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Terrorism: Covenanters Continue to Share Reports
CHICAGO, IL (September 23, 2001) - Reports continue to filter in from members of Evangelical Covenant churches following terrorist attacks September 11. The accompanying photo shows a group of students at the new Alaska Christian College as they pause for reflection around an American flag flying at half-staff in honor of all who lost their lives.
The brother of former Christian Education (now Formation) staff member Bobbie Bower is a firefighter in New York City and remains on the missing persons list. Bruce Van Hine and his wife, Anne, have two daughters. A memorial service for Van Hine was scheduled for September 29 at Maranatha Church of the Nazarene in Paramus, New Jersey. In lieu of flowers, the family suggested donations to Camp Taconic, 64 White Drive, Milan, New York, 12571. Funds will be used for summer camp scholarships. "Please pray for Bobbie and our family at this most difficult time," said Ken Bower. "Bruce was a strong Christian who loved his work."
Covenant pastor Lois Stewart had a busy day on the Thursday following the terrorist attacks, ministering to travelers stranded at John F. Kennedy (JFK) International Airport. An assistant chaplain at JFK, Stewart is the interim pastor at Floral Park Community Church, a Covenant church located just outside of New York City. Five years earlier, Stewart helped counsel TWA staff following the crash of TWA Flight 800 in Long Island sound.
The father of North Park University student Patty Baum reportedly was on a September 11 morning flight from Boston to New York City that was ordered to return and land at the Boston airport. He was scheduled to be at the World Trade Center.
The Evangelical Covenant Church's senior military chaplain requests prayer for all military chaplains who are providing moral and spiritual guidance to military leadership, as well as members of the military and their families. In a letter to ECC President Glenn Palmberg, Gary Dallmann of Camp Pendleton writes, "These are certainly difficult times that call us to evaluate our most fundamental beliefs and values . . . and then wisely to act upon them. I pray that values of the Kingdom of God will be realized in all we say and do - individually and as one nation under God."
Due to the immediate shutdown of the air traffic system and interrupted communications following the September 11 terrorist assaults, a pastor in Elim, Alaska, was prevented from calling or being at his terminally ill father's side when his father died the following evening. "As God sometimes moves in mysterious ways, my father was in Saint Vincent Hospital in Manhattan, not two miles from the World Trade Center," said pastor Vince Motola. "This made it impossible for me to call and say my last goodbyes, or even for my sister to be by his side."
Motola and his brother-in-law were with an architectural firm and worked on construction of the World Trade Center towers years ago. "We were quite proud of our contributions to this monument of man's achievements," Motola recalled. "My brother-in-law even put a letter in one of the columns, sort of turning it into a giant time capsule. That's how sure we were that it would be around for the next 200 years. As I watched the towers crumble, Isaiah.30:25 and 2:12-18 came to mind - that nothing man makes, nor any earthly attachments, will last."
A letter of condolence was received from the Congo Church shortly after news of the attacks spread.
"We have been greatly moved as we have heard about, and continue to learn more about, the troubling acts of terrorism into which our brothers and sisters in America have been plunged, particularly for our brothers and sisters in New York and Washington," writes Pastor Gbuda Luyada, president of the CEUM. "Some of us were able to see on television the images of the events and we all have closely followed by radio the details that are so difficult to stomach.
"In our country of the Democratic Republic of Congo, we have lived through suffering without precedent in our experience since 1996," he continued. "We realize that the events which have
taken place in your country call us to share your indescribable pain. We don't have words adequate to explain our emotion and our sympathy. We entrust you to the grace of our Lord. Your brothers and sisters here in the CEUM think of you daily as we pray together. May the peace and the consolation of our Lord heal the wounds in your hearts."
A letter of support from the Free Evangelical church of Germany also was received at Covenant offices. "We are shocked about the awful acts in New York and Washington in the last days and we pray for you and the people in your country," writes Peter Strauch of the Bund Freier Evangelischer Gemeinden.
In Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, "There was standing room only at the College of Medicine's interfaith chapel service held at Royal University Hospital in response to the terrorism tragedies in the USA," reported Covenanter Melsie Waldner. "Students, faculty, staff and hospital patients attended the Friday (September 14) noon-hour service led by Covenanter Dr. Sheila Harding, director of medical education at the University of Saskatchewan.
"This has been quite a week," began a personal note from Donald Njaa, former executive director of the Department of Ministry. "As you know, three persons in our family work for airlines. John, an American Airlines pilot, and David, a Northwest Airlines pilot, were both at home. Sarah, a
Northwest flight attendant, was stranded in Minneapolis for three days. We are very grateful
that we were affected so slightly, but since we think about flying so much, we are very aware of how some other people must feel.
"I have been thinking of all of this a bit more deeply," he continued. "All of us are deeply troubled and don't know just what to do or how to react. Our lives will not be the same for some time."
In an update from Stockholm, Sweden, pastors Doug and Jodi Mullen Fondell shared insights from International Fellowship, the English speaking ministry of Immanuel Church. "Sunday (September 16) we had a standing-room-only crowd at our service with many people gathering who don't usually attend church," the Fondells write. "It was a glorious morning as we gathered with God's people and affirmed the centrality and Lordship of Christ. A high moment was when a man from Nigeria sang His Eye is on the Sparrow as an affirmation of God's care and concern for us. We shared in the three minutes of silence last Friday - it was moving to stand together and then to hear the bells of Immanuel church ring out. We continue to pray for those most deeply touched by the loss."
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