Metro Detroit couple recounts moments church group flees Israel once violence begins
(CBS DETROIT) - As the Israel-Palestinian conflict continues, there are over two dozen Metro Detroit residents fortunate to be back home. This comes after their church group ended up having to flee the country once the violence started.
"We really do live in a safe and blessed land, and we really do have an amazing community around us," Anna Morales said.
Anna and Jon Morales expected to take an insightful trip to Jerusalem recently. Jon, who is a pastor, his wife, and 25 of their church family traveled abroad.
The trip, scheduled for 10 days, started with excursions and sightseeing. On the sixth day, things took a turn once their tour guide stopped them before their morning trip.
Anna Morales said at the same time, sirens started to ring.
"He [tour guide] said "Siren,' and we said 'What's that mean?' and he said 'Missiles.' When we heard that, we just started going back as fast as we could because the hotel had a bomb shelter in the basement," she said.
The unexpected attack was from the Hamas landing near the Gaza Strip. For Jon Morales, what was unexpected for him was how quickly they had to take cover.
"So we learned you have 80 seconds to get under cover," he said.
Once in the hotel, everyone was escorted downstairs into the basement. From there, the group began to pray, eventually given the OK to proceed back upstairs to their rooms.
"We learned later that day that 10 other sirens went off that morning in Jerusalem," Jon Morales said.
The group spent the next few days aiming to figure out a way home, especially since flights were being canceled. By Monday night, they had a plan to take a bus into Amman, Jordan.
" And from there, we fly from Amman to Doha and then from Doha to Chicago to Detroit," Jon Morales said.
Once landed at the Detroit Metro Airport, the Morales kids were waiting with multiple signs welcoming their parents back into the area.
"I started crying for sure on the plane as we were landing, so happy to see our children," the couple said.
The Morales family says they're thankful to be back on American soil and also thankful their community continued to pray and support them.