Cheyenne Man Relays Stories Of Chaos, Courage From Israel

A Cheyenne man who has ties to Israel through his missionary work says he's hearing stories of chaos and courage from friends in that country as it fights against an attack from Hamas.

Mark Tedder is affiliated with a Christian group known as Worshiplanet which trains worship leaders and musicians to spread the Christian message in Israel. He visited Israel not long ago. Now he's hearing from friends and associates there about the impact of the Hamas attack, which has included rocket attacks, groups of armed men infiltrating the country, and large-scale rocket attacks.

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There have also been numerous reports of Israeli citizens taken to Gaza, where Hamas is based.

Tedder Monday morning told Townsquare Media about his friend Joel, who lives near Jerusalem, saying his community had purchased a ''watchman" drone to fly over a nearby wooded area to look for terrorists who have been reported hiding in neighborhoods. He and his wife earlier today took their young daughters into a bomb-proof room to keep them safe. Tedder says the community needs money to buy a gun as well as flak jackets and emergency medical supplies. He says you can donate to help Joel and his community here

Tedder said people can donate to help provide hot meals and groceries to help provide such things as toothbrushes, socks, and beds to Israelis at firmisrael.org.

Tedder says Joel reported hearing bombs and rockets in the area this morning. In general, Tedder says he's hearing that the nation's ''Iron Dome" air defense system is stopping about 85-90 percent of the rockets fired by Hamas.  But in the Jerusalem area this morning the defenses were approaching a 100 percent success rate. Tedder says the nation is pretty much shut down as the country weathers the attack. In some areas, Israeli soldiers are shutting off power as they try to hunt down terrorists. But while chaos reigns throughout the country, he says Israelis remain defiant, as dealing with the threat of terrorist attacks is nothing new for them, albeit not usually on this scale.

The attack, which appears to have taken the nation by surprise, began over the weekend. Top Israeli officials say the country is now at war with Hamas, which attacked from neighboring Gaza.

You can hear the entire interview with Mark Tedder below:

Here is more on the Hamas attack on Israel: