Blanchard Pastor Returns From Israel Amid Ongoing Hamas Conflict

A pastor in Blanchard left the country two weeks ago to fulfill a lifelong dream and found himself caught in the middle of the terrorist attack

Less than 24 hours after returning from Israel, Pastor Mark Dunning shared his first-hand account.

"It's been a dream of ours for years to go," Dunning said. "To be able to set foot in all of these places that I've only ever been able to read about "

They went to see history firsthand but witnessed the making of history instead.

"Are we about to see future history happen right before our eyes?" Dunning remembered thinking.

Their once-in-a-lifetime experiences all happening in the shadow of war.

"When we got off the bus there were sirens and rockets coming at us where we were," Dunning said.

Smoke trails streak the sky in videos taken by Pastor Dunning's wife, Christy.

"Just really unsettling because at that time we didn't even know the magnitude of what was happening," he recalled.

As the magnitude begins to set in, their emotions are mixed.

"It was frightening," Christy Dunning said. "It's just... We're happy to be home."

Yet they say they are very aware of what they left behind.

"It pulls at your heartstrings to think about all the people that are still there. The Americans that we know that are still there who want to be home too," Dunning said. "We pray for them every day."

And he says he'll continue to pray for everyone involved.

"There's a threat out there that kind of gets in between everybody and takes the peace and the livelihood away from both sides," Dunning said. "So many innocent people are being caught in the middle of a terrorist group that doesn't care about life."

The Dunnings have returned home with a new perspective shaped by a front-row seat to history in the making.