Calvary Chapel Summerville church celebrated the safe return of 40 members during worship service this week. The group had been on a pilgrimage to Israel when they got stranded in the now war-torn Middle East.
“In hindsight, it turned out to be a great blessing,” says Pastor Vic Carroll.
Pastor Carroll says the group was enjoying a spiritual journey in the Holy Land when they got word Americans should leave. They didn’t know why, but Carroll booked a flight home a day early.
The attack
He says they got to the airport and were waiting in line to check in, when suddenly, sirens began to wail.
“And I didn’t really know what it was," he says.
Carroll says people in the crowded airport were told to immediately abandon their luggage and flee to a bomb shelter downstairs.
“Well, there’s this mad dash to the stairs,” says Carroll. “And when you got to the stairs, it was just like sardines.”
The pastor says people were panicked and scared. The sirens, it turned out, signaled there had been an attack on Iran, news that would soon spread worldwide.
“And I remember the moment they told us what was happening, it didn’t feel real,” says Carroll’s wife Melanie.
Melanie Carroll was stunned to learn the airport was shutting down. She says the group was forced to return to their hotel in Jerusalem even though there would likely be a counterattack.
And there was.
For the next 48 hours, the group was forced to repeatedly take cover in the hotel bomb shelter. Only one time, they didn’t make it.
A close call
“We heard and felt the explosion, like this was different, even kind of a pressure, a kind of a woosh thing,” says Pastor Carroll.
The group would later learn that a missile had exploded 300 yards away.
But that didn’t stop Pastor Carroll from holding his weekly worship service in the bomb shelter. Church usher David Ellich says it fortified his faith.
“It was almost surreal. But it was amazing,” says Ellich. “I mean, everyone was praising God. It was special.”
Ellich says he knew then the group would get home. They were soon offered a chance to travel to Jordan where they might be able to catch a flight several hours away.
But it was risky.
The road home
The group was warned that if there was an attack, they’d have to flee the bus and lie flat on the ground.
“And that would be our best hope for survival if a missile were to hit anywhere close,” says Pastor Carroll.
Fortunately, that didn’t happen. The airport in Amman was open, and they got a flight for all 40 members, seven days after they were initially told to leave.
Meantime, hundreds of thousands of Americans are still stranded in the Middle East.
“When you got through something like we’ve gone through, you learn to not take anything for granted,” says Melanie Carroll.
Melanie Carroll says she is grateful, not only to be home, but for her faith in the face of fear. So is Cherryl Ellich, who admits she tends to worry.
“But Without hesitation, I would do it again because I know this was what the Lord purposed for us,” she says.
The group has only been home a week but is already planning another trip to Israel in February 2028.
