As nation readies for long war on terrorism, Christian community prays, gives, ponders

In a collective outpouring of grief, prayer and hope, people from throughout the Pacific Northwest flocked to churches and houses of worship within hours following the Sept. 11 tragic terrorist attack on America.

Countless churches through the region opened their doors for prayer and consolation as President Bush called for a National Day of Prayer and Remembrance on Friday, Sept. 14. Sermons at many churches since then have emphasized the need for a firm foundation in God as the nation begins what looks to be an extended war on terrorism.

It is impossible to summarize the enormous extent to which the Christian community not only regionally but nationally responded to the loss of life in New York, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania with prayers and gifts.

Just one example is New Hope Community Church in Clackamas, where thousands of church members and people from the community attended four special prayer services during the week of the attack, including a Russian language service on Tuesday night, Sept. 12. Almost 800 people attended the noon prayer meeting on Friday, Sept. 14.

New Hope Pastor Ray Cotton urged those attending to keep praying because, he said, prayer can and does makes a difference and influence the nation. A prayer card, Seven Powerful Prayers for the Leaders of Our Land, is available from the church.

New Hope also announced a special 40-day period of prayer and fasting that began on Wednesday, Sept. 19, and continues to Sunday, Oct. 28.

The congregation also gave a love offering of $8,946.83 on Sunday, Sept. 16, for victims and their families in the attack on America. This money will go to firefighters, police, emergency workers and their families, and proven organizations who are on the scene giving aid. An American Red Cross blood drive is also planned at the church for Saturday, Oct. 6, to help boost the nation’s much-needed blood supplies.

A sampling of the hundreds of churches participating in the Day of Prayer and Remembrance includes Beaverton Nazarene, Port-land Foursquare, the Sal-vation Army Tabernacle, Trinity Episcopal Cathedral, Rose City Park United Methodist, First Presby-terian, St. Luke Lutheran, First United Methodist, and Portland Adventist Aca-demy.

Huge gatherings were also held at the Rose Quarter Commons, at Pioneer Courthouse Square in downtown Portland, and at the Oregon State Capitol, sponsored by a variety of groups and ministries. Many commentators noted that people throughout America were returning to their religious roots and faith during a time of great need in the nation. Churches were also packed on Sunday, Sept. 16, as people sought strength and hope from a higher power.

Students at local Christian colleges and seminaries took time out to discuss the tragedy, In one class at George Fox Evangelical Seminary, participants concluded that the Church doesn’t have answers to the tragic events, but can offer a hope for the future to all people.

Much attention immediately focused on the work of relief agencies, including those representing the Christian community in the Pacific Northwest. Port-land-based Northwest Medical Teams Inter-national and Mercy Corps; Seattle-based World Vision USA and World Concern, and the Salvation Army were all among the agencies taking an active role in the national response.

Mental health professionals, in a team organized by Northwest Medical Teams, were hard at work in lower Manhattan after the attack on the World Trade Center towers to counsel and support New Yorkers traumatized by the tragic events of Sept. 11.

The six Oregonians in the first team included Todd Pynch of the Benton County Sheriff’s Office; Ron Hays, a Silverton paramedic; Karin Jordan, director of the graduate program in counseling at George Fox Üniversity; Deborah Pack-Patton, West Linn school psychologist, Pam Edwards, adult psychiatry director at Oregon Health Sciences University, and Dean Harry, Jefferson pastor and firefighter. They set up shop at Nyack College, a Christian college just nine blocks from the World Trade Center.

They provided grief counseling to students, staff, and faculty at the 900-student college in one-on-one meetings and participated in emotional prayer services. Many from the college lost belongings and loved ones in the attack and two students may have died in the towers. Others witnessed the tragic events from classroom windows.

Harry told The Ore-gonian that the team provided psychological first aid and tried to prevent post traumatic stress. Jordan said long-term problems can be lessened considerably by early trauma work -- getting victims to acknowledge and talk about their emotions and learn that their struggles are normal.

Team members toured the disaster site before going to the college. Jordan told the Portland Tribune that people were hurting and in dire need of getting some help, including a chance to talk, as frustration continued to grow. Pack-Patton noted that the firefighters’ defenses were up, but problems would come when the work eases and the defenses go down. Mental health services was also a primary task for those team members who last March were in India, where the death toll after a major earthquake probably reached 150,000 with entire villages wiped out. Harry and Pynch spent almost a month in grief counseling to the survivors there.

Jordan recently moved to Oregon from Colorado, where she counseled families involved in the deadly shootings at Columbine High School. She also has experience counseling people affected in the 1993 deadly explosion at a federal building in Oklahoma City.

Closer to home, within hours after Sept. 11 attack, Northwest Medical Teams also opened mobile trauma centers at Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square and Tigard’s Washington Square mall to help people grieve. Trauma counselors talked with dozens of local residents in the week following, as many expressed grief, anger, and fear that America’s seeming invulnerability had ended.