Forsyth County Pastor Describes Harrowing Escape From Israel Amid Escalating Violence

Pastor Dr. Jeff Jackson of First Redeemer Church off Peachtree Parkway in Cumming was in the middle of a 10-day trip to the Holy Land when his phone lit up at 8:17 a.m. with emergency alerts. Within moments, hotel staff in Jerusalem were directing Jackson, his wife Catherine, and a group of fellow Georgia pastors three floors underground into a sealed bunker.

"It was a bit unsettling to have to go three floors beneath the ground to be protected," Jackson said. Over the next 48 hours, the group made 13 trips down to that bunker, spending three nights sleeping in their clothes with shoes kept close. The bunker, as Jackson described it, was essentially a large room sealed off from the floors above, built for exactly this kind of moment.

The Georgia group had traveled to Israel under the leadership of Cobb County Pastor Bryant Wright. FOX 5 Atlanta reported that the alerts coincided with the beginning of Operation Epic Fury, as the first strikes had hit Iran. Inside the bunker, Jackson found himself watching Israeli parents and children who treated the whole ordeal as routine. "One of the most surreal things about this whole experience was how normal it seemed to those who live in Jerusalem," he said.

Despite the closed airspace and the uncertainty of how they would get home, Jackson said fear never overtook them. "We knew that people were praying for us. We knew that God was with us, and he gave us a peace," he said.

Getting out of Jerusalem required improvisation. The group traveled to the southern tip of Israel, a four-hour drive, and then walked across the border into Egypt on foot. Jackson said he will never forget their tour operator, a man named Moses, who led them across the desert to the crossing. From Egypt, they pieced together multiple flights back to the United States.

Jackson shared the full account from the pulpit the following Sunday. His first priority after returning home was simpler: holding his two infant grandchildren. "It's going to take some time to get our heads around what we've been through," he said.

Despite everything, Jackson said he intends to return to Israel when conditions allow. "I certainly hope to go back. My prayer in all of this after this is all over, Israel is safer than it's ever been before.