‘Count your blessings’ -- a poem for 9/11

By Debbie Cohen
Special to ASSIST News Service
NEW YORK CITY, NY (ANS) -- I wrote “Count Your Blessings” in 2005 right before the 4th Anniversary of the Twin Towers attack in honor of all the first responders who helped rescue many of the victims in the burning buildings, search for lost loved ones among the rubble and gave their all not thinking of their own lives so they could save others.

Twin Towers

I wrote it in my home as I was reflecting and praying about all the people who lost their lives on 9/11 and how their families were going to cope with their loss.
When the first plane hit I was home with my husband and two dogs when a friend called us and told us to turn on the news and watch the horrific details. It was very shocking and surreal that the towers crumbled as they did.
I still recall plumes of smoke reaching Queens – New York - where I lived. The smell of smoke and the soot seemed to reach all of the boroughs of New York City.
It was truly a frightening experience, but I knew this would bring many closer to the Lord, which it did. To think of all the loss and grief everyone was suffering has been inconceivable. Yet, through all this I knew the Lord was in control even in the midst of evil. And now a decade has past and all I can say is “let us never forget” and we should always pray for the Lord’s protection.
Count Your Blessings
By Debbie Cohen
Never forget the Twin Towers fall
Always remember several heroes gave their all
Huddled together in disarray
All the world’s Pastors continually prayed.
They prayed that we can start anew
Rebuild, recount and remember too
Never take for granted living day by day
Count Your Blessings and help others along the way.
A disaster can strike at anytime
Terrorists can blow things up at a drop of a dime
But we have freedom and love for our land
We will not fear or bury our heads in the sand.
Look around and cherish our democracy
Do not listen to the terrorist’s hypocrisy
We will never forget that sullen day
America stood and it will always be that way.

---

Debbie Cohen is a Christian freelance journalist based in the the Queens area of New York City and can be contacted by e-mail at Cdebreporter@aol.com.

---

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Extraordinary 9/11 virtual ‘candlelight’ prayer vigil to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the attack on the United States, takes place at the end of Greg Laurie’s Los Angeles Harvest at Dodger Stadium

The outreach was attended by 50,000 people and 5,934 decisions for Christ were recorded

By Dan Wooding
Founder of ASSIST Ministries
LOS ANGELES, CA (ANS) -- On Saturday, September 10, 2011, the night before the tenth anniversary of 9/11 national tragedy that rocked the United States, something quite extraordinary occurred at the conclusion of Greg, Laurie’s Los Angeles Harvest that brought some 50,000 people to Dodger Stadium, with 5,934 decision for Christ being recorded.

The virtual 9/11 cell-phone 'candlelight' vigil

The huge crowed were asked to download to their smart-phones, an App that replicated a burning candle and then, as the stadium darkened, they were asked to hold up their cell phones as The Katinas led the people in song in commemoration of 9/11.
The stadium was filled with reverence and awe after hearing Greg Laurie share the hope any and every one can have in Jesus Christ as their personal Savior and Lord and Chuck Smith, pastor of Calvary Chapel Costa Mesa, said a prayer for the survivors of the 9/11 attacks.
Before that, Laurie had said, “Hope has a name and it is Jesus Christ.”
This was is believed to have been the largest gathering in the nation to commemorate the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks and took place as a contrast to New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s decision to exclude any prayers from clergy at ground zero in Sunday’s official ceremony that was met with criticism from many Christian leaders, including Laurie.
The one-night evangelistic outreach, called the “Los Angeles Harvest,” was being hosted by more than 330 churches throughout Los Angeles County and beyond, and utilized 4,000 volunteers. In addition to the message presented by Laurie, the Los Angeles Harvest featured music from top name Christian musicians Chris Tomlin, Kirk Franklin, Jeremy Camp, and The Katinas, and an interview with special guest Louis Zamperini, a World War II prisoner of war survivor and a former American Olympic long-distance runner (1936, Berlin), who shared his story of faith.

Dan Wooding interviews Greg Laurie at Dodger Stadium (Photo: Alex Murashko Jr.)

Before the event began, which brought out the largest single-night crowd that has attended a Harvest Crusade in its 22 year history, Laurie, the pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., spoke to me about why he had chosen Los Angeles to hold this historic outreach.
“We’re here because this is Los Angeles, one of the most influential cities in all of the nation -- in fact in all of the world -- and we thought. ‘Let’s go to the epicenter of where so much media takes place to see if we in some way can influence the influencers,’” he said. “We’re coming here with the simple message of the gospel. I don’t know when there has been a large scale evangelistic event held in recent history and so we want to come back and say God loves you here in the City of Angels and you can come into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ.”
I then referred to 94-year-old Olympian and War Hero, Louis Zamperini, who was to be one of the speakers, and I asked Laurie why he had invited him to share his testimony.

