Inspire, Winter 2001

16 Winter 2001 people walking home, solemn and dazed. Nobody was rushing. Everyone was helping each other climb onto parts of the Queensboro Bridge. I can’t help but wonder if this was (on a smaller scale) much like the Exodus out of Egypt. It was sad. As I crossed the bridge with hundreds of people, I looked across the water and witnessed the billowing clouds of smoke and dust over downtown Manhattan. I thanked God that my mother wasn’t there, though she had been scheduled to be there for meetings. I prayed for those who may have survived and for the families that would find out they lost someone in that mess. The city is devastated. It is very sad. The situation is exhausting. In all my life I have NEVER seen my city in such a state. Please pray that New York City will turn its eyes back to God and that He may comfort the families. I cannot find the words to describe what it is like here. I love my city. It just brings tears to my eyes and breaks my heart to see the “City That Never Sleeps” so beaten and torn. For me this was so scary. Please pray for us, pray for this country, and pray that God will direct and guide our leaders. Please pray that God may give us the physical and emotional strength for the clean-up. But most importantly, please pray that He may give me the wisdom to know when and how to share His Word, as this is a very difficult and delicate situation. Please pray that Christians all over New York City will demonstrate His love and comfort. Pray that we will step through this open door boldly to share God’s plan of salvation, His love, and His faithfulness before the door shuts. Bumper Hidalgo ’93 O n September 22 I flew into LaGuardia to begin working with CitiVision, a non-profit Christian ministry in Manhattan. The first thing that struck me was how empty LaGuardia was; it was like a ghost town. It was apparent to me that the city was not the same. There was a tension that was not there just the month before when I had last visited. You could sense and feel the pain of the people. That next morning, a Sunday, I went with Tom Mahairas, the president of CitiVision, to Bronx Bible Church where he was speaking. We worshiped there and had an incredible experience. At the end of the service five people came to know Christ as their Savior, and one spoke of how she was an employee in Tower 1 and was not sure how she made it out alive, but wanted to be sure she would go to heaven when she died. That evening we met Rick DelRio, a pastor of Abounding Grace Ministries in Manhattan. He was the first of any clergy on the scene on September 11. He had been ministering for 18 to 22 hours a day since the attack. He began telling us of the incredible opportunities he was still having in sharing the gospel at Ground Zero. As an official police clergy member, he was able to share with countless officers and firefighters. [We then went] to Ground Zero. We approached the first checkpoint where armed soldiers and policemen stood guard. I could not believe I was seeing soldiers patrol the streets of New York City. Overhead flew F-16 fighters—something that I was not accustomed to. It was a frightening feeling to see all of this around me. We proceeded to three more checkpoints and arrived where the towers once stood. It is impossible to explain what I saw or how I felt. All around us there was massive destruction—buildings severely damaged and other structures burned and gutted out. As we continued to walk about, we could see small fires burning from the twisted metal and broken glass, and we could smell the stench of rotting and burning flesh. I began to speak with one of the police officers, and I remember him saying, “I have been here for 18 hours each day since this happened, and I still cannot get my head around it. Who would do something like this?” I asked him if I could pray with him, and he put his arm around me and asked me to do so. He then asked me for my e-mail address just in case he needed to speak to someone during this time. Everywhere we went, officers, firefighters, and construction workers were more than willing to have us pray with them. This was an obvious sign that God’s hand was at work even amid the rubble. We had many more opportunities to share the gospel and pray with people working at the site—they were so receptive. God was driving home the point to me that He was in control and was using this. I met people who had incredible stories of how their lives were spared. I met many who described running through the debris, trying to get away from the area, and yet they were not struck by one falling piece. Many more I spoke to talked of how they were late for work by just 15 minutes; had they been on time, they would have been killed. All of them, whether Christian or non- Christian, acknowledged that God was protecting them. During the week, we were able to meet many people and share the gospel with them. We were invited to hold a prayer meeting with the police officers of the 34th Precinct at the request of their commanding officer. We prayed with them and gave each a copy of the Jesus film. We left another box of videos and were told that they would be distributed. As the week progressed, we continually talked with the CitiVision staff about how open the doors were to share the love of Jesus. I have never seen the people of New York City and our country so willing to talk about Jesus. Many are coming to know Christ as a direct result of what transpired on September 11. What was meant for evil, God is using for good! photo courtesy of www.verizon-media.com