Taken from: NY Christian Resource Center

Reporting From Ground Zero, New York

September 18, 2001

In the past week, Rev. Esposito has tirelessly led OBI's disaster relief campaign in New York. Smell the burnt air, walk carefully through the layers of ash, and take a look at Ground Zero with him...

Less than 48 hours after the destruction of the World Trade Center, the Body of Christ was mobilized. Operation Blessing immediately dispatched a Hunger Strike Force truck but upon arriving at a dispatch site where told the Mayor had shut down the area. Every organization was already overwhelmed with relief supplies.

Rev. Peter DeArruda of the New York School of Urban Ministry made an excellent connection, yet there was a security restriction. In my heart I knew this truck would represent the prayers of God’s people breaking through into the area. We had to get in. The members and workers at Iglesia Primitiva (Primitive Church) were there from the beginning just blocks away. They didn’t need to clear security, they never closed their doors! Lead by Pastor Marc Rivera, an effective operation began as this church emptied its pantries to feed residents who were without water or electrical power. Supplies were running low. The blankets, water, beverages, medical/hygiene kits and energy bars were on the truck in Queens and needed to reach the city fast. Detectives and officers of the New York Police Department heard the need, made the appropriate inspections, registered the workers involved and had the restriction lifted. With a full police escort, their sirens blaring, the convoy of police cars, the Hunger Strike Force 45-foot tractor-trailer, and “Disaster Relief” vans from the New York School of Urban Ministry carrying the volunteers made its way to the heart of the disaster in very heavy city traffic. When the hundreds of pedestrians who were by then gathering on the sidewalks realized we were a relief mission racing to “Ground Zero,” they began to cheer and applaud.

Rev. Rod Hulla, pastor of the Coney Island Gospel Assembly, was also an employee at a World Trade Center company but was going in late that dreadful day and missed the explosion. He took a team from their Men’s Ministry with the convoy. This church receives these trucks all the time so these men had some expertise. With Primitive’s most efficient operation and some students volunteers, the truck was off loaded in record time.

When Pastor Ricky Del Rio from Abounding Grace Ministries arrived on the scene he felt that we needed to get to the rescue workers “now.” So the team prayed in the church, were instructed and re-grouped to the site and by the grace of God - we got in.

Wearing masks and gloves, we approached the site but most of us were immediately evacuated when a nearby building began to shake. Pastor Hulla looked in shear disbelief at the pile of rubble that once was his office building. Many clergy were connecting with the growing team, looking at our unrecognizable city, and began to unite and move to action. A Candlelight Prayer Vigil was planned for the community the Sunday night after the disaster.

Living Word Church, where the New York Christian Resource Center (OBI center) office is located, is just blocks away from the Twin Towers. Without water or electricity, it was closed off to all visitors. Pastors Tommy Nichols and Benny Hurtado began to mobilize the church through phone and e-mail. Sunday services were soon scheduled to be held in Pastor Michael Faulkner’s Central Baptist Church where the church could re-group and plan a strategy. Dr. David Turk and Dean Lyndell O’Hara-Twerell were mobilizing the faculty and students of Nyack College’s Manhattan campus and started an Internet campaign so students could identify “I’m Okay” to the staff.

Inching his way closer and closer to the disaster site each day, Rev. David Van Fleet of Street Life Ministries fed up to 1,000 rescue workers a day with homemade soup, drinks, bread and the Gospel. He states, “There’s tons of prayer going on. These are tough men with rough jobs but they are very receptive to the spiritual support we are giving them.”

Like the other ministers involved, 20-hour workdays for a week were the “norm.” As Campus Crusade for Christ was sending a crisis management team to aid in the efforts, their local Here’s Life Inner City office under the direction of Mark Taft was already on the job coordinating prayer stations and contacting churches to identify needs and resources. Additional warehouse space for the tons of pounds their procurement manager Allen Sabo expected from all over the country would have to be secured as well.

World Vision and Concerts of Prayer immediately mobilized a meeting and are bringing together various groups to interface and develop a long-term strategy. Times Square Church became a point of contact for ministries seeking to get information from the Jacob Javitz Center, a point of contact for relief supplies. Treg McCoy coordinated a massive outpouring of relief supplies coming into the city from the church members and national donors. Based on the discussions and networking I have been involved with, I am aware of at least 50 trucks from a variety of Christian groups on their way into the city within four days.

As I coordinate Operation Blessing (and other resource ministries) in New York, so does the OB Chicago Director, Jim Parker. He is also a police officer with the Chicago Police Department and was on the scene by Saturday with 30 of his fellow officers.

Through our office, a truck from Tennessee is also coming to the area with fire equipment and a half dozen firefighters who want to stand with their brothers. They should be staying at NYSUM while in town.

One of the most heartwarming stories includes an e-mail we received from a 2nd grader through our website. It said: “Please help those dogs!” Over 600 rescue dogs were already on scene and suffering from various gashes, broken limbs and bloody feet. From out of nowhere Treg asked me to follow up on a lead for him. It was the Humane Society of Indianapolis with a mini-truck full of disaster supplies - for dogs! Where does it go? “Hey Allen, can you take a mini-truck of dog boots, food and medicine?” I ask him. “Of course, Jim! We’re in this together, ” he replied.

Fifteen years ago we were handing out blankets, sandwiches and drinks to the homeless. Today we are at “Ground Zero” salvaging bodies and bringing relief to the massive rescue teams. Every ministry, national and local, is responding in some way. It’s been a long journey, but the Lord has prepared a grass roots army for “such a time as this.”

There are so many stories that need to be told. So many testimonies of people who were supposed to be there and weren’t for various reasons. There are so many connections that each of us has to this act of terrorism. And, sadly, there are so many tragedies. More importantly, there are so many reasons why we - together as the Body of Christ united - named and unnamed - can rejoice in our strong “tower” - our Lord Jesus Christ! -- Rev. Jim Esposito