August 19, 2002
Survivors of Pakistan massacre preach God's mercy
___By Erin Curry
___Baptist Press
___NASHVILLE, Tenn. (BP)--Ghazala Amoon arrived at the Protestant International Church in Islamabad, Pakistan, 15 minutes late for the regular Sunday morning worship service. She had left her twin sons in the basement for Sunday School and sat down with her husband just a few rows from the back of the church.
___The March 17 service already had started, and everything was in perfect order, she said. Then her husband, Amoon Sharon, went to the car to treat a sinus infection, and she suddenly felt uncomfortable. She felt a pain in her legs and had a strange feeling of uneasiness. For no particular reason, she said, she worried that her children were alone in the basement. The pastor began his sermon, and everyone was silent.
GHAZALA Amoon and her husband, Amoon Sharon, tell Green Pines Baptist Church member Stacy Thompson about surviving the bombing of their church in Pakistan; in the background are their 8-year-old twins, Daud and Suleman. Thompson met the couple while on a mission trip to Pakistan several years ago and hosted the family on a visit to Raleigh, N.C. (Bob Carey/BP Photo)
___Suddenly, the silence was shattered.
___"We heard noise like a (fire) cracker in the foyer," Ghazala said. "I thought it must be some short circuit or something. After a second, a tall man came inside the church. He was wearing a pouch on his waist and had something in his hand. He started throwing grenades at the congregation. There was confusion, and the people got so scared and didn't know what was going on around them."
___She recalls seeing the church windows break, sending glass into the congregation. The chandeliers broke, and the curtains ripped and flew out. Blood splashed on the walls and ceiling.
___"Two rows ahead of me, a man was killed. I made a narrow escape by heading toward the door. The shrapnel hit my back. I slipped on pieces of glass and lost my shoes," Ghazala said. "I was feeling so helpless because Amoon wasn't with me, and the children were in the basement. I just didn't know what to do. Suddenly I started calling, 'Jesus, Jesus, please have mercy.' I felt his presence there, and I was sure he would not leave us or forsake us."
___At the car, Amoon heard the blast.
___"I was in shock. I couldn't control myself. I knew my sons were in the basement for Sunday School and my wife was in the very back rows of the sanctuary," he said. "I saw people coming out, but I didn't see my wife. I rushed to the basement, but my sons weren't there.
___"I ran back up to the sanctuary, and it was all filled with smoke. I was walking slowly so I wouldn't step on people who were lying on the floor. I didn't find my wife. I came out and saw her crying for Daud and Suleman."
___The 8-year-old sons, whose names when translated are David and Solomon, were not hurt because their Sunday School teacher had led them out a back door to safety.
___"Usually the door is locked and never used. It is usually stuck, so that we have to try three or four times to get it open. But it opened at once as the teacher tried to get the children out," Ghazala said. "Several days after the bombing, the teacher tried to open the door again, but he tried three or four times before it would open. My children tell me that Jesus and the angels opened the door for them that day."
___When Amoon, Ghazala and their sons were reunited, they took a deep breath and praised God.
___"Then my wife pushed me toward the church and told me to help people. I had a vehicle, so I was able to take them to the hospital," Amoon said. "I didn't know at the time that my wife was injured. I don't know how she took the pain."
___After taking others to the hospital, he learned that his wife had shrapnel in her back and sought treatment for her. The operation to remove the glass and other debris lasted three and a half hours. Four pieces still remain in the back of her legs. One of them is painful and may be removed in the future, but the deeper ones will stay.
___"The glass still in her gives us remembrance of the day we suffered for the Christ in that land where he put us," Amoon said. "That makes the purpose of life more clear. We are to serve God and use the mission he has given us to reach many more for Christ. I sometimes feel guilty that I was not with my wife at the time because she suffered everything by herself. But I could help the others who were injured so they could get medical attention."
___In all, five worshippers, including two Americans, were killed and more than 40 were injured, including four Southern Baptists. Protestant International Church is an evangelical, non-denominational fellowship popular among expatriates in Islamabad.
___Ghazala said the incident left her and her family confused and traumatized for about two months, but then God gave them courage.
___"Now we see that God is really merciful and faithful. He really took us out of that valley of the shadow of death," she said. "God spared us, and we believe he wants us to testify to his love and faithfulness to other people. He saved us from that place and really gave us a chance to experience his faithfulness and love."
___She added that sometimes God lets bad things happen, but from those bad things he opens new doors for good things.
___When the boys went back to school after the bombing, they told the other children how Jesus had sent the angels to open the door and let them out of the basement. When Amoon and Ghazala went to a parent-teacher meeting several weeks later, the parents of the children mentioned the story and asked about Jesus.
___"We were so blessed and so happy that God really opened a way to reach these people. We told them about Jesus and gave them Scripture so they can read it," Ghazala said. "Now we are in contact with them and are praying that they will come to know Jesus."
___Surviving the bombing has renewed the family's commitment to the mission opportunities God has given them through Alpha Missions, a carpet-weaving ministry started by Amoon and Ghazala in 1994.
___The couple, who can be reached via the Internet at amoon@comsats.net.pk, request that believers join them in praying for Pakistan because "the harvest is plentiful and the workers are few."
___"We are part of the army of God to reach the unreached," Amoon said. "We are on the battlefront, and we would like those in the back to support us."
___
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