctor was wonderful" in Tbilisi, he said. And the people of Central Baptist Church in Tbilisi "took wonderful care of us," including one young man who sat in Curry's room virtually the entire time until he was airlifted to Frankfurt April 30.
___BGCT's Partnerships Center flew Curry's wife, Alicia, and son, Robin, to Frankfurt Tuesday.
___Georgia is a nation of about 5.4 million people bordered by Russia to the north, Turkey to the southeast, Armenia on the southwest, Azerbaijan on the east and the Black Sea to the west.
___In the last 10 years, the Georgia Baptist Union has grown from three active churches to 120 churches and missions, Curry said. "I just think that is phenomenal. They're so excited sharing about Jesus and building the kingdom of God. The pastors have such a sweet spirit."

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