Singaporeans Lam Baoyan and Rudy Taslim were in a bus travelling from Jerusalem, the capital of Israel, towards the Jordan River on the afternoon of June 13 when they noticed the bus windows shaking.

They looked outside and saw multiple explosions in the air. A loud siren began to sound outside, but not many people in the bus paid much attention. Instead, their fellow passengers were glued to the screens of their mobile phones, which had all started ringing at the same time.

State of emergency declared in Israel on June 13

All of them had received an emergency notification: A state of emergency had been declared in Israel. That meant that people needed to stay at home or head to the nearest underground bunker to hide whenever a siren rang. The Israeli airspace was shut down, as were all businesses and schools.

The bus that Baoyan and Rudy were travelling in, along with other international delegates who attended the Go Nations conference.

They would learn later in the news that this was because Israel had just conducted the first strikes of an air campaign targeting Iran’s nuclear programme and leadership.

At that time, however, most of the travellers on the bus, including their local tour guide, did not think much about the siren blaring outside.

“It is just a normal siren. It will stop in five or ten minutes,” the local guide remarked to his guests. Such sirens have become a part of life since the Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.

When a state of emergency is declared, usually only soldiers were seen out on the streets.

But Baoyan and Rudy, having had three years of experience in wartime rescue work in Ukraine, thought otherwise.

“They didn’t recognise the explosions in the air but I did. I knew it was not normal because it happened in the daytime – usually they happen at night. And instead of just ending with dust and smoke, the ground and windows were shaking for 20 to 30 seconds,” said Baoyan, who began searching for news updates and researching on evacuation routes immediately.

Yet seeing the calm nonchalance of their guide, she wondered if she and her husband were simply on high alert and highly strung after coming out of war-torn Ukraine the previous week.

Speaking to international church leaders about missions 

The couple were in Jerusalem to speak at a Go Nations conference organised by World Trumpet Mission. A few days before the air strike, Baoyan was just teaching and sharing her experience of taking God’s love and the Gospel to difficult and persecuted places in the world to hundreds of Bishops, Pastors and marketplace leaders in Israel.

Baoyan spoke about taking God’s love to the nations to church leaders from various nations at the Go Nations conference in Israel.

Baoyan and Rudy (in yellow shoes behind her) speaking to international church leaders about the need to bring the Gospel to difficult and persecuted places.

On June 13, they were travelling in a bus with other international delegates to head towards the Tiberias region. Baoyan was scheduled to help with the launch of the Go Nations headquarters there. It was meant to be a training centre from which to send out missionaries, set up in the very place where Jesus had commissioned his disciples to do so centuries ago.

Upon receiving the emergency alert, their unperturbed local guide decided to comply and head to an underground bunker.

Receiving emergency notifications of incoming rockets 

When the siren stopped ringing after half an hour, the group then proceeded to check into their accommodation for the night in the city of Nazareth.

Their hotel was also equipped with an underground bunker. At night, most of the hotel guests had already climbed down the stairs to hide in the bunker. 

All of them had received emergency notifications on their mobile phones: Rockets and missiles have been detected and they were due to strike in the next few minutes.

An emergency alert of rocket and missile fire due to strike their area coming through on Baoyan’s mobile phone.

Baoyan and Rudy remained in their hotel room.

“The bunker was full and we wanted to give the space to the elderly and the children. We had experience with war and rockets in Ukraine so we were more used to this than the others,” said Baoyan.

Minutes passed and indeed, the rockets came on time.

From their window, they saw the sharp, bright lights of the rockets lighting up the night sky as they soared forward. A few seconds later, they heard the thunderous boom upon impact – either from clashing with other rockets that were sent to deflect them or when they hit their targets. Then came the eerie sounds of people screaming and shouting in the distance as buildings crumpled like a deck of cards.

Missiles and rockets rained down on the country non-stop all night.

“You can see the rockets from Iran, and then the rockets from Israel clashing with them in an attempt to deflect those rockets. So, there’s an even greater explosion when multiple rockets come together,” said Baoyan, whose trained eye recognised these happenings. It was not the first time she had seen a rocket.

