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Believers
Testimonies From
World Trade Center & Pentagon
Terrorist Attacks All
Escape Safely Praise
God
September 11, 2001 will forever be etched in our memories
as the day when the unthinkable happened—America was attacked in
New York and Washington D.C., causing thousands of our fellow
American to perish at the hand of terrorists. We know that much
has been written about the loss of life, the destruction, and the
tremendous efforts made to search for the victims of this tragedy.
There is another side of the story, however, that we would like to
share with you. This is the story of God’s protection of His
Bride.
As soon as these disasters
occurred, we began to contact all the pastors of the churches and
fellowships in the New York and Washington D.C. areas that believe
this Message, to ascertain if any of the believers in their
congregations were among those missing or injured. Not only was
there NOT ONE report of a believer having been among the lost or
injured, but these brothers began to relate to us such marvelous
testimonies of God’s protection. We bring you their testimonies
and trust they will be a real blessing to you. WASHINGTON
D.C.
NEW-YORK,NY:
From:
Pastor
Ram Mahadeo of The Voice Of
God Tabernacle
in Huntington NY:
His
son was driving a truck to the area of the Twin Towers, unaware of
what had just happened.
Brother Mahaedo was able to contact him by cell phone and divert
him before he entered the area into which the towers collapsed
shortly thereafter. This son, who is in the Reserve, has been
since working in recovery at the site. Another
son of Brother Mahadeo works for a courier service. He was
supposed to deliver a package into the Trade Center that morning.
When he went to pick up the package he was to deliver, his company
told him someone else already picked up the package. Brother
Mahadeo said no one has heard from that person, and he apparently
was among those lost in this disaster. Brother
Mahadeo also related that another believer in his church, Brother
Michael Singh, has a sister who worked in one of the Towers. On
September 11th, the train she took to work broke down,
causing her to be 15 minutes late. Because of this, she missed
being at the site of the disaster. From:
Brother
Permanand Raghoo of Faith Tabernacle
in Jamaica NY
He
offered a testimony about a Pentecostal man, who lives in his
neighborhood, who was on the 81st floor when the plane
hit. The floors of the building were starting to collapse
underneath him, and he was trapped in the debris. He could see the
light of a flashlight shining on the opposite side of the room, so
he cried out for help. The man with the flashlight called back to
him, telling him that he would have to crawl over a fallen wall or
kick through it in order to reach him. The Pentecostal man was
able to kick through the sheetrock of the wall and reach the man
with the flashlight, who turned out to be an older man. He was
then able to help this older man down all 81 flights of stairs,
and they both managed to get out of the building before it
collapsed.
From:
Pastor Michael Eastman of The Original Seed Tabernacle in
Brooklyn NY Several
believers who attend his church were working nearby the disaster
site, but they were all able to escape the area safely.
From:
Pastor
Tariff Dill of The Spotless Church Of The Lord Jesus Christ
in
Jamaica NY:
He
also works as a limousine driver. That morning his alarm clock
went off, but he just could not
get up. A little while later his wife woke him up; but again he
just could not bring himself to get up. He finally got up decided
to eat breakfast before going to work. It was only after he had
eaten breakfast and showered that he turned on the radio and
learned about the tragedy. Had he gotten up at his usual time, he
most probably would have been in the area of the destruction. From
Sister
Louise DeMaio of
Local Christian Assembly in
Queens NY. “On Tuesday, September 11, 2001 at 9:07 A.M., my
backslidden 19-year old son Jesse, called me to tell me about the
catastrophe in New York City. He was working about 15 blocks away.
He was in contact with his dad throughout the morning also, who
was working uptown at 126th Street. His dad told him to
leave the building and start walking and try to get a taxi to meet
him.
When he called me back to tell me that the first building
fell, I strongly urged him to get out and start walking away from
the area. He didn’t know what to do at the time, he kept saying,
‘I can’t, my bosses...’ I told him to forget about his
bosses and just start walking. He did leave at the time, and
shortly after he saw the second building go down. He was crying
and running.
I kept reassuring him throughout our very frequent
conversations that he was my child and that nothing was going to
happen to him. I said, ‘You are very lucky you have parents that
are Christians, nothing is going to happen to you.’
The building in which he was working was severely damaged
by the debris. He had to walk for a long time with very heavy bags
holding his tools and a laptop.
