All the members of a 91原创 and Fraser Valley-area church tour group that found itself stuck in Israel when the war with Hamas broke out returned home safe on Sunday, Oct. 15.
鈥淓veryone鈥檚 back home,鈥� said Pastor Brent Chapman of the SouthRidge Fellowship Church.
Chapman had been a part of the tour, which took a number of SouthRidge members, along with several from churches in other Fraser Valley communities, to Egypt, Israel, and Jordan for what was meant to a be a visit to Biblical sites.
It was the church鈥檚 first organized tour of this kind since the COVID-19 pandemic broke out in 2020.
The group first went to Egypt from Oct. 1, then moved on to Israel on Oct. 6. The following day, Hamas launched assaults into Israel from Gaza, targeting both military and civilians.
Shortly after, Israel declared war on Hamas and began attacking Gaza.
The tour group was in Masada when the violence broke out, which was directly east of Gaza, but fortunately not close enough to be involved in the fighting or in danger.
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Chapman said they saw warplanes flying overhead and saw tanks and Israeli military mustering, but were not threatened.
鈥淭here was some anxiety, obviously,鈥� Chapman said.
He said he never felt unsafe, and praised their guides and the company that had managed the tour.
鈥淲e were always ahead of wherever stuff happened.
After several days, the group moved into Jordan, and managed to continue a version of their tour, including visiting the ancient site of Petra, Chapman said. They did not get to visit any of the sacred sites in Jerusalem they had hoped to visit, as the entire city was essentially shut down.
Getting home proved to be a challenge. They had been scheduled to fly out of Tel Aviv on Sunday, but the war thoroughly disrupted air traffic.
Instead, the group flew from Amman, Jordan, to Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, at their own expense. From there, Air Canada flew them to Toronto and then to Vancouver.
鈥淚t was definitely a longer flight than we were anticipating,鈥� Chapman said.
The flight took 22 hours in total.
