ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — A group of 34 church members from St. Petersburg is finally home after finding themselves stranded in Israel amid an active war zone, taking cover in bomb shelters as missiles flew overhead.
Tampa Bay 28 reporter Annette Gutierrez told you last week when the Tampa-based organization Grey Bull rescue helped them escape Israel — and now a week later — they are back in Tampa.
Watch report from Annette Gutierrez
The final members of the group came home on Tuesday to cheers, tears, and smiles from family and friends. One of the three boys on the trip even appeared to fall on the floor with relief.
The travelers, from two St. Petersburg churches, Suncoast Cathedral and Glad Tidings Church, had gone to visit the Holy Land when the conflict escalated around them.
"About 18 times, we were summoned by sirens in the city — hideous, loud, frightening sirens," said Dr. Randy Helms, pastor of GT Church of St. Pete.
The Tampa-based organization Grey Bull Rescue helped arrange transportation to get the group out of Israel.
"We had no visas, we had no appointments, but somehow they were able to get our entire group, 34 souls, across the border into Jordan," Helms said.
While in Amman, Jordan, the group attempted to fly out twice, but sirens forced the airspace to shut down both times, requiring them to find another route home.
"Then we started working feverishly to get out of Jordan," Helms said.
Gutierrez spoke with Helms last Tuesday while the group was on a bus headed to Jordan.
A few days later, Grey Bull Rescue and the U.S. State Department helped the group secure a charter flight from Jordan to Greece. From Athens, they flew back to Tampa in three groups — arriving Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday.
When asked whether Helms ever worried they wouldn't make it out, he said the thought never crossed his mind.
"Never for a moment. I set my heart toward getting those people home safe and determined to work night and day until that happened. And I never allowed for a moment the consideration that anything else would happen," Helms said.
The group said their faith helped carry them through the fear and uncertainty of the ordeal.
"Even though we were in a very serious situation, we were being taken care of, we were safe, and we were coming home," Helms said.
Karen Helms, a lay minister at GT Church of St. Pete, echoed that sentiment.
"We were very aware, very alert, but we had a calm peace about us that has to only come from the Lord," Karen Helms said.
The experience also gave the group a new perspective on daily life in Israel, where bomb shelters are a standard feature of homes.
"They have bomb shelters in their homes — just like now if you build a house we have to have hurricane, you know, windows and all of those things, not bomb shelters," Karen Helms said.
For Randy Helms, the journey deepened his appreciation for the United States.
"I've traveled all over the world and I'll tell you it's the greatest nation on Earth, and when you find yourself in a situation like we were in, you appreciate it all the more," Helms said.
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