‘30 Seconds to Shelter’: Phoenix pastor recalls terrifying escape from Israel

Mideast war: AZ pastor recounts terrifying ordeal

A Phoenix area pastor is back home, after what she called a surreal week in the Middle East.

PHOENIX - The United States has struck more than 3,000 targets in Iran following reports that Iran launched another flurry of ballistic missiles at Israel.

The backstory:

The escalating conflict comes amid reports that Russia is providing Iran with intelligence regarding the location of U.S. troops. The fighting has caused oil prices to soar, though President Trump stated on March 2 that prices should drop once the fighting ceases. However, the president added that the war will not end until there is an "unconditional surrender" from Iran.

Private security firms are now assisting with the evacuation of Americans from the region. Among those returning home is a Valley pastor who is back in Arizona after what she describes as a surreal week in the Middle East.

What they're saying:

Barb Pruitt, the lead pastor of Faith Builders Church in north Phoenix, joined 116 other women of faith on a trip through Eagles Wings International to tour Israel during Purim. What was meant to be a time of celebration turned into a terrifying ordeal.

"It was really surreal," Pruitt said.

Pruitt said the first few days of the trip were perfect until the group reached the Sea of Galilee.

"We were scheduled to go out on the boats, on one of the tours. And that's when we got word that bombs were probably coming," Pruitt said. "It was so good that we didn't go out, that we heeded that warning, because that's when the war started."

The women, many of whom were strangers before the trip, found themselves in the middle of a war zone.

"We'd get alarms that would go off on our phone. There were very loud sirens. One would be a warning like in the next minute or so, be prepared, and then the second warning would go and it basically be you got 30 seconds to get to the shelter," Pruitt said.

Pruitt described the following days as scary and stressful, noting that "you heard the ba, ba, ba, ba—the bombs exploding."

In response, the group turned to their faith. "We were very overwhelmed, and so we just thought the only thing we can do is pray," Pruitt said.

Group leaders worked with the U.S. Embassy to find a window to leave the country. The women piled into three buses to begin their evacuation.

Mideast conflict: US firms helping with evacuations

The U.S. State Department is helping thousands of Americans get out of the Middle East amid ongoing conflict, but some private American security firms are also pitching in, at a price. Reporter Chelsea Torres has more.

"We had to travel down Israel right along the Gaza Strip, which we know has a lot of terrorists involved there, and so that was very concerning to us," Pruitt said. "And then we crossed down into Egypt, and we had to go down the Sinai Peninsula. When we made that switch over, we had military escort in the front and back of us, police escort, and also military on the buses."

Pruitt arrived back in Arizona on March 4. After reflecting on the experience, she said she believes she was meant to be there.

"There were other times I was gonna go, and it shut the doors, and this time I knew I was supposed to be there," she said. "Where we were at in Galilee, it was like this little safe place God had us in. The bombs were all over us and literally as we traveled, the bombs grew closer, and so it’s like God just had his hand to navigate us out just in time."

Pruitt said her takeaway from the experience is the complexity of the Middle East after seeing the joy of freedom mixed with the fear and violence of war.