The glare of the rockets lit up the night sky like fireworks but their impact was far deadlier.

Fortunately for them, the red-hot strike zones were the cities of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv, which they had been moving away from. Both Baoyan and Rudy knew they were in a dangerous place, but were not fearful because they had experienced similar horrors of war in Ukraine.

Panic and chaos in the underground bunker 

The atmosphere in the bunker below them was different: Emotions were running high. Hotel guests were busy calling or receiving calls from their family members who were anxious about their safety and whereabouts. Whenever the phone reception became unstable, panic heightened and more crying ensued.

After witnessing the rocket attack, Baoyan and Rudy headed down to the bunker to check on their fellow delegates and other hotel guests, including teenagers who were on a school trip.

Seeing the worry and panic that had set in, they gave the people some quick instructions. They told them to stay away from any glass windows or mirrors which could shatter, and reminded them to have their water and mobile phones near them at all times, in the event that they get buried in the bunker.

Then the couple started to gather the people around them and led them in worship songs and prayers drawn from Psalms 46 and 91. As they were in the bunker for hours, Baoyan also shared with them her experiences in Ukraine and the miracles they had seen there.

Baoyan leading the people in the underground bunker in taking the holy communion.

“Some were believers and some were not. But it did not matter. When faced with chaos and the possibility of death, people just joined in,” Baoyan told Salt&Light.

Needless to say, none of them slept much that night. Some chose to return to their hotel rooms when the sirens went off, but others chose to sleep in the bunker as they did not want to have to climb down again each time the siren rang.

Baoyan could not help but wonder if God had meant for her and her husband to be in Israel for “such a time as this”.

“We had just come from Ukraine and we never expected to enter another conflict zone. I had not visited Israel for the last six to seven years and we were just here to speak and share our experiences with the international church leaders.

“But suddenly our wartime experiences came in useful here,” said Baoyan, who had not foreseen that she would be hearing sirens in the air and seeing young soldiers on every street as the nation braced in tension in another country.

One of the many checkpoints along the way.

The next morning, her group continued their journey towards Tiberias. There was nowhere else to go except away from the targeted conflict areas. By then, the other travellers around Baoyan were starting to believe her about the seriousness of the situation and were mulling over how to get out of the country given that the airport was closed.

The place of bold crossings

While they were on the way to Go Nations’ headquarters, the group took a short rest break east of the Jordan River.

Baoyan felt that the place was a spirituality significant one. It was a place where history and destiny met. It was there that Joshua led a nation across the waters into promise.

Rudy and Baoyan at a crossing of the Jordan river.

“It was a transition point where Joshua stepped into his destiny. Moses had just died and he took over the mantle. But he was also quite discouraged and God reassured him not to be afraid for He would be with him,” said Baoyan, adding that she identified with Joshua’s predicament.

She too, was feeling jittery, now that Joseph Chean, her pastor and mentor, passed away suddenly in 2023. Whenever the couple met with difficulty in the mission field, Joseph was the one that she and Rudy turned to for advice and prayer. Now, she found herself like Joshua, anxious about having to continue the missional work and now, having to lead the people in a time of war.

Thus, the land continued to speak to her – of bold crossings, fresh callings and hearts being made ready.

Unlike Ukraine where she and Rudy went into willingly and were mentally prepared to die if it came to that, it was different this time.

East of the Jordan River reminded Baoyan of significant moments Joshua, Elisha and John the Baptist experienced in the same place.

That night, they prayed and asked God how they ought to plan their escape route. Logically, it made sense for them to head to the borders of Jordan as it was just a two-hour drive away. But they discerned in the spirit that they were not to go that way.

Instead, they felt led to head southwards towards Egypt. That route did not seem logical at all as it was a 12-hour drive away and they would have to pass through the dangerous grounds of Jerusalem and Tel Aviv.

Shortly after, they realised why Jordan was a no go: News came that Jordan had decided to close its borders. Thankfully, they had not made a wasted trip down.  

