BY ANN CIPPERLY
FOR THE OBSERVER
AUBURN— Vernon Allison and his wife Crystal of Auburn volunteered to serve for five weeks at the Jerusalem Prayer Center in Israel and were there when the terrirust attacks occurred on Oct. 7.
Now home safely, as the war accelerates, their phone still rings with alarms when missiles are headed near the site they recently left.
The Allisons both grew up in Montgomery and met in high school. After they married and graduated from Auburn University, the couple lived in various places, including 12 years in Europe while Vernon served 30 years in the Army.
“After retiring from the military, I was fortunate to change from a uniform to a civilian suit to continue the work I was doing,” Vernon said.
He worked at the Department of Defense for the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency in Washington, D.C., for seven years. Then, he worked several years more at McDill Air Force Base and in St. Louis, Missouri, before retiring.
While looking for a location to settle after retirement, they visited a friend in Auburn. Since everyone they met was friendly and encouraging, they decided to make Auburn their home. After seven and a half years, they have become involved in the community and Lakeview Baptist Church.
This past March, the Allisons went on a small tour of Israel with a group from Lakeview Baptist Church. The pastor emeritus, Al Jackson, was among the group.
Near the end of their trip, they had an afternoon open without plans. Jackson suggested they visit the Jerusalem Prayer Center, a Christian house of prayer for the nations located approximately 50 miles from the Gaza strip. While located in bustling Jerusalem, the center is peaceful with beautiful gardens.
The house at the center was built in 1890 by an Arab family and has an interesting history. In 1905, it became part of the American Colony as the home of Bertha Spafford Vester. Her father was Horatio Spafford, who wrote the popular hymn, “It is Well with my Soul.” Other notables also resided in the house with beautiful gardens.
Jackson told the Allisons that he thought they should go back and volunteer at the center to help keep the house in working order and assist the directors. Couples generally volunteer for 30 to 90 days to help with tasks.
“We thought we would go back in February 2024, but the center contacted us in August,” Vernon said. “They said, ‘Something has changed, we need you to come at the end of September.’ They had special projects they were doing away from the center. We left Auburn on Sept. 28 and thought we were going for five weeks to help keep the place clean and host people as they came to pray at the center.”
When the Allisons arrived on Sept. 29, they were given a cell phone with an application tied to the Israelian Iron Dome Missile Defense system. As soon as missiles or rockets are detected, the phone alarm sounds.
The Allisons spent the week working, as Vernon watered the garden and cut the grass, while Cystal helped clean the house.
“We were impressed with how well it was planned for prayer,” Vernon said. “They have an upper room to provide a serene place. Everything is in Hebrew, Arab and English. Gardens have painted tiles and places to sit with Bible verses in the three languages. In the bustle of Jerusalem, people can gather and be encouraged to pray.”
They had settled in their small cottage in back of the prayer center, and on the morning of Saturday, Oct. 7, Vernon had been busy blowing the trash off the walkways at the prayer center, while Crystal had been turning on the lights in the center and stocking the restrooms. At 8:45 a.m. that morning, the air raid siren went off at the same time as the alarm on their phone.
“We knew immediately what was happening,” Vernon said.
“We left our cottage and went to the prayer center and stayed in the safe place inside the center until it was clear to go back outside,”Crystal said. “There were ten people at the center at the time, including the directors and a tour group.”
The invasion had started at 6:30 a.m. that morning, but they were unaware of what was happening.
“We had no idea, because we had not watched television,” Vernon said. “As soon as the siren system and the alarm app on our phones sounded, we realized something had happened.”
“As the day went on, we found out what had happened,” Crystal said. “Once in a while Hamas or Hezbollah will shoot rockets as a periodic thing. A lot of times people don’t think much about it, as they know the iron shield would get it.”
Vernon said he was familiar with how it worked because of his career in the military and defense department.
“Although the iron dome is an effective system, in the Bible it says in Psalms not to put your trust in horses or chariots, but in the name of the Lord Almighty,” he said. “The iron dome is the modern-day equivalent of horses and chariots. With our trust in the Lord and knowing the iron dome worked, we actually had incredible peace.”
