PORTLAND, Oregon — Pastor J.W. Matt Hennessee of the Vancouver First Baptist Church in North Portland is reeling from the violence in a place he has called home — Israel.
Hennessee said he traveled back and forth from Israel from the 1980s to 2016. He was once a student there and shared that he was adopted by a family there.
"I am still searching for and have not heard back yet from family who is in Tel Aviv, who are outside of Jerusalem," said Pastor Hennessee. "Two (of my) sisters are still alive and their offspring are still alive as well."
He says he is hurt and disgusted by what has played out in the Israel-Hamas conflict thus far. He added that this is all very personal to him.
"I believe that this situation is worse than any situation that has ever hit Israel,” Hennessee said. “And even though I know that rockets are going off, I saw that this morning, as many people did, the fact of the matter is everybody is worried about what could happen next."
But Hennessee is not alone. Elias Stahl is an Israeli-American who lived in Israel from 2012 to 2015 before moving to Portland. And now he's praying for the safety of his family in Israel.
"The easiest way to describe this is atrocities," said Stahl.
Elias said he still has family in Israel; cousins, aunts, uncles and close friends. Many of them are getting called to fight in the war.
"This will be different for many,” said Stahl. “This is the largest attack on civilians that Israel has experienced. It's like 9/11 times 10."
Elias served in the Israeli military during his time there, where fixed-term service is mandatory, but understands the gravity of the difference in this situation.
"What we are witnessing is an army that is not there to take land, they are not there to build a state, they are there to extinguish the Jewish people," Stahl added.
"My heart hurts,” said Hennessee. “Both for the macro and obviously for the people that mean a lot to me as well."
KGW has learned that a former student of Portland Jewish Academy was killed in the attack in Israel. Shani Louk went to kindergarten at the school in 2007.
The Portland Jewish Academy sent KGW a statement today about her death:
“Our school was devastated to learn of Shani's tragic loss during the attack by Hamas on Israel. It's heartbreaking. Our thoughts and prayers are with Shani's family and with all of the friends and families of the victims of violence.“