The next morning, Baoyan and Rudy received a call from their “special network”. These were their friends in places of authority who were familiar with their work in Ukraine. Their special network had found out that they were stuck in Israel and had called to ask them if they needed help leaving Israel, volunteering to make arrangements for them to do so.

“Can you take me with you?” 

As the Singaporean couple packed their things to get ready to leave the country, an elderly pastor approached them.

“Can you take me with you? I trust you,” he said. Rudy, having a soft spot for older persons, agreed immediately. It was then that Baoyan felt that God was calling them to use their experiences and resources to help the others evacuate from Israel.

So they spread the word that they were leaving and offered to take those who wished to follow them.

The obstacles ahead of them were real.

Firstly, even if they were to make it safely down to the borders of Egypt, there was still the issue of visas. Unlike the Singaporeans and some others from Europe, there were many nationalities among them who did not have the visa-on-arrival option. That meant that it would take 10 days for them to apply for a visa to enter Egypt and even then, approval was not guaranteed.

Secondly, there were evacuation fees involved to secure transport down to Egypt’s borders. Everyone had to remain home during emergency, so it would be difficult and expensive to hire buses and drivers at this time.

With these in mind, Baoyan put in requests to her special network for help. They agreed to make arrangements for the visas and transport. It would cost S$236 a person to get on a bus to the Egyptian embassy for their visas to be processed. This was a significant markdown from the usual evacuation fees which would cost thousands of dollars.

Some 120 people ­– mostly Pastors and Bishops from the conference as well as other travellers they met along the way – from 18 different nations decided to follow Baoyan and Rudy to leave Israel.

However, there were some complaints and murmurings. One group was in denial. They felt that there was no real war happening and that the Singaporean couple were trying to scare them or impose unnecessary panic among the people.

Another group, upon hearing about the evacuation fee involved, felt that they were being cheated of their money.

A third group went into emotional meltdown because their families were calling them from overseas and their children were begging them to come home safely.

“In times of war, when there is panic, anxiety and pent-up frustration, all the emotions go wild. We have seen that before and it is very understandable,” said Baoyan.

“They may be ministers but some of them also get nasty when denial, distrust or the possibility of death surfaces,” she added.

Baoyan and Rudy chose to overlook offence and listen to the people patiently, while entreating them to trust them.

“It would have been much easier if we both just left on our own, but we knew that was not the way to go,” she told Salt&Light.

Baoyan was reminded by God that they cannot walk away and leave everyone but needed to be the Good Samaritan (this was where the story of Good Samaritan in the Bible took place) and render help to those in need of it.

Along the way, their four buses took a rest stop at Mount Sinai.

This was the very place where Moses had his burning bush encounter with God. God had sent Moses to Pharoah so that he could bring His people out of Egypt but Moses felt unqualified  for the heavy responsibility.

“He asked God: ‘Who am I? What if they don’t believe me?’ I found that I also had all these questions and feelings,” Baoyan admitted.

She used to not be able to understand why Moses and the people took so long to get to the Promised Land, instead lingering for 40 years in the wilderness.

“Now I understand. Our murmuring and our old mindsets can really delay us from our destiny,” she said.

Baoyan having a moment with God at Mount Sinai.

Baoyan also felt inadequate given the weight of responsibility that was now on her shoulders.

“Who am I to bring them out? I am just an Asian girl. Some of them have doubts and questions. Throughout the journey, I was thinking, ‘What if this doesn’t work?’ I have had children crying over the phone, pleading with me to bring their parents back to safety,” she recounted.

“If our plan didn’t work, we didn’t have any contingency plan. We would be stuck at the borders and still be in the dangerous land of Israel,” she added.

But God strengthened her with a burning bush encounter of her own. In her heart, she heard God tell her that He would be with her.

The journey down to the embassy in Egypt took longer than projected as they had to stop multiple times to seek shelter in underground bunkers whenever a siren rang.

Baoyan found herself studying maps, not for Scripture teaching but to plan evacuation routes and help lead people to safety.

