On this day in 2001, 19 terrorists
hijacked four jet airliners and flew two of them into the World Trade
Center, one into the Pentagon while the fourth was commandeered by
brave citizens who sacrificed their lives and crashed it into a field
near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I remember September 11, 2001 in
great detail (as I am sure many do)… I remember exactly what I was
doing when I got a call from a friend, telling me to turn on the TV.
A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I remember my shock
and horror at seeing the smoke billowing from the building and how
stunned I was to see the second plane hit the second tower. I
couldn’t believe that this was happening on American soil. This was
the kind of thing that happened in war- torn countries… “over
there” somewhere, then I came to myself and I knew exactly what I
needed to do.
hijacked four jet airliners and flew two of them into the World Trade
Center, one into the Pentagon while the fourth was commandeered by
brave citizens who sacrificed their lives and crashed it into a field
near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. I remember September 11, 2001 in
great detail (as I am sure many do)… I remember exactly what I was
doing when I got a call from a friend, telling me to turn on the TV.
A plane had crashed into the World Trade Center. I remember my shock
and horror at seeing the smoke billowing from the building and how
stunned I was to see the second plane hit the second tower. I
couldn’t believe that this was happening on American soil. This was
the kind of thing that happened in war- torn countries… “over
there” somewhere, then I came to myself and I knew exactly what I
needed to do.
I got dressed as quickly as possible,
got in my car and drove straight to church… to intercessory prayer,
where I knew I could be of the greatest service to all those who were
hurting in New York and D.C. As I walked in the door and stood
before the intercessory prayer leader, the first words out of my
mouth were, “reporting for duty”… which really shocked me
because I had never served in the military and the whole idea seemed
foreign to me, but I knew it was real, I knew I meant it and I knew I
was there to “throw down”. I knew that this wasn’t just a
physical battle, but a spiritual one and I was there to “war in the
spirit”… for the protection of my country, for the solace of the
families who lost loved ones and for those whose lives were hanging
in the balance… that they would live and not die. That was a very
intense prayer session. I spent several hours there praying, crying,
travailing… by the time I left, I was spent… but I knew I had to
do something more.
got in my car and drove straight to church… to intercessory prayer,
where I knew I could be of the greatest service to all those who were
hurting in New York and D.C. As I walked in the door and stood
before the intercessory prayer leader, the first words out of my
mouth were, “reporting for duty”… which really shocked me
because I had never served in the military and the whole idea seemed
foreign to me, but I knew it was real, I knew I meant it and I knew I
was there to “throw down”. I knew that this wasn’t just a
physical battle, but a spiritual one and I was there to “war in the
spirit”… for the protection of my country, for the solace of the
families who lost loved ones and for those whose lives were hanging
in the balance… that they would live and not die. That was a very
intense prayer session. I spent several hours there praying, crying,
travailing… by the time I left, I was spent… but I knew I had to
do something more.
As the days progressed and more news
came forward, I found myself watching TBN. Paul Crouch was
interviewing a pastor from a church at ground zero. The pastor
talked about how ministries from all over the world were coming to
“help” in New York, but few took the time to find out what the
ministries already there were in need of… and it was not very
helpful to the ministries who were already there… who knew the
people and the lay of the land. The number for this pastor’s church
flashed on the lower part of the screen and thought… “I’ll call.
Maybe I can leave a message for the pastor, get an address to send
them something… anything”. I dialed the number and to my
amazement, the associate pastor answered. I was so shocked to hear
an actual human being on the other end, it took a second before I
could speak. The associate pastor and I had a brief but very nice
conversation and it was surprisingly joyful. He and his congregation
had been through a lot and were definitely in need, but what they
needed most was prayer and it was so good to speak with a fellow
laborer and to know he was o.k., that his spirits were high and to
encourage one another. At that moment, I decided it was time I got
to know more of the body.
came forward, I found myself watching TBN. Paul Crouch was
interviewing a pastor from a church at ground zero. The pastor
talked about how ministries from all over the world were coming to
“help” in New York, but few took the time to find out what the
ministries already there were in need of… and it was not very
helpful to the ministries who were already there… who knew the
people and the lay of the land. The number for this pastor’s church
flashed on the lower part of the screen and thought… “I’ll call.
Maybe I can leave a message for the pastor, get an address to send
them something… anything”. I dialed the number and to my
amazement, the associate pastor answered. I was so shocked to hear
an actual human being on the other end, it took a second before I
could speak. The associate pastor and I had a brief but very nice
conversation and it was surprisingly joyful. He and his congregation
had been through a lot and were definitely in need, but what they
needed most was prayer and it was so good to speak with a fellow
laborer and to know he was o.k., that his spirits were high and to
encourage one another. At that moment, I decided it was time I got
to know more of the body.
I spent the next couple of months
visiting other ministries… doing street evangelism with Dream
Center here in Los Angeles, visiting Dyan Cannon’s ministry, “God‘s
Party”, I even found the Quaker House at USC and tried to make
contact with them (we were never able to connect). We increased
street evangelism at my home church and at the church were my mother
pastored. I made a special effort at her church to highlight how
special this country is to God, how important the people in this
minority, urban community are to God and how they should celebrate
God’s love for them and rejoice in being an American, because I know
due to bad treatment, that is something some minorities have a hard
time doing. I wanted that community to know that no matter what
anyone may have said to them or about them, God wanted them here, God
loves them and to walk in full ownership of the rights, privileges
and responsibilities of being an American… and above all, to defend
it.
visiting other ministries… doing street evangelism with Dream
Center here in Los Angeles, visiting Dyan Cannon’s ministry, “God‘s
Party”, I even found the Quaker House at USC and tried to make
contact with them (we were never able to connect). We increased
street evangelism at my home church and at the church were my mother
pastored. I made a special effort at her church to highlight how
special this country is to God, how important the people in this
minority, urban community are to God and how they should celebrate
God’s love for them and rejoice in being an American, because I know
due to bad treatment, that is something some minorities have a hard
time doing. I wanted that community to know that no matter what
anyone may have said to them or about them, God wanted them here, God
loves them and to walk in full ownership of the rights, privileges
and responsibilities of being an American… and above all, to defend
it.
That 4th of July, I along
with a group from my mother’s little church (about 6 of us… and
that was probably a third of the church) stood on the corner of
Crenshaw and Hyde Park in South Los Angeles, sparklers and little
flags in hand, and sang the Star Spangle Banner and “Battle Hymn of
the Republic” at the top of our lungs, waving little flags, waving
at cars and praying for people as they walked down the street….
people who needed prayer… people who gave a nod or words of
support… people who wanted to join in, and some did. Passing
drivers honked their horns and waved. It was a good 4th
of July, one of the best in my life and I was proud to be an
American. Proud to be born in a place where these words were true
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness…”
with a group from my mother’s little church (about 6 of us… and
that was probably a third of the church) stood on the corner of
Crenshaw and Hyde Park in South Los Angeles, sparklers and little
flags in hand, and sang the Star Spangle Banner and “Battle Hymn of
the Republic” at the top of our lungs, waving little flags, waving
at cars and praying for people as they walked down the street….
people who needed prayer… people who gave a nod or words of
support… people who wanted to join in, and some did. Passing
drivers honked their horns and waved. It was a good 4th
of July, one of the best in my life and I was proud to be an
American. Proud to be born in a place where these words were true
“We hold these Truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created
equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain
unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the
Pursuit of Happiness…”
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