FL Church Members Escape Mideast War With Help From Tampa’s Grey Bull Rescue

ST. PETERSBURG, FL — Groups visiting Israel from two St. Petersburg churches have been rescued from the war zone by Tampa nonprofit Grey Bull Rescue.

Members of Suncoast Church and GT Church Assembly of God who have been trapped in Israel since the war in Iran started were relocated to safety via bus thanks to the veteran-led organization.

These were the first groups evacuated from Israel — which was hit by multiple missile strikes from Iran after U.S. and Israeli strikes on Iran — by Grey Bull on Tuesday, though few details are available about the mission, the nonprofit told Patch.

“We’re safe. We were successfully extracted out of Tiberias, out of Israel,” GT Church Pastor Heath Rizaldo Panganiban said in a video shared to social media early Wednesday morning. “Can’t share too many details but we’re not in Israel right now. We crossed the border. We’re inching our way back home. It’s gonna be a process.”

Just minutes before the group left where they were staying, Rizaldo Panganiban saw “two rockets hitting really close to where we were,” he said in the video.

The night before, he saw rockets being shot over their hotel.

“It’s a very interesting time to be here,” he said, adding. “We’re just tired. We’re hoping to be home soon.”

In a separate video, posted from a bus, Suncoast Church Pastor Tim Suddreth said in a video posted Tuesday, “We are out of Israel officially. We are out of the active war zone. We’re in friendly territory."

Grey Bull quickly launched Operation: Chess Master to rescue and evacuate Americans trapped throughout the Middle East after the military campaign in Iran started.

“The entire region is being held at risk. Rescue requests are pouring in from Americans and allied nationals across the region as commercial routes are shut down and exit options are complex and dangerous,” the nonprofit said in a news release.

The donor-funded organization’s elite team of U.S. Special Operations and Intelligence Community veterans are already in Israel, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and posted in surrounding countries, ready to conduct rescue missions any way they can.

Suddreth’s wife, Janet Suddreth, said in the video he posted, that Grey Bull was the only entity to step up as they tried to leave Israel.

“They are the only ones that have made this possible. It’s something you don’t know you appreciate until you need it,” she said.

The U.S. State Department said Tuesday it was “actively securing” military and charter aircraft to fly Americans out of the region. It said it was in contact with nearly 3,000 citizens seeking assistance or information.

“We know that we’re going to be able to help them,” U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio told reporters Tuesday, while cautioning that “it's going to take a little time because we don’t control the airspace closures."

Rubio urged stranded Americans to contact the State Department, which has this notice posted online:

Americans Abroad:

Enroll at https://step.state.gov(opens in a new tab) to receive the latest security alerts and follow the “U.S. Department of State - Security Updates for U.S. Citizens” channel on WhatsApp. When planning travel, read carefully our Travel Advisory, country information, and any recent alerts at https://travel.state.gov/en/international-travel.html.

Americans who need consular assistance can call 24/7 +1-202-501-4444 (from abroad) and 1-888-407-4747 (from the U.S. and Canada).

The Associated Press contributed reporting.