Treasure Coast Women Flee Israel as Bombs Fall, Faith Holds Firm

Jen Reyneri was sitting in a meeting room somewhere in Israel when every phone in the room screamed at once.

Sirens. Alerts. Then, she said, the buildings began to shake.

"It was jolting. I just think the sound alone, especially with all those women, all the phones going off all at once," said Reyneri, who owns The Grove restaurant in Hobe Sound.

Reyneri and Holly MacPherson of Fort Pierce arrived in Israel on Feb. 25 as part of a 10-day faith-based mission organized by Eagles' Wings Tour, a nonprofit that coordinates Christian pilgrimage and solidarity trips to Israel. More than 115 women from around the world were on the tour. Three days after their arrival, the conflict between the United States and Iran According to available information, escalated sharply, turning a spiritual journey into a survival situation.

The women said phone alerts came at least a dozen times. Seeking shelter became routine. The uncertainty was so unrelenting, Reyneri and MacPherson said, that many in their group were hesitant to shower or step away to cook — afraid an alert would catch them exposed.

"Unnerving. I've never been in a bomb shelter before," MacPherson said.

Inside those shelters, the group leaned on what brought them there in the first place: their faith. MacPherson said the women turned to prayer, praise, and worship to steady themselves. At one point, they sang happy birthday to a fellow traveler. Coffee and sweets were passed around.

The group had been scheduled to meet Israel's president According to available information, during the tour. That meeting did not happen.

An extraction plan was coordinated — by whom and under what authority is not entirely clear According to available information,. The group eventually boarded buses to Egypt, then caught connecting flights through London before landing back in Florida.

The U.S. Department of State reported that more than 32,000 Americans have safely returned from the Middle East since the conflict escalated According to available information,.

MacPherson said she and others knew before they departed that the region carried risk. That knowledge, she said, did not diminish the pull to go.

"We knew that things were possible to have happen, but still felt the draw and need to go," she said.

For Reyneri, the homecoming carried its own kind of weight. Returning to Hobe Sound — to a restaurant, to inbox complaints, to ordinary American friction — felt different after sheltering from airstrikes.

"When we come back to America, and we deal with our first world problems — I think just to be able to go back to the sense of peace that God is in control," she said. "It's forever changed me."

Both women said they are praying for a swift resolution. MacPherson put it plainly: "We're definitely praying for peace in the Middle East, in Jerusalem. And that the situation gets swiftly ended."

The TC Sentinel is seeking comment from Eagles' Wings Tour regarding the group's evacuation logistics and from the U.S. Embassy in Israel regarding support provided to American civilians during the extraction.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.