A group of about 30 American tourists were in Nazareth, Israel when Hamas attacked Israel earlier this month. Members of the group included: Todd Cox, BMA lead pastor at StonePoint Church in Cumming, Ga.; his wife, Tina; his mother, Judie Paxton and his sister, Lorie Moran, along with 18 others who were either church members or friends of the church. Mike and Donna Chisam were the group leaders, and Bro. Cox served as their co-leader and spiritual advisor/pastor. Their tour guide was Amer Nicola, who is from Nazareth.
On Saturday, Oct. 7 (the Sabbath for Jewish people) bombs started hitting Tel Aviv, Jerusalem and areas in between those locations and Gaza. Nazareth is located about 65 miles away from the initial attacks. The group began hearing about the strikes when several of them started getting news feeds about it on social media.
When Executive Editor Jeff Herring asked Bro. Cox what measures were taken to ensure the safety of the group before and after the attack, he replied: “We were assured that we were in the safest area in all of Israel because of our proximity to the attacks and the fact that we were in a ‘majority Arab’ town and were less likely to be directly targeted. Since our guide is from the area, we had several contacts on the ground giving us information.
“Within a day of the attack, Delta cancelled our return flight. (Most of the American and many foreign flights were cancelled since Tel Aviv was a target.) We began to try to contact the State Department and the embassy, but there wasn’t much response other than us filling out a form where they could get in touch with us,” said Bro. Cox. “We contacted some local senators from Georgia, but there wasn’t much movement. Our travel agent was trying to rebook us, and the original plan was to travel by Turkish Airlines on Friday, Oct. 13to Istanbul and then try to figure out the rest.
“That plan fell apart, and the next try was for the next day. It would have required splitting our group into two groups and flying out of Tel Aviv to Abu Dhabi, then to either Chicago or John F. Kennedy Airport (JFK) in New York City, then we’d have to try to figure it out from there. Another possibility was a cruise out of Haifa to Cypress, then we’d also have to find a way to get home from there.
“About the time we were considering those alternatives, I got a message from a friend in Texas who had worked for Attorney General Ken Paxton. She saw that we were still in Israel, so she called US Representative Cory Mills from Florida, asking for his help. Representative Mills flew out the next day to Jordan, met us in Nazareth, rode on the bus with us to the Jordanian border and got us across, then he put us up in a hotel in Amman, Jordan. We then flew from Amman to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, then to JFK and then home to Georgia.”
Even with everything that was happening, “We all felt a sense of peace and safety with God covering us and protecting us,” said Bro. Cox. “We felt complete peace that surpasses all understanding and saw God work in miraculous ways in answer to our prayers and the prayers of God’s people around the world who had heard about our situation.”
Still a Great Trip
The original dates of the tour were Sept. 30-Oct. 11, and the group had enjoyed several days of sightseeing before the attack. These are just a few of sights they saw: The Valley of Elah, where David slew Goliath; locations in and around Jerusalem — the Mount of Olives, the Garden of Gethsemane, the Garden Tomb, the City of David, the Via Dolorosa and then the Western Wall at night. They also enjoyed a camel ride and toured Masada, Qumran, Jericho, Caesarea Maritima, Mount Carmel, Megiddo and visited the Dead Sea.
On Day 5, they visited the area on and around the Sea of Galilee, including Capernaum, the Mount of Beatitudes and Magdala, where some renewed their wedding vows, including Bro. Cox and his wife. The day before the attack, Bro. Cox facilitated 16 baptisms in the Jordan River, and they visited Caesarea Philippi and other sites before checking into the hotel in Nazareth.
Although war broke out the next day while they were touring Nazareth, they were still able to visit Nazareth Baptist Evangelical Church and had lunch at Nazareth Baptist School. “I was supposed to preach at the church, but I got sick and deferred to local pastor,” said Bro. Cox. On Oct 9, they visited Beit She’an and toured a Nazareth Village that had been set up to replicate the first Nazareth and had lunch there.
After resting at the hotel on Day 10, they were able to visit Gideon Springs, where God had separated the troops who were with Gideon down to 300. Then they headed back to the hotel to pack before leaving Nazareth around 2 p.m. to head for Jordan.
Still Contemplating
When asked how the trip came about, Bro. Cox said some friends of his who had served as group leaders were talking about retiring and had suggested that he take over the tours. “These friends live in my mom’s neighborhood and have led over 40 trips, most of them associated with the Nazareth Baptist School they help lead and fund. They call their trip ‘Journal the Journey.’
“I told them I was willing to think about it, but wanted to go first and then decide if I would be able to lead the tours and how often. Even after the “unusual” trip, Bro. Cox said he “is still contemplating, but is willing to do it!”
Israel is always a life-changing place to visit. As one visitor said, “Before going to the Holy Land, you read the Bible in black-and-white; after you go there, you read it in living color.” The memories last a lifetime, and even more so for the 30 who were on this trip!