Louis Zamperini lights the Olympic torch he carried at the 1984 Olympic Games(Photo: Brad Graverson)

He said, “Well Louis has an amazing story which is recorded in the book Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption [which was written by Laura Hillenbrand, the acclaimed author of Seabiscuit]. I’ve gotten to know Louis a little bit and I think he’s got one of the most mesmerizing stories I’ve ever heard of.
“It is a story of survival against all of the odds. But also Louis is a hometown boy and went to school here and also to USC. He even has an airport named after him called ‘Zamperini Field’ and actually, before he comes over here and joins us at Dodger Stadium, he’s going to be ‘flipping the coin’ for the USC-Utah game at the Coliseum. So we thought that we’ve got to have Louie here in his own city.”
The Los Angeles Harvest featured a message from Greg Laurie on Hope and music from Chris Tomlin, Kirk Franklin, Jeremy Camp, and The Katinas and the event was interpreted in Spanish and Korean, and signing for the deaf was provided.

Greg Laurie

During his message, and speaking of 9/11, Laurie said, “God did not do that. Wicked people did that.”
The evangelist/pastor went on to say that a poll found that the top question people have for God is why tragedies like 9/11, tsunamis and earthquakes happen, and why emotional turmoil of divorce and the death of loved ones occur.
Laurie said, “Maybe some of you are angry with God because something happened to someone you loved and you just can't reconcile that. How does God allow bad things to happen to good people? You know what, my answer is, I don't know?”
Laurie said the Bible teaches that believers will find out the answers to this and other questions when they're in heaven.
But Laurie said to go to heaven people must first of all accept Jesus as their personal Savior, confess their sins and ask for forgiveness.

The huge crowd of people at Dodger Stadium who flooded the field to receive Christ

After he made a call for people to receive Christ, thousands of Angelinos then streamed out onto the field to make a profession of faith in Christ, filling the outfield behind the extensive stage that stretched over first, second and third bases.
“That has never happened before,” a stunned Laurie said as he surveyed the completely filled outfield. “We made history tonight at Dodger Stadium.”
The Los Angeles Harvest outreach was extended around the world as it was broadcast live on the Internet at www.harvest.org. Also, there were “Behind the scenes” updates from Greg Laurie that were posted on his blog at blog.greglaurie.com, as well as on Twitter at twitter.com/greglaurie   and on Facebook at facebook.com/harvest.greglaurie 
With a trademark ability to present a straightforward gospel message in a culturally relevant format, drawing on the latest in current events, contemporary Christian music, and technology, Greg Laurie’s Harvest events have drawn more than 4.2 million people to stadiums and arenas around the world since 1990. Laurie also serves as senior pastor of Harvest Christian Fellowship in Riverside, Calif., one of the largest churches in the U.S., and serves on the board of directors for the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
Note: I would like to thank Robin Frost for transcribing the Greg Laurie interview.

---

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.

---

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

Victims of 9/11 Attacks Remembered in Jerusalem

By Michael Ireland
Senior Correspondent, ASSIST News Service
JERUSALEM, ISRAEL (ANS) -- Six thousand miles from US soil, Israelis joined Americans today at the Jewish National Fund September 11th memorial in Jerusalem, in order to commemorate the most horrific terrorist attack in US history, which cut short the lives of nearly 3,000 people.

Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon laying a wreath at the September 11th Memorial in Jerusalem (Photo Credit: Yossi Zamir).

Israeli Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon gave the keynote speech to the invited guests, which included Knesset members, Israeli Cabinet ministers, the US Ambassador to Israel, as well as many families of the victims of 9/11 and other distinguished guests, according to Elisa Moed, founder of www.travelujah.com

Ayalon’s speech occurred at the new Jerusalem memorial, created by the Jewish National Fund (JNF), which is the only place outside of New York that recognizes the names of the people who were killed on 9/11 and their countries of origin.
Ayalon said Jewish tradition views every individual as created in God's image. “That is why the Jerusalem Talmud teaches that: ‘He who saves even one person's life, it is as if he saved the entire World.’
“September 11th, to quote former U.S. President Roosevelt is ‘a date which will live in infamy,’” Ayalon said.
“Even 10 years after the horrendous terror attack, we are still shaken to our core by the enormity of this heinous and cowardly act.”
Ayalon continued: “More than 3,000 innocent Americans and people from around the world, including Israeli citizens Alona Avraham, Leon Lebor, Shay Levinhar, Daniel Lewin, Haggai Sheffi, lost their lives in the course of an hour and a half.
“Thousands of families in the United States and across the globe, including Israel, suffered losses for which there is no compensation or consolation. If we reference our tradition, we can well ask; ‘How many worlds were destroyed on that day?’"