The next morning, everyone at the prayer center moved to an alternate location at the Baptist Village, a complex for Israeli followers of Jesus, which also has a long history. Before Israel became a country, it was created to give a place for Christians to go as they were being persecuted. Located outside urban areas, it is considered a safer place.
In peace time, the Baptist Village is a conference center with sports fields. It has houses for people who go there for conferences and sports events. All of those activities were canceled, and the village became a place for families who lived close to the border to find safety. The village also formed partnerships with other organizations to offer humanitarian assistance for families impacted by the war.
The village recently received bomb shelters and had a big tent building that was close to finishing.
“We thought it was the good Lord orchestrating events,” Vernon said. “But the bottom line was they were quickly forming partnerships with organizations such as Mercy Chefs, who go all over the world during disasters and feed people. They use their own chefs, along with local volunteers, to prep the food and local chefs to help prepare meals.
“The first meal they prepared the following Friday was a kosher Shabbat meal that a traditional Jewish family will have on Friday night with worship. The Mercy Chefs prepared this meal for 500 people. We helped pack those meals that were taken to families near the border. They constantly had to stop to get in bomb shelters because of the rockets coming in. The meals increased to 2,000 a day.
“Once or twice a day, we would go to the bomb shelters that they did not have just two weeks before. Since we left, they have added eight family-sized tents and expect the area to grow with more people coming in to be safe. When you are in the bomb shelter, you are going to hear a real loud boom when Israel sends a missile to intercept and destroy the incoming rockets.”
The Allisons said they talked to displaced people coming to the village to find safety, such as one family from Ashkelon village who had watched in horror via a security camera as neighbors were massacred on their block and the block over.
“When they were telling the story, their faith and trust in God was amazing,” Vernon said. “Their 18-year-old daughter had been in the army for only two months. She delivered her parents to the village carrying her M16 weapon slung over her shoulder. In Israel, 18-year-old women serve in the army two years, and males serve for three.”
The Allisons told of meeting a Jewish family, who were Christians, who had escaped Ukraine and moved close to the Gaza strip. They had to leave their home again due to war.
“In the midst of horrible things, there were blessings upon blessings,” Vernon said. “A lot of Bible verses we have believed for years took on a whole new meaning.”
The Allisons watched as organizations working for humanitarian assistance delivered hundreds of games and toys for children of displaced families, while others brought paper products and toiletries. About 80 volunteers came into the Baptist Village each day to prepare and then deliver those items near the border.
The Baptist Conference of Israel, including the Jerusalem Prayer Center and the Baptist Village, are supported by churches and others, with the blessing of the government. The business of the Baptist Village closed as the need turned to providing housing and distributing humanitarian assistance.
“We wanted to stay to be of use,” Vernon said. “They told us it was going to get tougher to get out. We needed to leave. All US and European airlines had suspended flights.”
The Allisons began their 40-hour journey home on Oct. 16.
“Crystal and I felt confident we were supposed to be there at that time and place,” Vernon said. “We knew about the prayers. Lakeview Baptist Church and Mt. Moriah Church were praying for us. We had organized a prayer group on our phone, so we knew when someone prayed for us daily. We sensed the power and encouragement, strengthening and peace that came from all the prayers.”
Crystal said she agreed they felt the support.
“There was not a moment we were anxious or worried,” she said. “We knew we were safe in our Savior, and we knew people were praying for us. We felt those prayers, and we felt secure.”
As Vernon was explaining that they hope to return to Israel one day, the alarm on his phone went off, warning of rockets launched toward the vicinity of the Baptist Village. It was the middle of the night in Israel, and the people there were going to the bomb shelter, he said, explaining that he installed the app to his own cell phone once they were home so he would know when to pray for the village.
“We knew hundreds of people were praying for us,” he said. “With our trust in the Lord and knowing the iron dome worked, we actually had incredible peace the entire time. It was reenforced that we are dependent on God for everything.”
