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SEPTEMBER 11 WASHINGTON D.C. Two brothers who attend his church work next to the Pentagon, but their work takes them frequently into the Pentagon. One brother just happened to be off work that entire week. The other brother is a Navy Captain with the 2nd fleet, stationed in Norfolk, Virginia. He was headed to his office, but got stuck in traffic. When he arrived at his office, he was sent back. Through the providence of God, neither of these two brothers was at or near the Pentagon building when one of the hijacked planes crashed into it. NEW YORK NY: His son-in-law, who is an Emergency Medical Technician, was scheduled
to work a second shift. On that day, however, that second shift was
given to someone else. His EMT unit was sent to the towers.
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 and 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, 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 thousands 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 terrorist 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 a 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 friends 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 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. Thousands 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 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 |