Ayalon stated: “Those who attacked America on Sept. 11th, 2001 did so not because of what America does or does not do, but because of what America is and what it represents to the entire world. This can be summed up in two words: ‘Democracy’ and ‘Freedom.’ Core values which both Israel and the United States share.”

He explained: “Democracy enshrines the ideal of an individual's worth and equality within society.
“Freedom ensures that every individual possesses the basic rights of expression, conscience and physical safety. Democracy and Freedom are ideas which are the antithesis of those held by the mass murderers, who perpetrated the atrocity on September, 11th.”
Of the 9/11 terrorists, Ayalon said: “They sought, and their successors seek, to forcibly establish, by violence, a world which will be coercive, backward and devoid of basic dignity for the individual. A world where people will be forced to live in fear of organized and government sanctioned violence.

“Israel, which has unfortunately known all too well, the terrible price that terrorism inflicts upon individuals and society, stands with America in its continuing battle for Democracy and Freedom.
“Know that we are at you side as you defend the core values of our civilization and pursue, in righteous anger, those who would destroy our lives and our societies.”
Ayalon continued: “We also know that you are by our side. Yesterday, we once again witnessed that in our hour of need, America is always ready to assist the State of Israel. The Government of Israel wishes to thank President Obama and all of the American officials who were involved in the bringing to safety of Israeli diplomats and their families from Cairo.

“These events served as just another example of the close relationship between our nations encompassing all levels,” he said.
“Finally, a word about the American people. In Israel, we remember the quiet but determined courage of the American people that dark day ten years ago, and the days that followed. We remember the heroism and dedication of those serving in the emergency services that leaped into the carnage and inferno in the hope of saving lives, many of whom subsequently lost their lives in the ultimate sacrifice.

“Israelis recognized the greatness and exceptionalism of the American people in the images and stories from that day. These are the images and stories of a people who will not bow to terror and violence,” he said.

He added: “Israelis and Americans mourn together the loss, share the pain and collectively continue to defend the future. A future, where those who crave life and freedom will triumph over those who seek death and destruction."

According to Jewish National Fund Director Russell Robinson, the Living Memorial in Jerusalem is "a place for visiting dignitaries -- presidents, prime ministers, ambassadors, and citizens of the world -- to come together to remember, reflect and heal.
"More than anything we hope that this Living Memorial will remind us to reaffirm our commitment to tolerance, the unity of mankind, and democracy."

---

** Michael Ireland is Senior Correspondent for ANS. He is an international British freelance journalist who was formerly a reporter with a London (United Kingdom) newspaper and has been a frequent contributor to UCB UK, a British Christian radio station. While in the UK, Michael traveled to Canada and the United States, Albania,Yugoslavia, Holland, Germany,and Czechoslovakia. He has reported for ANS from Jamaica, Mexico, Nicaragua, Israel, Jordan, China,and Russia. Michael's volunteer involvement with ASSIST News Service is a sponsored ministry department -- 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' (MIMM) -- of A.C.T. International of P.O.Box 1649, Brentwood, TN 37024-1649, at: Artists in Christian Testimony (A.C.T.) International where you can make a donation online under 'Donate' tab, then look for 'Michael Ireland Media Missionary' under 'Donation Category' to support his stated mission of 'Truth Through Christian Journalism.' Michael is a member in good standing of the National Writers Union, Society of Professional Journalists, Religion Newswriters Association, Evangelical Press Association and International Press Association. If you have a news or feature story idea for Michael, please contact him at: ANS Senior Reporter

---

** You may republish this story with proper attribution.

9/11 10th Anniversary Tribute Song: 'We're a City On Its Knees'

Healing the Wounds of 9/11 - Must See YouTube Video Offers Hope & Healing for Victims, Families & Country

NASHVILLE, Sept. 9, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- It is a moment etched in our collective consciousness. And for most of us, if we close our eyes and concentrate, we can recall moment-by-moment where we were when we first heard about the September 1, 2001 attacks.  

September 2011 marks the 10th Anniversary of the attacks.  The Nashville TN produced music video - We're a City on its Knees - pays tribute to the victims, their families and first responders.

Please watch this YouTube video and share it on your media outlets and web sites: 
www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4dSNI9F8Ck 

Jeff Richfield, producer of the project, hopes that the video will help the victim's families of 9/11 in a profound way by offering hope and healing.  He is also asking for all media outlets to play and promote this video because all song downloads go toward building The Nashville House of Prayer -- a prayer house committed to praying for the best for our country and world.  To learn about the Nashville House of Prayer, please visit www.NHOP.com.

