Coronavirus leaves members of Louisville church stranded in Israel

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Members of a local church have been stranded abroad for several days because of the coronavirus.

About 26 members of Evangel World Prayer Center have been in Israel on a mission trip since last month.

"Muslims, of course, Mecca. But Christians, they come to the holy land," said Bob Rodgers, senior pastor of Evangel World Prayer Center. "Actually, we've had a great trip. Just can't get out of here."

The group was scheduled to travel from Israel to Italy earlier this week, but a last-minute phone call changed that.

"Our tour company called and said, 'Listen, you have to change your plans. The coronavirus has broken out. They've closed down the university and schools,'" Rodgers said.

The coronavirus grounded the group after all flights to Italy were suspended.

"That was when we really began to see some red flags, because our connections home ... it was in Italy," Rodgers said.

Rodgers then turned to United Airlines for help.

"And the airlines, they were very emphatic," Rodgers said. "If you want to ride home on United, you had to come to Rome. I said, 'Well, we can't get to Rome. There's no airlines.'

"We've just had one dead end after another."

Back here in the states, Associate Pastor Kevin McKnight was in contact with Rodgers.

"It is very stressful when you're responsible for a large number of people in a foreign country," McKnight said.

McKnight didn't share the drama or concerns with the church's 7,000 plus members.

"We honestly did not go public with it, because we did not want to cause family members to be panicked and concerned," he said.

After phone calls and emails from WDRB News and other news outlets, Rodgers said the airlines had a change of heart.

"I want to thank you and others who have called," he said. "I really appreciate it, because United called me and they said, 'We're going to help you get home.' And they told us they would eat all the extra expenses."

The group is scheduled to land at the Louisville Muhammad Ali International Airport sometime late Friday night.