Somerset man escapes Israel. KY church groups remain trapped

A Somerset man who was once a pastor and who was trapped in Israel when fighting broke out early Saturday morning, is on his way back to Kentucky.

In a social media post on Tuesday, Alan Dodson said he left Israel through Jordan and was taken to the airport in Amman. He was then scheduled to fly to Cairo, Egypt and, following a layover, would fly to New York City.

Dodson is a former pastor in the Baptist Church and also served a decade as a “Kentucky Baptist Convention regional consultant,” according to Kentucky Today. Dodson is currently vice president for U.S. Relations with E.D.I. Travel, “an Israeli company specializing in Christian tours of biblical sites around the Mediterranean.”

Dodson’s son, Andrew Dodson, who played football for Pulaski County High School, died in early April after suffering a head injury during a scrimmage game.

Kentucky church members remain in Israel

Members of churches in Glasgow and Bowling Green remain trapped in Israel.

Sixteen members of River Lake Church were on a tour of the Holy Land when Hamas initiated a widespread missile attack on military sites and civilian areas in Israel early Saturday morning. The church group was scheduled to leave Monday.

River Lake Church Pastor Nic Smith posted on the church’s Facebook page on Monday morning, calming fears of family members of those caught in the crossfire.

“We are really good. We’re stuck, we’re stuck in Israel right now. But we’re safe and that really is the most important thing,” Smith said in the roughly 90 second message.

Members of Broadway United Methodist Church in Bowling Green are also in Israel, although Pastor Jason Brown told WKYU.com that he was unsure of how many of his parishioners were overseas. Brown did, though, confirm to the WKU National Public Radio news outlet that the congregants were safe.

Israel, including the disputed Palestinian enclaves Gaza Strip (where the air strikes originated) and West Bank, is slightly larger than Massachusetts and slightly smaller than New Jersey.

Pres. Joe Biden said on Tuesday that 14 Americans have been killed in the conflict and that an unknown number of Americans are being held hostage by Hamas.

(Photo: Alan Dodson, courtesy of Kentucky Today)

By Ken Howlett, News Director

Contact Ken at ken@k105.com