Three South Carolina pastors and their wives were touring the Holy Land when the United States and Israel launched a joint strike on Iran Feb. 28, but all have returned home safely.
Wes and Rachel Church of First Baptist Church, Columbia, and Josh and Allison Powell, of First Baptist Church, Taylors, were part of a group of about 27 pastors led by Bryant Wright, former Send Relief president. Richie Kingsmore, worship pastor at First Baptist Church of Greer, and his wife, Gina, were also in Israel, but were with another tour group.
Wright’s group had been in Israel for a week, but on Friday their situation changed rapidly, turning into a “tense waiting game” in a bunker several times, according to Church.
“Early this morning, loud sirens began to go off across the city of Jerusalem,” Powell wrote in a text message from Israel, noting the hotel where they were staying had a bomb shelter several levels below ground.
“It’s not like anything I’ve ever experienced,” Powell recalled. “You’re constantly living in light of the fact that the alert could come through any moment, at which time you have 90 seconds to get downstairs to the shelter.”
“It’s hard to put into words how fragile life seems when you find yourself hustling into a bunker as rockets have been fired in your direction,” Church told The Baptist Courier. “But there was a comfort in knowing that when the sirens sound in Jerusalem, you have a place to go.
“We not only had a physical shelter in which to hide, but we also could run to our spiritual refuge, the living God. I drew great strength from Psalm 46:1, ‘God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble,’” he said.
Powell, in his text to Baptist Press, said the group “sang together and prayed together” while they were in the bunker, “knowing that our hope is in the Lord. That’s where our health and strength come from.”
Bryant’s group left Israel March 4 in two separate flights — one during the early morning hours, and another just after dawn. The flights landed in Atlanta late Wednesday, and both pastors are grateful to be back in South Carolina.
“When we finally made the decision to head south to the Egyptian border and attempt to make it home through Cairo, there was relief that we had a plan,” Church recalled. “But it was not until our flight from Istanbul to Atlanta was in the air that I finally relaxed,” he said. “We were so glad to be home with our family, but, of course, we remain deeply concerned for those still in harm’s way.”
— Compiled by Todd Deaton. Based on Baptist Press reports, with reporting by The Baptist Courier.