About the Producer - Jeff Richfield is a musician and composer dedicated to using music for healing the nations. He wrote We're A City On Its Knees months before the 9/11 attack out of a place of his own struggles that stretched his faith. He was asked to play the song live May of 2001 in Washington D.C. at our nation’s capital. He has now launched it as a movement of prayer and justice that ultimately will reach out to all cities in need of prayer.

For further information, please contact Jeff Richfield atnashvillehouseofprayer@gmail.com, 9 Music Square South, Ste 270, Nashville TN 37203, 615-405-9454, www.nhop.com.

Video has over 70k YouTube views as of 9/8/11. Video Producer – Jeff Richfield, Video Director -- Ken Shaw www.kenshawfilms.com, Lead Vocal - Award-Winning Vocalist Leo Johnstonwww.crosscountryministries.org/home.html; Choir -- TN Pastors, People of Prayer & Concerned Citizen's from Nashville, Clarksville & beyond.

Patriots and patriotism

By Bill Ellis
Special to ASSIST News Service

SCOTT DEPOT, WV (ANS) -- This weekend we have turned our attention toward the things that are most important to millions of people in the United States and the rest of the world – God, family and country.



As we celebrate “Patriot Day”, our attention turns to another 9/11, a day of infamy, just 10 years ago. First responders did all they could, some died in their attempt to save others. They were firefighters, policemen, the medics and other rescue workers. As a nation watched, we were asking why? Who? What? When?

We watched as buildings burst into flames, we saw people jump to certain death, the sirens wailed, suffocating smoke and ashes robbed thousands of clean air. People ran to escape the danger. Many stopped on their way to help others escape.

As we learned about what was going on in other parts of the nation in addition to the Twin Towers in New York City, the anxiety and bewilderment mounted. The Pentagon in Washington, D. C. was attacked and a plane crashed in Pennsylvania. No planes were allowed to fly. Airports were closed.

Men, women and youth of many ages were ready to do whatever they could to help. They were feeling a little of what Joseph Addison meant when writing, “What a pity it is that we can die but once to save our country.”

I recall when I was teaching a college speech class a young man became very excited about the tie I was wearing. It was striped in the bright colors of his homeland, Kenya, East Africa. An educator in that beautiful and magnificent country gave it to me. In many countries, I have found that people love the land of their birth.

When I was living in the grand city of Decatur, Illinois, I met a man who would stand at the top of the list of the most amazing men I have ever known. He was born in Tricarico, Italy, October 7, 1909. Five months before he was born, his father, Rocco, came to the United States to work in the coal mines of Decatur.

Antonio Romano was affectionately known as “Tony” in his adopted home town of Decatur and throughout the world. Few men have ever been as well known in so many places as he was. The entire Romano family was one of the finest I have ever known. They introduced pizza to Decatur and appropriately called it “Romano’s Pizza”, and by far, it was the most delicious pizza I have ever eaten. Our family, Kitty, Elizabeth, Mark, and I, helped Antonio eat the last pizza they ever made.

Tony was a devout Christian, led to faith in Jesus Christ by his beautiful wife, Cleo Fair Romano. They had three talented daughters, Toni, Sandi and Susan. This little dark haired five-year old immigrant lad came with his beautiful mother, Domenica, to settle in Decatur on June 28, 1914.
When he retired on December 31, 1971, he had worked as a senior electrician for the A. E. Staley Company for 39 years, had spent 33 years with the United States Marines in active and reserve duty, and saw action in World War II and the Korean War.

He was of brilliant mind and warm heart. A widely known speaker, he traveled abroad for conventions and conferences 18 different times. He took seriously the words of Jesus, “Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations . . . I am with you always, even to the end of the age” (Matthew 28:19-20).

He was a patriot like Nathan Hale, “I only regret that I have but one life to lose for my country.” Dr. Antonio Romano was one of the greatest men I have ever known. If Decatur has a “Patriots Hall of Fame”, he should be in it.
-30-

---

Bill Ellis is a syndicated columnist, and convention and conference speaker on every continent. He is the writer of more than 2,000 newspaper and magazine columns, articles and contributions to books. He is also a widely known motivational speaker and pulpit guest who utilizes enjoyment of life and just plain fun and laughter while speaking to high school, university and professional sports teams as well as to business and professional groups of all kinds. His keen understanding of human problems makes him a favorite speaker for youth, parent, and senior adult meetings. He is accompanied by Kitty, his wife, favorite singer, editor and publisher. For information on becoming a subscriber to the Ellis Column for your newspaper or magazine, you may contact him at: BILL ELLIS, P.O.Box 345, Scott Depot, WV 25560 or by calling: 304-757-6089.

