By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
COLORADO SPRINGS, CO (ANS) -- The last time Lisa Gibson, a Christian attorney who lost her brother Kenneth Gibson on the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland, met with Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi, she told him about the love of Christ.
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Lisa Gibson with a new friend during a recent visit to Libya |
In an open letter sent by Lisa to the ASSIST News Service, she said:
Dear Gaddafi . . .
Please step down, because your reign of terror is up. Yesterday rebel troops moved into Tripoli taking possession of the city with little resistance. They have renamed Green Square Martyrs Square in honor of all who have lost their loved ones at the hands of your terror. I am one of them who lost my brother in the 1988 terrorist bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie.
Those that had supported you in Libya are now turning their back on you. They supported you out of fear, not love, respect or loyalty. Like an abused child who stands up for their abuser, they did so because that is what they have been required to do for the last 42 years of oppression. They are now realizing that their Brother Leader is really not a good Brother to them after all.
When I prepared to meet with you two years ago when you came to speak at the United Nations, God gave me a Scripture for you. It said "There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way to death." Proverbs 14:12 As we sat and talked in that meeting, for a very brief minute I saw your countenance soften and I saw your heart and humanity. It was as if God allowed me to see even for a brief moment who He had created you to be and how terribly off course you have gotten since than.
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Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi addresses the 64th United Nations General Assembly at the U.N. headquarters in New York on September 23, 2009 |
Your son Seif El Islam has been arrested. Once seen as a reformer and as the hope for the country, he helped to resolve the Pan Am 103 case and restore ties to the west. Now he too will face charges with you in the International Court for genocide.
For years the Libyan people have been subjected to tyranny, injustice, oppression and murder. Countless Libyans have been abducted at your hands, put in a dungeon under the city, or worse yet, murdered simply for disagreeing with you. For years, they have been branded as terrorist by the world community simply because they came from Libya. While all along it was you that was engaged in senseless acts of terrorism with the greatest number of victims being your own people. For years the Libyan people lived in constant fear of your regime. But they are no longer afraid and they have found their voice.
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Her brother Kenneth |
The Libyan people want a future. They deserve better. As an oil rich country, they should have a better, more stable life. They want to progress and develop. You have robbed them of this, and they want to see change. Just this summer I met with leaders of the National Transitional Council and they have already begun to focus on the future and rebuilding from the ground up. Just this week I have been dialoguing with one such leader who has asked us to bring in leaders in organizational management, administration, leadership, and ethics to train the Libyan leaders. We are responding to this request by finding qualified people to help.
So, in conclusion, I ask if there is any sense of humanity left in you that you would do the right thing. Leave before any more of my friends in Libya have to lose their lives. They have tasted freedom and are fueled by hope and conviction that you will never understand. Give them the opportunity to have the freedom, peace and prosperity that they desire. As young men and old have had to quickly learn to be soldiers they have fought this battle with limited training or weaponry.
I even met an old man in Benghazi who lost his son in the battle that was walking around collecting hand grenades and other weapons in a small child's back pack to give to the troops on the frontline. I read a famous quote on a wall in Benghazi that says "Give me liberty or give me death." For the Libyan people, this is the only choice.
Mr. Gaddafi, your time is up!
How she first met Gaddafi in September 2009
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Lisa (second left) shares her thoughts with Gaddafi in New York |
Lisa, whom I first met during a trip to Kurdistan, Northern Iraq, where she was a member of a "Culture of Life" delegation, told me, "Several years ago, when I launched out on this journey to be an ambassador of reconciliation with Libya, I had a dream. It seemed like a ridiculous dream at the time, but nonetheless very clear. In the dream, I had the opportunity to meet and share the love of Jesus with Muammar Gaddafi," she said.
"For several years now, I have been doing missions work in Libya. It is the most tangible way I have known how to overcome the act of terror that my brother was killed in for good," she said. It is the essence of the gospel, which calls us to love our neighbors as ourselves and to love our enemies.
"After waiting for several hours, we got word that he had been delayed. So, I left. At 5:30 pm, I received a call from the Libyan Ambassador who invited me to come to the Libyan Mission to meet the leader at 7:30 pm.
"So, myself and another young man who lost his father on the Lockerbie plane, were invited to a one-on-one meeting with Muammar Gaddafi. He shook my hand and we exchanged the general pleasantries. I shared with him that I have been to Libya three times and have truly fallen in love with the Libyan people.
"I also talked about the projects we are engaged in there. He was grateful. I also gave him a gift. A 'Cross' brand pen and a card. In the card I shared that I have been praying for him since my first trip to Libya in 2005, wished him the best for himself and the people of his country, and blessed him. Not the expected response to a known dictator and terrorist. But, when he opened the gift, his countenance changed. His previously stern demeanor softened for a moment and a genuine boy-like smile came to his face.
"It was truly a historical day by many standards. I have the t-shirt and umbrella with a welcome for his first trip to America to prove it. The western media were not present, only a small delegation of Libyan reporters when I met with Gaddafi. They filmed and asked us questions, but the world may never hear about it. But as I walked out of the Libyan Mission and on the way back to my hotel, I felt God's peace. I had fulfilled that particular mission.
While the rest of the world was spewing hate and rhetoric against him, one simple woman welcomed him to America and shared the love of Christ with him in the simplest ways I knew how. I pray that it will in some way make a difference."
For more information on Lisa Gibson's ministry, go to www.
| Dan Wooding, 70, is an award winning British journalist now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he has been married for 48 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS) and was, for ten years, a commentator, on the UPI Radio Network in Washington, DC. He now hosts the weekly "Front Page Radio" show on KWVE in Southern California which is also carried throughout the United States. The program is also aired in Great Britain on Calvary Chapel Radio UK and also in Belize and South Africa. Besides this, Wooding is a host for His Channel Live, which is carried via the Internet to some 200 countries. You can follow Dan on Facebook under his name there or at ASSIST News Service. He is the author of some 44 books. Two of the latest include his autobiography, "From Tabloid to Truth", which is published by Theatron Books. To order a copy, press this link. Wooding, who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents, has also recently released his first novel "Red Dagger" which is available this link. |
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