After two and a half hours, he reached his dad.
Once safe in the van with his dad, he called me on the
phone and said, ‘You know, you and daddy saved my life today.’
He kept telling us, ‘You saved my life today.’
Yesterday, he called his grandmother in Massachusetts to
tell her, ‘My mom saved my life today.’” From
Brother
Joseph Bellomo of Local Christian Assembly in Queens NY:
It was seemingly a normal day in New York as we traveled to
our jobs in the city. I was at my desk in midtown Manhattan at 38th
street and Third Avenue when a co-worker rushed over to announce
that a jetliner had crashed into the north tower of the World
Trade Center. I was on the phone talking to my pastor, Brother
Coleman at the time and informed him of the breaking news. As we
continued to speak, my co-workers came running over to let me know
that another jetliner had crashed into the south tower of the
World Trade Center and that New York City was under siege by a
terrorist attack. I was immediately concerned about my sons and
others in the church that work directly in the area. Brother
Coleman said that he would be praying for us.
After several tries, I reached my son Peter, who said that
his building shook violently as the second jetliner hit the south
tower. Both he and my son Joe work in the downtown financial area
and are about four blocks down from the Twin Towers, and their
testimonies are shown below. Peter told me that they were running
out of the building and that his brother Joe had already begun to
evacuate his building. Their cousin David Puma works in the north
tower, and he was also a major concern. Throughout the day, I
prayed to the Lord for their safety knowing we could not make
contact, as thousand of people were fleeing for their lives. I
myself could not easily get out of the city, but by the grace of
God finally made it home by 6 pm. Once I was home, I learned of
the mighty way that God protected His Children. Here are the
highlights of their testimonies.
Peter
Bellomo Peter
was in his building when both jetliners struck the Twin Towers.
Although some four blocks away, his building shook violently when
the second jetliner hit and exploded into fames. He ran to the
window and saw debris flying in the air. At that point, they were
aware that a terrorism attack was underway. They
were told to evacuate the building and they quickly headed for the
stairs. As they emerged into the street, they became part of scene
of utter chaos. They got into the middle of the street, saw the
Towers burning, and heard people screaming that the Pentagon had
also been hit. Suddenly,
thousands of people that were between my son and the burning Twin
Towers started to run in his direction. The North Tower had just
collapsed, and a ten-story high cloud of thick smoke and debris
was quickly overtaking them. People were falling and trying to
avoid being trampled to death. My son began to run, praying as he
was fleeing for his life. With the river behind and to the left of
them, they could only run to the right. The cloud of debris and
smoke was coming fast, as were the thousands of people fleeing. He
had to jump over several two to three foot barriers, but came to a
large police barrier and could not continue in that
direction. He and some of his friend then ran in
another direction toward a 6-foot cement wall that was a barrier
to the FDR Drive. Suddenly, the cloud of smoke and debris
enveloped them and was raining down on them thick ash and other
debris. To make matters worse, they began to hear low flying
aircraft overhead and thought that they were going to be shot at.
When they reached that 6-foot wall they knew to stay alive
and not be trampled, they had to get over that wall. My son, along
with many others, began to lift and push each other up and over
the wall. Many were cut and bleeding. Peter was boosted up and was
able to scale over the wall, landing real hard on the other side,
but without any injury. Once on the FDR Drive, they ran for
another half mile and were finally away from the cloud of smoke
and debris and thousands of panic stricken people. Peter said that
he never stopped praying, knowing that God would somehow see him
through. He knew that God had spared his life so that he could be
with his lovely wife Kristen as they await their first child on
October the 8th. Joseph
Bellomo
Joseph
got into his building approximately the same time that the first
jetliner struck the North Tower. Looking out the window of his 44th
floor office building with his co-workers, he could see the Tower
burning and part of the jetliner sticking out. Joseph took out a
set of binoculars to get a real close-up. Much to his horror, he
watched as people began to jump out of the North Tower. He saw the
fear etched on their faces as they hurdled to their deaths. Then,
suddenly at 9:03 am, they saw a plane looping around the South
Tower. They began to scream out as they realized the plane was
purposely crashing into the tower.