An earlier moment when Baoyan was studying maps for Bible studies. The next moment, she found herself studying the maps for evacuation and having her own moment of “Moses leading people to the Promise land”.

After 18 hours, they finally found themselves at the embassy in Egypt for their visas to be processed. Unfortunately, by the time they arrived it was 7pm and the embassy was closed.

Again, Baoyan and Rudy made some calls to appeal for help. Their special network agreed to arrange for special evacuation visas for those in their group who needed them. All of them made a beeline straight for Egypt’s customs.

They arrived at Egypt’s border late at night and were told to queue up and wait. Feeling fatigued and having not eaten along the way, some of the people in their group began kicking up a fuss at the customs counter. They complained about being made to wait interminably.

Waiting to get their visas and clearing customs in the wee hours of the morning at Egypt’s borders.

Rudy helping to sort out the travel documents for people who followed them out of Israel.

“Perhaps like the Israelites just before the Red Sea parted, the murmuring was the worst at the moment just before we were given the visas to clear the Egypt customs,” Baoyan shared.

“Our special network was doing us a favour and I was so worried that we were spoiling our goodwill and reputation with them,” she told Salt&Light.

After four hours of waiting, the group of 120 people from 18 nations all received their visas at 2am on June 16. They could finally enter Egypt. 

Entering Egypt after a long journey.

Baoyan and Rudy then navigated them to get to their accommodation at 5am. After two hours of sleep, they proceeded to lead everyone to the airport in Cairo. This involved another nine hours of travel.

They had to cross the whole Sinai desert and go through the Suez Canal and Red Sea to get to the airport to fly back to their respective home countries.

“Most of them were thankful and they saw how God had given us such favour for us to get our documents and pass through safely in such a short time and at such a late hour in a time of war,” said Baoyan.

On June 18, Baoyan and Rudy landed safely back home in Singapore.

Two precious lessons from the Lord

After 12 days of conflict where Israel’s airspace was closed, Israel opened its skies for air travel on Tuesday night (June 24).

Meanwhile, a ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to be holding out, despite both sides accusing the other of violating the truce in the hours immediately after it was announced on Monday (June 23). 

Looking back at the journey she had just taken, Baoyan was reminded about how God never wastes the wilderness.

“Every trial becomes a trail for someone’s else rescue,” she said.

At the frontline hospitals in Ukraine, she was often disillusioned with how endless the war there seems to be. It has been three years and it is still going on. Each time she and Rudy send bodies or body parts back to their respective families, Baoyan feels the intense pain of being out in utter wilderness.

But she acknowledges that it was because of her wilderness experience in Ukraine that she and Rudy could respond quickly in Israel. With the help of a trusted network, they were able to coordinate transport, map safe routes, share real-time updates and evacuate people from 18 nations successfully by obtaining special visas.

Through this episode, Baoyan felt God was teaching her two precious lessons.

Back in Ukraine, God had put it on her heart to not only rescue able-bodied persons from the frontline, but also the weak and disabled.

“In Ukraine, their wheelchairs were all blasted away and they were crawling on the floor, but it was easy to drag those with disabilities to safety. In Israel, some of the people were able-bodied but it was so difficult trying to convince them to leave,” she observed.

“Moses said the people’s hearts were hardened and they were slow to believe. That’s why they didn’t enter the Promised Land. I felt God was teaching me to always be broken and dependent on Him, like those with disabilities, instead of being stubborn or strong-minded, so that He can always mobilise us and rescue us,” she added.

What Baoyan found ironic was Moses and Joshua were leading the people out of Egypt, but this time she was leading her group into Egypt.

“I felt that it is spiritually symbolic that I still have unfinished business in Israel. God was speaking to me about the urgency of the hour in metaphorically leading people into the true Promised Land ­of knowing God by fulfilling the Great Commission,” said Baoyan.

“And to do so, I don’t need to be a strong person with three years of experience in Ukraine. I need to be a broken and dependent person in order to be mobilised by Him to undertake such a high calling that is the Great Commission.”

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