Bellingham, WA. — Several members of a Bellingham church, including their pastor, have made it back to Western Washington after they were stuck in Israel due to the Hamas attack over the weekend.
“Thank you. It’s nice to be home,” said The Christ the King Church Pastor Grant Fishbook.
And to say they were ready to be back is quite an understatement.
“Cuddle our dogs! We are so excited to see our dogs! And hug our kids when we can!” Laurel Fishbook said.
A group of nearly 60 people from the Christ the King Church ventured to Israel at the beginning of October.
The group had to pivot to get out of the warzone and reassure their families back in Western Washington that they were safe.
“And we restored our son’s peace to let him know that we were okay and everything was just fine for us,” said Dave, a member of the church.
Pastor Fishbook says the past week has been long with all sorts of pivots and turns to get back to the US.
He says through it all, everyone kept their composure.
“We stayed together, prayed together. They were absolutely fantastic. There are some pretty heroic people walking behind us right now,” Fishbook said.
According to Pastor Fishbook, some people in their group are still making the journey home.
He says they are flying from places like Istanbul and Paris, but he expects all of them to make it home safe and sound.
While the people who have returned are happy to be back, their hearts continue to break for the innocent lives caught up in this war.
“I think it is heartbreaking because of all of the innocent civilians that are caught in the middle of political tension. And so, we are praying for everyone involved in the conflict,” Fishbook said.
Some church members told KIRO7 that while this isn’t exactly how they wanted this trip to go down, they say it really put things into perspective for the better.