Join the Rally Remembering the Victims of the 911 Jihad Attack at Ground Zero

NEW YORK, Sept. 8, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The human rights organization American Freedom Defense Initiative (AFDI) will be hosting its second annual 9/11 Freedom Rally on September 11 at 3pm at Park Place and West Broadway.

Free citizens are coming from all over the U.S. to attend the rally. "It is crucial to stand for freedom on this tenth anniversary of the heinous 9/11 jihad attacks," said AFDI Executive Director Pamela Geller. "We must show the jihadists we are unbowed in the defense of freedom."

AFDI and its Stop Islamization of America (SIOA) program are encouraging all Americans to stand against the Islamic supremacist mega-mosque at Ground Zero and the anti-Semitic Durban III conference that will be held in New York City at the same time, and for American values on the tenth anniversary of the worst attack ever on American soil.

The confirmed list of speakers includes 9/11 family members Rosaleen Tallon, who lost brother Sean Patrick Tallon, a reservist in the United States Marine Corps and firefighter with Ladder Company, Alexander and Maureen Santora, who lost their firefighter son Christopher; Sally Regenhard, whose son Christian was killed on 9/11; Nelly Braginsky, who lost her son Alexander; and others.

Other speakers include former U. S. Ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton (video message); German MP René Stadtkewitz, leader of Germany's Freedom Party; the courageous ex-Muslim human rights activist Wafa Sultan; war hero and North Carolina Congressional candidate Ilario Pantano; former prosecutor and bestselling author Andrew C. McCarthy; Alan T. DeVona, a World Trade Center Patrol Sergeant who was on duty during the 9/11 jihad attack; Canadian free speech activist, author, publisher and radio host Ezra Levant; popular radio host Joyce Kaufman; Darla Dawald, National Director of the Patriot Action Network; James Lafferty of the Virginia Anti-Sharia Taskforce (VAST); Coptic Christian activist Joseph Nassralla; Iraqi ex-Muslim Michael Paul and Religious Freedom Coalition chairman William J. Murray.

Hosting the rally are Pamela Geller, publisher of the acclaimed AtlasShrugs.com blog, executive director of AFDI and SIOA, and author of Stop the Islamization of America: A Practical Guide to the Resistance (WND Books); and AFDI/SIOA associate director Robert Spencer, the bestselling author and director of Jihad Watch.

9/11 Ten Years Later: God's Presence in the Face of Evil -- Priest/First Responder/Survivor

NEW YORK, Sept. 6, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following was written by Father Raymond Nobiletti M.M.:

The word of the Lord came to him, "Why are you here, Elijah?" He answered: "I have been most zealous for the Lord." Then the Lord said, "Go outside and stand on the mountain before the Lord; the Lord will be passing by." A strong and heavy wind was rending the mountains and crushing rocks before the Lord - but the Lord was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake - but the Lord was not in the earthquake. After the earthquake there was a fire, but the Lord was not in the fire. After the fire there was a tiny whispering sound. When he heard this, Elijah hid his face in his cloak and went and stood at the entrance of the cave. -- 1 Kings 19:9-13
This is a story about the presence of God made so real for me, thousands of other New Yorkers, and for most of the known world on one very memorable day.
That morning, a perfect fall day, cloudless and filled with bright sunshine, I celebrated the eight o'clock Mass in Transfiguration Church in Chinatown, New York City. Our elementary school children were in their second day of the new semester. I planned to cast my vote in the mayoral primary election and enjoy the rest of Tuesday, September 11, 2001.
Back in the parish office just before 9 A.M., I was informed that an airplane had crashed into a World Trade Center building. I wanted to go up to the fourth floor priests' residence to take a look. I had always enjoyed the World Trade Center buildings, beautifully framed by my bedroom window. Before I could do that, the phone rang and a neighboring parish priest asked if I could go immediately to the World Trade Center. Priests were needed to minister to the wounded. The office TV then revealed that this was no small plane crash.

Stunned by the image of the towering inferno, I was in a daze while collecting the Holy Oils, stole, and prayer book needed to administer the Sacraments. This would not be the first time in 30 years of priesthood that I would walk into a disaster such as this. In 1972 in Hong Kong, I was waist deep in the mud of a landslide that took the lives of 72 people. I learned how important it was to be an instrument of God's presence and am still humbled by that privilege. I knew that the presence of a priest would be important to both survivors and responders that morning at the World Trade Center.
Then, the television showed a second plane crashing into the South Tower. The cacophony of screams, confusion and horror radiating from the television and the parish staff, and the subsequent roar of people pouring out into the street changed everything. I was not going down to an accident, but into the eye of an attack on the City of New York. How could this happen in New York City?
Running south past the federal court buildings and prison, I was battered by the shoulders and flaying arms of the thousands of people evacuating downtown Manhattan... running and tripping on their way north or east across the Brooklyn Bridge. All of them had the same look of horror on their faces. When and where would the next airplane strike?

