CAIRO, Egypt (BP) – After 17 trips to a bomb shelter over 36 hours and a man named Moses leading them into Egypt, a group of weary pastors and their wives are headed back to the United States.
Members of the group led by former Send Relief President Bryant Wright had just finished taking rooftop pictures from the Old City in Jerusalem when U.S. and Israeli missiles killed many Iranian senior leadership, including Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. Iranian responses forced the group to remain at their hotel, with numerous mandatory trips to a bomb shelter on the premises through Sunday.
“I know the pastors were disappointed, because so many of them and their wives had not been to Israel,” Wright told Baptist Press. “But at the same time, we needed to be in that shelter many times. We shared in prayer, Scripture reading and worship. It ended up being an unbelievable experience.”
Wright, known for his brief “Right from the Heart” messages, produced two during that time. One focused on Jesus’ return bringing the end of war. The other brought an update to the group’s upcoming departure for the border city of Eliat, located on the Red Sea where Israel, Jordan and Egypt meet.
The group was eating lunch at their Jerusalem hotel when the first alert came over everyone’s cell phones. Josh Powell, pastor of Taylors First Baptist Church in South Carolina, estimates that each stay in the bunker was 45 minutes to an hour in duration.
The experience gave him insight into living in such conditions.
“It’s not like anything I’ve ever experienced,” said Powell, whose comments on overseas experiences shouldn’t be taken lightly. “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 explain the intensity. You’re sleeping, but you’re not sleeping because if the alarm goes off, you can’t miss it.”
One final alert met the group as they were preparing to leave, so it was back to the shelter. About 2:30 p.m. Sunday afternoon, they re-boarded. The bus made its way through streets that would normally be busy, but were empty due to the constant threat of missile attack. They made their way east, then turned south along the Dead Sea. About three hours later, they pulled into Eliat.
The next day brought the trip to Egypt. Their driver was named Moshe, the Hebrew name for Moses. After some tense moments getting across the border, the group began a three-hour trip along the Red Sea to the Egyptian resort town of Sharm El-Sheik for a flight to Cairo.
As one would imagine, there were a lot of discussions relating to Scripture.
“We went across a lot of wilderness,” said Wright. “We agreed that we need to be a little more sympathetic toward the Israelites and how they grumbled after living there for 40 years and eating manna.”
Four U.S. service members have been reported killed in the conflict, while Iranian media said U.S. and Israeli missile strikes have claimed at least 555 lives.
“I can’t tell you how many sermon illustrations I’ve gotten from this,” Powell said. “To be in a place with constant concern and rumors of war makes us recognize the freedom and comfort we have in America.
“The Lord is so good to us. He will care for his people. As bombs were going off around us (he estimates one landed about a half-mile away from the hotel), we recognized that God is faithful and watching over us.”
The group will take off among two flights, one will leave during the dark hours of Wednesday morning (March 4), with another taking off after dawn. The routes go to Istanbul before another departure and landing in Atlanta on Wednesday afternoon and evening.
“We’re so thankful for the prayers of Southern Baptists,” said Wright. “We’re not home yet, and this is one tired group.”