October 1, 2001

Missionaries find outpouring
of sympathy around the world
___By Mark Kelly
___SBC International Mission Board
___RICHMOND, Va. (BP)--Although the attacks on the World Trade Center and Pentagon shocked and stunned Southern Baptist missionaries all over the world, they report God is at work in hearts all around them because of the crisis.
___They also ask Southern Baptists to pray that God would use the calamity to awaken Christians to the urgent need to take the news of God's love to all the world's peoples.
___"Just like you, I'm shocked, appalled and saddened by the events that took place yesterday morning at the World Trade Center and Pentagon," wrote Philip Johnson, a Southern Baptist missionary in Managua, Nicaragua, on Sept. 12. "Words cannot express my feelings adequately.
___"As this drama unfolded before us (on television), we felt drawn to pray for our nation, its leaders, our churches and missionaries around the world. We knelt on the floor ... and poured out our hearts to the Lord."
___Other missionaries found it hard to absorb the reality of what was happening.
___ "As for me, it doesn't seem real. I can sit here and watch CNN all I want, but ... the video that comes through the set seems like a movie that I've seen before," wrote Chris Turner, a missionary in Panama. "With the non-stop coverage, it is like a movie that never ends. Being so far away, it is difficult to grasp the magnitude of the lives lost, the destruction, the anger."
___ Southern Baptist workers were deeply moved, however, by what one missionary called "the incredible outpouring of grief, concern and solidarity toward Americans."
___"Across the street (from the U.S. embassy) were people who had gathered to lay flowers around the young trees in the sidewalk," wrote Monte and Janet Erwin, missionaries in Riga, Latvia. "Many were kneeling and lighting candles.
___"I was drawn to one young man (about college age) who was kneeling and holding a candle, with tears running down his face. I told him I was an American and I was moved by his compassion and the compassion of so many who had laid flowers and candles, and I thanked him. He immediately broke apart and embraced me, laying his head on my shoulder and weeping. I couldn't help but shed tears myself.
___"As I entered the consulate's section of the embassy, the guard handed me the telephone. It was a Latvian voice on the other end who said he had watched from an upstairs window and thanked me for the moment he had just seen out on the street. I knew immediately that Latvians and Russians stood with us in our grief."
___One missionary was struck by the intensity with which believers in Lima, Peru, prayed for America.
___ "About eight hours after the attacks on New York City and Washington, the National Prayer Movement of Lima, composed of evangelical leaders and church members from many denominations, gathered in Lima, as they do every Tuesday for a time of concerted prayer," wrote Randal Whittall. "In light of the day's events, the organizers invited me to bring a brief message as a representative of all American missionaries in Peru.
___ "I read from Psalm 103, seeking to remind us all that the measure of our faith was not how well we honored God in the calm, but if, like David, we could stand in the face of adversity and still cry out, 'Bless the Lord, O my soul.'
___"What followed was a time of intense intercessory prayer on the part of hundreds of Peruvian Christians. They lifted their voices to God on behalf of the United States and her leadership, for those families affected by the tragedy, and begged God to bring repentance and life-changing salvation to those responsible for such acts of violence.
___"It was a truly moving experience to stand in the presence of those for whom American Christians have prayed for many years, and now to hear the favor returned in our hour of need."



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