Missionary narrowly misses Madrid bombing_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Missionary narrowly misses Madrid bombing

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

MADRID, Spain–Had it happened another weekday, David Dixon might no longer be dean of a Spanish seminary or pastor of an international church. And his three sons could have been left without a father.

Dixon normally rides the train that followed one of four that exploded March 11 in Madrid. He might have been waiting in the station when the train was bombed.

But that particular morning, Dixon's classes were pushed back to allow a visiting professor to teach. Dixon and his wife, Susie, heard about the explosions on television prior to 8 a.m.

The Dixons, former missionaries with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board who now are partially supported by several Texas Baptist churches, immediately recognized one of the trains. It was one many of their high school-age son's classmates took.

Spanish forensic experts inspect the bodies of victims of an explosion on a train outside Madrid's Atocha station. Texas Baptist missionary David Dixon narrowly missed being in the train station at the time of the tragic blast. (REUTERS/Kai Pfaffenbach Photo)

They thought about friends. They thought about church members. They thought about family.

The couple hit the phones and the computer. They tried to locate friends and neighbors. And they sent e-mail to overseas friends and family to let them know they were unharmed.

“Our phone rang all day long,” David Dixon said. “We got over 40 calls that day.”

Of more than 200 people who died, one directly affected those around the Dixons. A Filipino church member lost a cousin.

All the missionary children who go to school with their children survived unscathed.

While Susie Dixon continued answering the home phone, her husband went to the seminary. Classes were cancelled; schools around the nation closed to observe three days of mourning.

Seminary students held a prayer service where they asked for comfort and spiritual revival before going to a demonstration of solidarity against the acts, which have been linked to a terrorist group.

The nation began gathering in large groups to take a symbolic stand against the attacks.

One of the assemblies consisted of 2.5 million people. Flags with single black stripes were draped over balconies, displayed in cars and flown outside buildings.

Hotels offered free lodging to victims' families, and taxis provided them free transportation.

“Spain as a country was traumatized as the United States was as it watched Sept. 11,” David Dixon said.

Churches held prayer services where tears flowed. Spanish Baptists gathered March 16 at First Baptist Church in Madrid, near one of the damaged trains. A memorial of “M-11” was held March 20.

“This is a culture and society that shows a lot of solidarity,” Susie Dixon said. “That's shown brightly in this time of crisis.”

These terror events provide a unique chance for the 8,500 Spanish Baptists to share their faith in a nation where one-quarter of residents are spiritually involved, according to the Dixons.

Citizens are searching for hope. Believers can help them find it in Christ, the Dixons stressed.

“I hope people will consider the fleeting nature of life and realize their need for a savior,” Susie Dixon said.

By spreading the hope and love of Christ, Baptists are giving meaning to people's lives and leading them to have a relationship with God, David Dixon said.

Faithful living changes the purpose of lives and turns hatred to love, he said.

“It's the heart where terrorism arises,” he said.