‘Never terribly afraid’: Pastor of Urbandale church back from Israel trip will return in the future
By Ethan Humble
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URBANDALE, Iowa (KCCI) — After his safe return from his church’s trip to Israel, one Iowa pastor says the abnormal trip won’t stop him from going back to the Holy Land.
Glenn Goodwin, pastor of Gospel Assembly Church in Urbandale, was trapped with 17 other church members in Tel Aviv, located just 40 miles north of the Gaza Strip, where the attacks occurred.
They even got as close as a block away from one of the strikes.
“We were walking back to the apartment, we had an Airbnb we had rented, and one of those rockets struck about a block and a half from us,” Goodwin said.
However, leaving the country was no easy task.
Goodwin said the group spent many hours over Monday through Thursday last week working to get flight tickets.
“We would buy tickets on certain airlines, and then an hour or so later, we’d get a notice that that flight was canceled,” he said.
Now, after four flights over the course of three days, they finally landed in Iowa on Saturday.
Goodwin said despite all of the chaos, fear never fully struck him.
“Never terribly afraid,” he said. “I mean, we’re a Christian group. We have confidence that the lord knows where we are. But it did drive home the point that we needed to be very careful.”
He also said there isn’t a doubt he’ll be returning to the Holy Land in the future.
“I have no hesitation about going back. I don’t think there will be a war every time we try to go,” Goodwin said.
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