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One Alabama church group arrives home, another still waits in Israel

A team from Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham made it home safely from Israel on Oct. 10 while a group from Hill Crest Baptist Church in Anniston was still waiting today (Oct. 11) for a way to get back.
  • October 11, 2023
  • Grace Thornton
  • Alabama News, Baptist News, Latest News
Pastor Stephen Anthony, his wife Jeanna and a group of 25 others from Hill Crest Baptist Church in Anniston got stuck in Israel when war between Hamas and Israel broke out Oct. 7 while the group was there on a Holy Land tour.
Facebook photo

One Alabama church group arrives home, another still waits in Israel

A team from Shades Mountain Baptist Church in Birmingham made it home safely from Israel on Oct. 10 while a group from another Alabama Baptist church was still waiting today (Oct. 11) for a way to get back.

Stephen Anthony, pastor of Hill Crest Baptist Church in Anniston, wrote in a Facebook post Oct. 11 that the flights from Tel Aviv originally confirmed for him, his wife Jeanna and the 25 other people in their group had been canceled. Their group and the Shades Mountain Baptist team both got stuck in the country after fighting broke out between Israel and Hamas on Oct. 7.

“We don’t know how God will bring us home,” Anthony wrote. “But we trust our Heavenly Father to place us under His wings and grace us in flight. That fact is what I have faith in. Our job… to stay in His shadow. Psalm 91. As long as I’m close to Him, His shadow places me, our team, this group in need, under His protection and providence!! Right about now, that’s the only place I need and would like to be.”

The team from Shades Mountain Baptist was able to cross the border into a neighboring country and fly back to Alabama on Oct. 10.

UPDATE: Friends of the Hill Crest Baptist Church travelers said today (Oct. 12) that the group is out of Israel and hopes to be home early next week.

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