Several church groups have returned home safely to the United States after flying out of Israel during its military conflict with Hamas.
According to Church Leaders, 25 people (as part of a larger group of 54) landed in Florida on two separate flights on Friday and Saturday nights, respectively.
“God used it all, and we’re very thankful,” Zach Terry, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Fernandina Beach, Florida, told News4Jax. “It’s good to be home.”
“This salty piece of First Coast land is amazing, and we value it so much from everything that we’ve been through this week, just wondering how it would turn out sometimes,” he added. “We’ve been through a lot.”
Terry also recalled the events that unfolded when Hamas attacked Israel last week.
“What happened moved so fast there at the Gaza border. And then when we were in Jerusalem, we would hear the gunfire,” he said.
At the time, the church group was near the Lebanon border when the attack took place, in which they fled towards Jerusalem. During an interview with the Morning Show (of News4Jax) last week, Terry shared that the group saw the Iron Dome and heard machine gun fire several blocks from the hotel.
“All in all, we’ve stayed safe,” he said.
The group was later able to move into Jordan in their attempt to secure flights back to the United States. During that time, the pastor shared that they were safe and that additional groups were trying to make it toward Jordan.
“That was cool to see all the cultures work together,” he said. “We couldn’t speak each other’s language, but we’re trying to be kind to each other and help each other get to safety.”
In a video posted on X, Terry shared that he and the group arrived in the U.S. as he walked through Florida’s Jacksonville airport.
“Hey, guys. We’re back home in Jacksonville. All of our group is back in the States now. And, one by one, they’re making it back home,” he said. “I want to thank you all for praying…all the messages you’ve sent—it all means the world to us. The Lord used it, and we’re back in safe territory. Thank you so much.”
Israel Tour Update: WE ARE HOME! pic.twitter.com/6KvJDvF0hF
— Zach Terry (@zachterry) October 16, 2023
The video has close to 15,000 views and has reached friends, family, and people worldwide.
“Happy to hear this news! An answer to so many prayers!” one person wrote.
Another commented, “Praise the Lord! We’ve been praying for you guys! Glory to God!”
According to The Christian Post, Sunnyside Baptist Church of Kingsport in Tennessee members arrived home last week following Hamas’ attack on Israel last weekend.
The church group was visiting the historic Jewish stronghold known as Masada when the attack took place.
"The national parks, the Dead Sea entrance, and other sites were closing all over the area. People were leaving their businesses and returning to their homes," Angie Baker, a church member who was on the trip, said. "Over the next two days, we were very limited in where we could go and how long we could stay."
The church group was sent back to their hotel, where they remained confined until they were told to leave immediately when possible.
"Our tour guide and travel company kept consistently communicating that they thought we would be able to keep our scheduled flight on Oct. 10. We just continually kept praying for that to be God's will for our group," Baker said.
"Under the supervision of our tour guides, we left our hotel for the Tel Aviv airport a little before 3 a.m. We were able to keep that scheduled flight, flying Turkish Airlines from Tel Aviv to Istanbul and then from Istanbul to Atlanta, where our chartered bus was waiting to take us all home to Kingsport."
Baker also said she and her group “were relieved and very thankful" to have returned home and were “amazed” to find out how many people had kept them in prayer during this time.
"[T]he joy we felt was overwhelming," she said. "While we were never really afraid because we knew that God was faithful, we were anxious and stressed, and when we got on the bus to Atlanta, we were all very joyful to be in our bus seat bound for home."
Photo Courtesy: ©Getty Images/Amanda Wayne
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
