KNOXVILLE — A 12-member team from First Baptist Church, Knoxville, that was in Tel Aviv when Hamas terrorists attacked Israel on Oct. 7, is safely out of the country.
WATE-TV in Knoxville reported the group was able to leave with an assist from the U.S. Embassy.
Brent McDougal, senior pastor of First Baptist, told the television station, “there’s a sense of great relief.”
He also told the station that the team, which was in Israel to explore the country and its history, “heard the missile strike and actually saw it just a few miles from our hotel.”
As of Oct. 16, four team members were back in the United States, two were in Paris, France, and six, including the pastor, were in Athens, Greece, according to WATE-TV.
Two other Tennessee Baptist church groups — from Sunnyside Baptist Church in Kingsport and First Baptist Church in Dyer — were able to leave Israel last week. B&R
