Eighteen stranded acrobats from China who were temporarily housed in Dallas homeless shelters were picked up Wednesday afternoon by a friend and fellow circus performer who took them to his home in Kaufman County.

DMN

Terranova and camel Kai were happy to welcome Li Lu and other acrobats to their home in Kaufman County.

Animal trainer Doug Terranova became friends with the acrobats after working with them last summer at Circus World Museum in Baraboo, Wis.

"I didn't know they were here," Terranova said. "I wanted to make sure they were taken care of. They are friends of mine."

Members of the Guanhua Acrobatic team from Shanghai, China, had just started a nine-month performance tour of the United States when they arrived in Dallas on Monday evening. The group's members range in age from 13 to 20 and perform tumbling, juggling and tight-rope walking among other acts.

Gary Tullberg, the promoter responsible for booking jobs for the group, said he had run out of money and called the Union Gospel Mission for aid.

"Everything came kind of fast," he said. "I had no intention of having them stay in a homeless shelter."

The mission's executive director, Bill Thompson, said he received a call from Tullberg asking him to pick up the troupe from the airport and provide them food and shelter until other arrangements could be made.

He said Tullberg wouldn't give his last name at the time and told him he was a circus promoter working out of his mother's house in Wisconsin.

"From what I know, it seems to be poor planning more than anything else," Thompson said. "Somebody didn't take care of business, the homework. He sounded desperate."

Since Monday, two adult coaches and the young male performers have stayed at the mission; the young female performers took residence at the Center of Hope shelter for women and children a few miles away.

When Terranova arrived with greetings in their native Mandarin language, the boys gave him high-fives and bear hugs. He said that his family became close with the acrobats during the summer and that his children were excited to get to see them again.

"Those kids are great," Terranova said. "They do a lion dance that is out of this world."

Terranova, who trains elephants and tigers, said he had a big house with a travel trailer that could accommodate everyone until they started working.

"They are supposed to go with Gary, but if that doesn't work out then I have another circus that will take them," Terranova said.

He added that he didn't know Tullberg, other than having rejected a job offer from him last year.

The group recently performed at Turning Stone Resort and Casino in Verona, N.Y., and was paid by Tullberg for that performance, said the team's coach, Tonggen Yang.

When the leaders of the Asian American Baptist Church in Richardson heard that the Chinese acrobats were at the shelter and couldn't speak English, they offered to translate and to give them food, shelter and transportation.

"We want to make sure they are taken care of," said Alvin Lee, the church's assistant pastor. "We just want to show grace and hospitality to some stranded people."

Thompson said he believed the remainder of the acrobats' stay in the United States would work out.

"I think this is going to be a positive ending," he said.

Staff writer Holly Yan and The Associated Press contributed to this report.