A group of church members from South Carolina who became stranded in Israel during escalating tensions with Iran has safely made its way back to the United States.
The 41 travelers from Calvary Chapel Summerville landed Thursday afternoon at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York after nearly a week of unexpected delays caused by the closure of Israeli airspace.
Charles Timmerman, assistant pastor at the church, told The Christian Post that the group ultimately left Israel by bus, traveling into neighboring Jordan before boarding a flight back to the U.S.
“Our faith in God is the most important thing in our lives, and we are just deeply grateful to our God and our Lord Jesus Christ, and then for the prayers that have come in from across the country,” Timmerman said. “People have stepped up, and we are very deeply grateful.”
Timmerman also expressed appreciation for assistance from elected officials, noting that the church had been working closely with several members of Congress.
He said the group had been “very grateful for all the support from our local politicians,” explaining that church leaders were “directly in contact with” the offices of Republican U.S. Sens. Tim Scott and Lindsey Graham as well as U.S. Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina.
According to Timmerman, all three lawmakers contacted the U.S. State Department on the church’s behalf, and Mace personally reached out to the congregation’s senior pastor.
The travelers had originally planned to return home on Sunday but altered their plans after receiving a warning from U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee last Friday about potential military strikes. The group attempted to depart a day earlier, on Saturday.
However, after arriving at the airport and preparing for departure, the facility was closed as Iran launched retaliatory attacks, leaving the group unable to leave the country.
In response to the unexpected delays, supporters launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover the additional expenses incurred while the church members were stranded. By Thursday, the fundraiser had collected more than $100,000 from roughly 150 donors.
The crisis began Saturday when the United States and Israel carried out coordinated strikes against targets in Iran, reportedly hitting military and government facilities in Tehran and other locations.
The attacks reportedly resulted in the death of Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, 86, along with several senior officials and a number of civilians.
Iran responded by launching missile attacks toward Israel and U.S. military sites across the region. One missile struck the Israeli city of Beit Shemesh on Sunday, killing nine people.
Meanwhile, an Iranian strike on an operations center at a civilian port in Kuwait reportedly killed at least six U.S. service members, according to a source familiar with the situation cited by CNN.
