In the hours after a hijacked jetliner crashed into the Pentagon,
a Baptist chaplain moved among the injured, offering prayers and words of comfort
to the hurting.
As he did so, it dawned on Brigadier General Charles Baldwin
that a 20-minute coffee break and Gods grace were all that kept him from
being a victim.
In the hours after a hijacked jetliner crashed into the Pentagon,
a Baptist chaplain moved among the injured, offering prayers and words of comfort
to the hurting.
As he did so, it dawned on Brigadier General Charles Baldwin
that a 20-minute coffee break and Gods grace were all that kept him from
being a victim.
Baldwin is deputy chief of the United States Air Force chaplain
service. He was in a basement cafeteria at the Pentagon at 9:30 a.m. on Sept.
11. He planned to enjoy a cup of coffee and a few minutes of quiet between morning
meetings.
“I had just paid for my (coffee) when somebody came in
and said, Weve been bombed,” Baldwin said. “Had
it been 20 minutes later, I would have been on the fifth floor of the opposite
side of the building, where the plane crashed.”
Baldwins story is echoed by hundreds of others in the
days after the terrorist attack that damaged the Pentagon, devastated downtown
Manhattan and resulted in an airline crash in Pennsylvania.
For instance, had their chartered bus left the hotel on time,
a group of senior adults from Alabama would have been in the immediate vicinity
of the World Trade Center when the hijacked airliners hit the two towers.
As it turned out, the group from Liberty Baptist Church in
Chelsea, Ala., touring New York and Canada, were working their way downtown
when they noticed smoke billowing out of one of the World Trade Center towers.
A few minutes later, they saw the fireball from the second hijacked airliner
flown into the adjacent tower. “When you witness a tragedy, its so
different from watching it on television,” June Nivens said. “Its
just so much more real. You personally experience these peoples sadness.
You immediately realize that God is near and that your life is in his hands.”
Meanwhile, in Washington, D.C., a group of Arkansas Baptist
High School students were awaiting a facility tour at the White House when the
attack occurred.
But within minutes, a troop of security personnel, armed with
automatic weapons and dressed in black, approached the group informing them
of a bomb threat and ordering them to leave the building quickly and get away
from the White House. As they did so, a cloud of black smoke could be seen from
the direction of the Pentagon across the Potomac River.
For Louisiana native Michael Chance, the impact was even closer
to home. Chance is director of church development for the Baptist Association
of Metropolitan New York. In the hours after the attack, he was on the scene,
seeking to minister to bystanders and workers.
Then, as he rode a bus to work two days after the attack, he
looked out the window at the still-smoldering ruins of the twin towers and began
to cry. “I feel totally violated,” he said. “I feel grief, hurt.
This is the city I know and love. This is the city where I work and (where)
the people we minister to work.”
Without a doubt, the aftermath of the terrorist attack will
continue for a long time. However, as expected, Southern Baptists already have
been doing their part to help persons as they struggle through their anger,
bewilderment and grief.
A team of Southern Baptist chaplains from the Baptist General
Convention of Oklahoma were ministering to rescue workers in New York City just
days after the attack.
Many of the chaplains also had ministered at the site of the
1995 Murrah Federal Building bombing in Oklahoma City. In New York, they were
assigned to take charge of ministry at the temporary morgue set up near the
Ground Zero site.
Within hours of arriving, the chaplains observed a heart-wrenching
scene, said Sam Porter, mens ministry and missions specialist for the
Baptist General Convention of Oklahoma. “The guys found one of their fire
captains in the rubble,” Porter noted. “There were 40 firefighters
there, and they all gathered around the captains body and brought him
out – together. Then, they just stood there. The New York Police Department
brought in a few police units and escorted the captains body out of the
blast zone.
“Most of the time, they just bring out body parts.”
Jack Poe is head chaplain of the Oklahoma City Police Department
– and another veteran of the Murrah building bombing. He said the New York
City scene far surpasses what he saw in Oklahoma City. “With this much
carnage, its hard to see the similarities with Oklahoma City. Weve
got people in there who served in Vietnam, and theyre coming out of the
debris in shock. This is 100 times worse than Oklahoma City.”
Poe also acknowledged it is hard to keep ones emotions
checked when looking at the broken remains of the twin towers that once defined
the Manhattan skyline.
“You have to stay focused and on mission,” Poe said.
“Our mission is to provide comfort and spiritual guidance to these people.
Well process all of this for the rest of our lives.”
However, even as Americans fight to deal with the aftermath
of the attack, they are responding to meet needs.
For instance, Southern Baptist disaster relief workers quickly
were on the scene in New York City and Washington, D.C., preparing meals for
rescue workers and others. By the middle of last week, they had served more
than 70,000 meals.
Southern Baptists also were giving to relief efforts, both
through local agencies and the Southern Baptist North American Mission Board.
By early last week, more than $12,000 had been donated to relief efforts via
the mission boards Web site at www.namb.net alone. (Gifts also may be
mailed to the board at 4200 North
Point Parkway, Alpharetta,
GA 30022)
North American Mission Board President Robert Reccord listed
four key avenues of response for persons – prayer, giving blood, contributing
money to relief efforts and ministry.
“Your mission field is where you live,” he noted.
“We need to be able to give evidence of the hope that is within us as believers.
… You may not go to Washington or New York City, but you can go across the
street and minister in Jesus name.”
Meanwhile, Southern Baptist International Mission Board leaders
said overseas workers are reporting that God is at work in peoples hearts
because of the crisis.
“Missionaries will tell you that religious extremism has
been one of the greatest influences in turning people away from empty religion
(and) toward God and the gospel of hope,” board President Jerry Rankin
explained.
He also said workers in Muslim areas were being innudated by
calls expressing sympathy and concern, running counter to the view that the
Muslim world rejoiced at the attack.
Rankin urged people to pray for the families of those who
were killed or injured in the attacks, for emergency services workers, for the
safety of missionary personnel and national believers, for God to use the crisis
to turn entire people groups to Christ, for those who carried out the attacks,
for people who will be affected by military responses and for God to guide the
decisions of leaders and give them wisdom and sensitivity.
Meanwhile, more than a week after the September 11 events,
Baldwin reflects on his efforts to minister to victims, workers and grieving
family members at the Pentagon.
“At a time like this, you offer assurance that God did
not cause this to happen,” Baldwin said. “Evil people in the world
were the ones who attacked us. Where was God? God was present with those who
suffered. He was in the fire with them.”
The key is to offer incarnational ministry, Baldwin noted.
“The great chaplains privilege is to be present.
We are able to say, God is with you, and we are with you, too. …
“The constant message one delivers is simple. God does
not leave us when evil rises up. He is with us.”
(This article includes information from various Associated Baptist Press and
Baptist Press news releases)