A
violent crash with a huge ball of fire ensued, that shook
Joseph’s building. People began to yell out that a terrorist
attack was under way. Everyone started running for the stairs and
elevators, knocking each other down. Panic was everywhere, and one
feared for one’s life as they fled. Thousand
of people were in the lobby heading out into the street. Smoke and
debris were flying through the air. They could not go in many
directions, as barricades were up and they had the water behind
them. Joseph could clearly see the Towers burning and began to
feel the rumble of the ground beneath him. Suddenly a security
came running screaming out, “Run for your life! the North Tower
is collapsing!” A
huge cloud of thick black smoke and debris was rushing towards
them. People began to run toward the water, with nowhere else to
go. They were screaming, fainting, and some were trampled on. As
they tried to outrun the huge black cloud and debris, it caught up
with them and they were suddenly thrust into a surreal
midnight-like scene, enveloped in total darkness. Thick black soot
was raining down on them along with other debris. Joseph said that
they could hardly see and had difficulty breathing. All the while
Joseph was praying for a way out to safety. A
bloodied police officer came running, saying that bodies were
falling from the sky. The crowd continued to push toward the
water, when suddenly someone yelled out, “the ferry! the
ferry!” A ferry had come to take them over to New Jersey.
Joe’s prayers were answered. As
they rode across the river, they could see the fire in the South
Tower raging. Just as they pulled up to the dockside, the South
Tower collapsed. The Lord spoke to Joseph saying “Heaven and
earth shall pass away, but My Word shall never pass away.” Joe
Knew that God was gracious to him, and that he would once more be
able to see his wife Lois and three daughters Abigail, Deborah and
Hannah.
David Puma
My
nephew David works in the North Tower of the Twin Towers. David
was at work 8 am that day and went up to the ninth floor to
participate in a company course. At 8:30 am he was given a break
and decided to go downstairs and across the street for some
breakfast. While having breakfast across the street, the first
jetliner crashed into David’s building. Panic followed, and
David realized that God had ordered his steps out of the building
prior to the terror attack. He
quickly phoned his wife Sarah and said, “I am okay and will flee
this area.” He ran with thousands of others to get on a train
out of New York. Once on the train, he realized that the train he
was on had to pass under the Twin Towers. Others who realized that
were screaming out and crying. The train abruptly stopped under
the Towers as the second plane had hit the South Tower. David
prayed in the train, as others were in total fear that the
building would collapse on them. As he prayed, the train suddenly
started again getting out from under the building, just prior to
its collapse. David knew God had protected and spared his life and
that he would be able to see his little boy Michael and wife Sarah
once again.
Fred Cina
Fred is a conductor on the NYC Subway system. He was on
duty when the attack took place. His train had advance to within
one station of the Twin Towers when they were told to stop. While
the passengers were allowed off, he was required to stay with his
train. Electricity was turned off and there he stayed, below the
earth for over 7 hours, with collapsing Twin Towers a station
away, Fred prayed to the Lord for guidance. They were suddenly
asked to abandon the equipment and find a way to above ground. The
normal exits were not available, so he had to walk through an
underground tunnel, through thick smoke and dust, with rats
running before them. Fred continued to pray and by God’s Grace
was able to make it out the other side and out of the tunnel. He
surfaced to the street and was able to eventually make it back
home. God answered his prayers and he would once again see his
lovely wife Miriam. He
shall cover thee with his feathers, and under his wings shalt thou
trust: his truth shall be thy shield and buckler. Thou shalt not
be afraid for the terror by night, nor for the arrow that flieth
by day; Nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for
the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at
thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not
come nigh thee.
Psalms 91:4-7
The LORD shall preserve
thee from all evil: he shall preserve thy soul. The LORD shall
preserve thy going out and thy coming in from this time forth, and
even for evermore. Psalms
121:7-8 Truly
the Lord watches over his own.
We wish to express our appreciation to the pastors and
congregations of the following churches for providing us with
testimonies of God’s protection.
WASHINGTON D.C. AREA Pastor
Michael Walls
NEW YORK CITY AREA Evon
Carrion, Pastor Ram
Mahadeo, Pastor
Harry Ramroop, Pastor Michael
Eastman, Pastor Tariff
Dill, Pastor Joseph
Coleman, Pastor Stephen
Robinson, Pastor Miguel
A. Roman, Pastor Pastor
Franklyn Monderoy Franck
R. Boh, Pastor |