The pastor from Korça recounts the moments of panic in Israel/ "Early in the morning the sirens started, we ran to the security rooms"

2023-10-15 16:16:00, Aktualitet CNA

The pastor from Korça recounts the moments of panic in Israel/

Pastor Vaso Vreshtulla

The war in Israel will remain long in the memory of pastor Vaso Vreshtulla from the city of Korça. A trip started for a party, which ended with a lot of anxiety and fear for the pastor and his wife. He himself has shared the experiences of that day, along with the efforts to leave the country as soon as possible, while leaving behind many families who are still living in the war to this day.

The pastor tells the reason for his next visit to Israel, and emphasizes the touristic values ??that this country has.

The pastor from Korça recounts the moments of panic in Israel/

" I've been there many times but I've never seen Israel before this attack so much celebrating in such a way that you didn't realize you were in Israel. Before, when you went and noticed this presence of the police, the army, this time you were very different. Like me, we were all happy that Israel managed to be on this day that could be the same as all the other peoples in Europe.

Israel today in terms of tourism is one of the most beautiful countries in the world, but also the most interesting parts about religion. There is a very special religion-related tourism there because there are Christians, there are Muslims, there are also Jews who go, I have also seen Hindus who have written and made the pilgrimage.

This time my wife and I went to a celebration that is biblical but includes other nations. We were with a large group from 95 countries in the world. We were celebrating in different cities. Two days before the attack started, we were in the place where the hostages were taken today by the terrorists. He was taken hostage," he said.

The launch of rocket attacks began exactly 2 days after their stay in Jerusalem. Initially, the first noises that were heard were the police sirens, the ones that gave the alarm that something was wrong. And then, the sounds of rockets in the air.

The pastor from Korça recounts the moments of panic in Israel/

" We were celebrating on Saturday when the attack happened, we were in Jerusalem, first I heard the sirens at 8 am and I thought they were fixing the alarm system.

When the situation started to get serious, people started running out of their rooms, looking for their children, looking for each other, they wanted to run towards self-sheltering.

Together with my wife, we had to run to the refuge as we were.

It was a feeling I will never forget in my life. That I had ever experienced the morning of war or as we have that movie "Morning of War", said the pastor.

Pastor Vaso has shared the feelings experienced during those hours of stay in the shelter, saying that many families with children could not find a solution to protect themselves.

"For me it was. It was a lot of stress, a lot of panic, a lot of fear, hearing the shells close to you and seeing the families running, the children, it was not a pretty thing to see.

We stayed for 6 hours at the shelter. But the alarm went on and on and we had to stay there for almost 5 or 6 hours.

I saw families, mothers with children who came to shelter. In their darkest days they went to read the Bible, God's scripture.

This was very beautiful and a great lesson for me," said Pastor Vaso.

Fortunately for the pastor and his wife, a solution was found, as he says with God's help, and he points out an interesting fact, that all the families in the retreat read the Bible. Also, the situation at the airport was chaotic.

The pastor from Korça recounts the moments of panic in Israel/

"We had dinner flights that morning and in the afternoon we found out it was canceled and we gave up.

As Christian believers we prayed to God to open a way for us. I was picked up by a lady I have not met yet who is from Thessaloniki. She took me and said you must leave Israel now. You had to order a taxi 24 hours in advance to go to the airport.

I was praying that God would open a way for us and at that moment some foreign friends came and told me do you want to come to the airport.

When we went to the airport there I saw a real chaos. I experienced one thing that I will never forget in 1997 and that emotion came back to me," said the pastor./ CNA