One short block from the epicenter of the disaster, the smoke, confusion, falling steel and debris made this area an obstacle course. I did not stop, hesitate or turn but walked into the center of the triage area of those ministering to the burned, bruised and disoriented being taken out of the burning North Tower. The Millennium Hotel staff was in the forefront of this service. God was present in the compassion shown by all those outside the main hotel entrance. These were the people of New York at their best.
Just as I put my stole around my neck, a woman being escorted out of the building called "Father." Her arms were seriously burned. "Please, call my daughter and tell her that I am alive" she said. She was the first of several victims who dictated phone numbers to me. There was no phone service. It was much later in the day that I realized that the people who collapsed into my arms before completing their request left me with patches of burnt flesh on my clothing.
One woman was brought out on a stretcher so severely burned that only part of her face was visible through the bandages. Not expecting her to survive, I prayed the Lord's Prayer with her, as her eyes moved in response. The Word of God became a visible and moving presence for her on that street.
Though we were ministering to the injured from the North Tower, our triage was closest to the South Tower. At 9:50 A.M. a loud, cracking sound came from that tower. It was collapsing. The top 20 floors were tilting toward and falling on top of us while the lower 90 floors were folding like an accordion into the foundation of the building. I was able to run several yards across Fulton Street to clutch the iron fence around St. Paul's Church yard. 
Three other persons behind me with the same idea were only able to grasp one of my legs before we were plunged into the darkness of the falling debris. We remained in the dark struggling to breathe and listening to screams for help.

When we saw light again, there was devastation all around us. The emergency vehicles and equipment were destroyed. And like us, everything was covered with a gray-brown ash. We stumbled through the area looking for survivors. A police officer emerged from the rubble in the street. He screamed orders to leave immediately as the North Tower might also come down. I was walking toward Broadway when the North Tower collapsed at 10:28 A.M. The impact was enough for the air pressure at my back to push me several yards out into Broadway. This police officer saved my life.
The horror of what was happening didn't allow me to think about myself or realize that I was covered with ash and dripping blood from my nose. Ambulances stopped and offered to take me to the hospital but I refused, believing that there were many more seriously injured who needed an ambulance. It was only later that I learned there were few or no survivors of the collapsed buildings.
I slowly made my way back to Chinatown amidst the confusion. Passing the famous broad stone steps of the Federal and County Courthouses in Foley Square, I was recognized by court officers who attend the noon Mass at Transfiguration Church. They ran up the steps and returned with a water cooler tank and poured the water over me to remove the mysterious ash material. The grey-brown matter did not move, but became a concrete-like crust that covered me from head to toe.
These court officers and the police officer who screamed us off the triage site were instruments of God's grace. More and more people, both uniformed and not uniformed, began to appear to help those in need in this still very chaotic and confusing situation. They were focused on the needs of others.

Back in Chinatown and walking up the hill that is adjacent to Transfiguration Church, I should have been alerted by the looks of horror on the faces of people who were staring at me.
As I turned and entered the main gate of the school, the children were being evacuated north to another school. They had been purposely kept unaware of the happenings of that day. The children screamed in horror when they came face-to-face with me. Some cried and I did the same just seeing them that way. The parish staff reacted in horror to what they saw, though happy that I survived what seemed at that time to be the destruction of most of Southern Manhattan.
I was glad to be home and know that all whom I left at the Church and school that morning were safe. I was now aware that there were those, like our school children, who were just beginning to realize the import of what was happening that day. This was the beginning of a period of days and weeks of people trying to deal with the realization of what had happened to their homes, their neighborhood, their school and their world of New York City. What transpired on that beautiful morning began a change in the life of the people of the City of New York and the nation.
The priesthood of service became so much more important for me and others in the months that followed September 11, 2001. The funerals of firefighters, executives, workers and those we knew brought a somber quality of life to Southern Manhattan. The economy collapsed and the thoughts and future of those of us who live and work there were blurred by the vision of the pile of smoldering debris and the rescue workers, volunteers and visitors from around the world.

