Thank you for your continued prayers.
Thursday, January 17th, Port Authority
Sergeant John McLoughlin, a 22-year
veteran of the department, was able to go home from a rehab hospital! He is one
of the two officers we requested prayer for. He miraculously survived 22 hours
trapped under a mountain of World Trade Center rubble, some 30 feet
under-ground. He was released after enduring 20 surgeries since his legs were
crushed. At a press conference, in a wheelchair with his 4- year old daughter
on his lap, John said his wish was "to be walking as I used to, and get back
to work and back to my precinct!"
Where do we start? Ray has responded to the needs of the police and other
emergency workers at the World Trade Center site in New York City. He had been
going down repeatedly, from September through December, 2001, and has been there
each of the past three weeks of 2002. Things are continually changing … for
the better, perhaps, as far as the physical work is concerned, but not as far as
the emotional, mental, and spiritual aftermath is concerned.
The heartaches grow … there is multiplied depression, discouragement, and much
disillusionment with all of the promises that were made, plus the inevitable
separations, divorces, and suicides. It is an incredible mission field, and
hearts are open.
Just last week, a paramedic shared his experience on "911" - that of
running out of a building near Tower One to try to go to the aid of his
co-workers who were trapped and screaming for help on the other side of Tower
Two … only to be caught and buried under an emergency vehicle for several hours
as Tower Two was hit. It was late at night and cold as this 17-year veteran
vented for forty-five minutes without stopping. Nothing had prepared him for
something like he experienced that day. His wife left him, unable to cope with
what happened. He welcomed the tract and a New Testament, and said he would
look up the questions-and-answers and help on our website. Then, he sent an
email and expressed his appreciation for Ray taking the time to let him talk.
There will be more follow-up with him. There are others with similar stories …
A Verizon worker asked to sit across from me at a table in the respite that
Calvary Chapel maintains just outside the perimeter. I asked him how he was
doing - that is all it took. He stopped eating his hot meal and began to share
how he was unaware that Tower One was hit … he was working in WTC 4, next to
Tower Two, and was shocked to see burning papers and other debris falling from
the sky when he went outside … then, Tower Two was hit … he and others just ran
… he saw people falling … some holding hands … and he ran faster ... somehow
just talking about it helped.
There are many others, even after four months, who have never really spoken much
about that day … there are few who will stop and listen. An Italian shoe
repairman who had a little shop near Broadway, several blocks from the disaster
site, told how his shop and much of his equipment were destroyed … he was so
kind to repair Ray’s boots - even to buy Ray a cup of coffee while waiting for
the repair … just another traumatized survivor who will never quite be the same
again.
Ray carries a large supply of ONLY ONE SON tracts, as well as New Testaments in
his BDUs - black fatigue pants with six large storage pockets, as well as his
field jacket! He usually does not return with any left. It just seems normal
to speak to someone who does not have much hope for the future, and to point
them to
Psalm 18:1-3, where David speaks of the LORD as his "Buckler" - a
Hebrew word that means "shield" or "protector" - and "my High
Tower" (verse 2) - and then share that the Lord God Almighty is a "High
Tower," Who will never fall nor fail like the World Trade Towers did. Ray
had read that Scripture passage only an hour before Tower One was hit on
September 11th, 2001. God’s Word is powerful and pertinent!
The Lord continues to give us opportunities to speak in churches, luncheons and
other places for now. How long with the theme be about "911" and
survival? A schedule was recently released to tell us that "Phase 2" is
planned for later this spring, and will include the first round of formal
debriefings, and "Phase 3" will be in September and will continue formal
debriefings. We wonder what God’s schedule is. We do not know, but we are
willing to be available as long as the need is there, and the Lord indicates we
should be there.
We truly depend upon your faithfulness in prayer support! "… praying
always with all prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and watching thereunto
with all perseverance and supplication for all saints; and for me, that
utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known
the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein
I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."
Ephesians 6:18-20
In Christ’s Love,
Barb and Ray Payne
II Timothy 1:12
Feel free to contact us at:
200 U.S. Rte 9
Schroon Lake, NY 12870
Phone/FAX (518) 532-9049
On the web:
www.onlyoneson.org
e-mail: RJBJPayne@aol.com
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