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by Jordan Elder
It was supposed to be the trip of a lifetime.
Joey Villarreal and a group of nearly 40 men from all over the world embarked on a week-long Catholic Church trip to the Holy Land.
But everything changed when Hamas terrorists launched attacks against Israel this past weekend.
The San Antonio native spoke to us on the phone from a crowded airport in Tel Aviv, where he was finally able to get a flight out of Wednesday after days of trying to secure a way out of the war-torn country.
A well-known local businessman, Villarreal and his wife, Maggie, own Joey's on the popular North St. Mary’s strip, as well as the Blue Star Brewery, Joe Blues and a bicycle shop.
Villarreal’s group was staying in Abu Ghosh, about 50 miles from Gaza, and says he was fortunate to get to see several historic biblical sites in the beautiful land that reminded him of the Texas Hill Country because of it's terrain.
He says they were supposed to go to Bethany and Jericho last Saturday but those visits got cancelled once missiles started flying into Israel.
Villarreal says Israel’s “Iron Dome” missile defense system has been keeping most of the incoming Hamas rockets from reaching targets in Israel.
His group rushed to bomb shelters about four times since Saturday, every time alert sirens went off. But, he did witness one inbound rocket make it through the Israeli defense system and explode several hundred meters away.
Israel’s counterattacks and defense measures have been intense.
Villarreal is thankful the group is in the process of returning safely. But now, he says the people of the region are the ones who need prayers.
David Elizondo contributed to this report