The heroism shown by New Yorkers and those from around the world was unexpected and unprecedented. God's presence was made visible in the Sacraments of the Church, the ministry of the priesthood, and the compassion shown toward the victims by the first responders.
It was spontaneous and unexpected as are so many important and meaningful occasions of God's presence in the face of evil.
God's grace led me down to the World Trade Center that day. The needs of the people and victims were more important than the risk of being there. I did think that I would see God face-to-face that morning.
Four months later, in January 2002, the woman who was thought to have little chance of survival from burns at the triage site completed her hospitalization and rehabilitation. When the newspapers celebrated her discharge, she thanked all who helped and prayed for her. Because my photo was featured in that newspaper article, I received many telephone calls from those to whom I had helped that day.
I became engaged in long conversations with those with whom I had only moments of life- threatening and life-giving contact. A young woman on whose burnt feet we had put blue surgical gloves to prevent infection was able to laugh for a long time about walking like a duck into the ambulance. The more poignant phone calls were those I first thought to be crank calls. People asked me if I had seen their children, their spouses or their parents at the World Trade Center on that day. After four months they still had no sign or proof of their loved one's fate from that day. They lived with hope that they were still alive or that a trace of something of theirs might be recovered. I spoke at length with these people and can appreciate how the World Trade Center site is so sacred to them.
The recognizable presence of a priest who represents the compassion and forgiveness of God should never be underestimated, especially in the midst of sudden crisis or in the face of such evil. The presence of God and the grace of God was and still is tangible at Ground Zero.
What a gift and privilege it was to be an instrument of God's grace and part of the team of people from all walks of life who made God so present to all on that day. In our own life journey everyday, we continue to experience God's presence in these people and this place.

Father Raymond Nobiletti is a Maryknoll priest who is the pastor at Transfiguration Church located at 29 Mott Street, New York NY 10013, in New York City's Chinatown. The parish is part of the New York Archdiocese and Father Nobiletti is associated with the Maryknoll Fathers and Brothers. On September 11, 2001, Father Nobiletti responded immediately to help people at the World Trade Center.

Additional information about Transfiguration Church:

Built in 1801, Transfiguration is the oldest Catholic church building in New York City. It originally served Irish immigrants and then Italian immigrants. The Irish and Italians assimilated into American society and moved to other neighborhoods, the outer boroughs, or the suburbs. Then, during China’s 1949 communist revolution, Chinese who spoke Cantonese arrived and gradually became the dominant group in the parish. During 1945, Maryknoll Sisters who had worked in China staffed Transfiguration Elementary, a private Catholic school in a building adjacent to the Mott Street church. Today, Transfiguration Elementary (for grades one through eight and now entirely staffed by lay teachers) is a top choice for neighborhood parents, for many non-Catholics and even for families outside of Chinatown who are attracted to its high academic standards and emphasis on moral development.

During the 1980's, another huge wave of Chinese immigrants -- Mandarin speakers from Fujian Province -- arrived in the parish. The Fujianese were skilled laborers with work experience in Japan -- many of them trained to be excellent sushi chefs. Today, employment agencies in Chinatown send them to work in sushi restaurants in Pennsylvania or Connecticut for five days at a time. They return to Chinatown for the other two days of the week. Though this work style does not foster community or family roots, the parishioners view the church as their social anchor.  

In Spite of Mayor's No Prayer or Pastors Policy, Both Will be Present at Ground Zero

WASHINGTON, Sept. 6, 2011 /Christian Newswire/ -- The following is submitted by Rev. Rob Schenck, President, Faith and Action in the Nation's Capital:

This week there will be a lot of retrospectives on 9/11. Few of us who were alive and mature enough to know what was going on will ever forget that infamous day -- and the weeks, months, and years that followed. It may have been the first time ever that most Americans -- and even most of the world's population -- witnessed a mass murder on an incomprehensible scale.
My memories of that Tuesday morning are etched forever in my mind and are nearly as vivid now as they were ten years ago. I can see my secretary bursting into my then Virginia office with a look of shock on her face. I can see my staff and I hovered around her desk watching the ghastly events unfold on her computer screen. In these mental pictures I am on the phone, calling my daughter, an intern on nearby Capitol Hill, and barking orders for her to get in the car and drive east -- no questions allowed.
I feel the warm tears welling up in my eyes as victims jumped from the high windows of the Trade Towers. I hear the name of a woman I was acquainted with, Barbara Olson, announced as a victim of Flight 77 at the Pentagon. I see our somber procession of clergy just days after the attack, making our way down the hill behind the Navy Annex to an improvised memorial field opposite the charred cavity in the southeast wall of the hulking headquarters of the Defense Department. I can see the shape of a fuselage, two wings, a tail--as if a giant had plunged a cookie-cutter the shape of an airplane into the stone wall. Rescue personnel were still pulling out bodies.
I see us kneeling to pray the Lord's Prayer -- and countless tourists, reporters, and who knows who, spontaneously kneeling with us.
I see the Amtrak train I took to New York that Friday. I was frantic to know about friends -- supporters of our ministry -- who worked on Wall Street -- and a pastor friend whose home and church were in the shadow of the Trade Towers. There was still no phone or cellular communication. I walked from midtown to the south tip of Manhattan. I found them alive but deeply shaken. One of our faithful financial supporters was in a taxi when the plane hit. A human torso slammed into the hood of the car and the taxi driver -- a Sikh man in a turban -- screamed and forced her out of his vehicle. Debris and body parts rained down around her. She kicked off her high heels and ran three miles to her apartment, collapsing in sobs.
The pastor told me that on that fateful morning, he, his wife, and six home-schooled children were packing their station wagon for a trip to a church camp. His young son looked up into the clear blue sky and said, "Daddy, look, an airplane." Seconds later it plowed into the North Tower. The family scurried into their apartment for safety. As the pastor called other family members, he turned his head away from a picture window for a brief moment, only to turn back to see a second fire ball mushroom from the South Tower.
After I prayed with the family, the pastor and I headed to Ground Zero on foot to see how we might help. The images of that harrowing trek replay in my mind as if in slow motion. I see the narrow side streets lined with abandoned cars, some with their doors open as if the occupants had simply bounded out of them. As we draw closer to the epicenter, the air is filled with papers fluttering on the breeze. A heavy, acrid stench is in the air. Dust covers everything, as if we've just landed on the moon. We pass a cemetery in the backyard of an historic church where, just months earlier, I had led a Bible study for workers in the finance sector. Antique tomb stones now sprout from under a foot of debris -- more papers, file folders, a desk chair, shoes, computer monitors, a purse.
As we round a corner I see the monster's mouth -- a burning fissure in the earth -- surrounded by a heap of twisted steel girders, huge chunks of concrete, massive slabs of glass. Smoke still billows into the sky -- and hundreds of firefighters, police, and other emergency personnel, filthy and profoundly sad, comb the wreckage. Dumpsters are spray-painted with words: Airplane Parts, Personal Effects. A different kind of canister is covered but I can see the writing underneath: Human Remains.
My pastor friend and I make rounds, guided by a crusty, retired New York City policeman who at one point looks down at my shoes and says, "Parson, look at your shoes. See that dust. My buddies are in that dust. My buddies are on your shoes." He points to the burning cauldron and says, "That's a giant incinerator. There ain't nothin left of them."
We pray with the men and women who are exhausted -- physically and emotionally. One blinks blood out of his eyes as he makes the sign of the cross. It looks to me like the man is crying droplets of blood. An EMT explains, "It's the airborne glass and other abrasives. It scrapes the eyeballs and causes that bleeding."
As excruciating as the scene is -- as sorrowful -- as unfathomable the scale of evil -- it is eclipsed by the magnanimousness of the souls who work the pile, risking their own lives to find survivors or even what effects of the lost have survived the inferno. It is human generosity, kindness, and love that is almost divine.
For as long as I live I will possess these memories and mull them around, mining them as a source for understanding the nature of both good and evil. It is these life-altering experiences that will be with me when I go to Ground Zero this Saturday, September 10th, to offer prayers with fellow clergy for the fallen, for their loved ones, for those first responders, for all who loved and cared for them in the aftermath. The official dedication of the new and deeply moving National 9/11 Memorial leaves prayers and pastors out of the ceremony. I'm not sure why, but I'll give them the benefit of the doubt. Maybe the organizers see it as a solution to the controversies caused by the clash of religions in the public square. But if that's the reason, it's not a solution at all. The hole in the ground at Ground Zero may no longer be there, but the absence of prayer leaves a different kind of vacuum -- a hole in the heart.
So, in an attempt to fill that hole, my good friend, Rev. Pat Mahoney, and I will lead this procession of pastors and other Christian leaders to the site and do what so many did impulsively as the towers burned and collapsed, as name after name was called out, as family after family grieved -- we prayed. We invite you to join us from wherever you are in lifting up intercessions this Saturday in the morning hours.
This Tenth Anniversary of 9/11, let us together remember, let us appreciate, and let us pray.

Rev. Rob Schenck (pronounced Shank) is president & Lead Missionary of Faith and Action in the Nation's Capital, a Christian outreach to top elected and appointed officials. A minister of the Evangelical Church Alliance, he served as a volunteer chaplain at both the Pentagon and Ground Zero in the days following the 9/11/2001 attacks.