story10420.xml

story10420.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2004-02-05

?New York!? Vova shouted. I was eating a home-cooked dinner in a small house in a suburb of Kiev, Ukraine, when Vova, the man of the house, came into the room. He could speak very little English, and I could not speak Ukrainian. ?Shae? he repeated, waving his arms, ?New York, New York? he said. I turned to face him. He was obviously trying to tell me something important. His face was one of concern and urgency. ?New York? he said again, and used his arms to draw in the air the outlines of tall buildings. ?Skyscrapers?? I said out loud, trying to guess what he was attempting to communicate. ?Da!? he replied, which is Ukrainian for ?Yes!?

Then he spread his arms like an airplane, flying through the air. ?Airplane?? I guessed. ?Da!? he replied. He then used his hands to motion like an airplane diving into something, and held up two fingers.

What was going on? Did an airplane crash into two buildings? Did two airplanes crash? What happened? Some poor excuse for a pilot probably flew his Piper Cub into something. Oh well, people do stupid things all the time.

But Vova?s concern seemed to mean that there was something more to this. I asked him ?how big??, trying to learn the size of the airplane(s). He didn?t understand my question, so I took another approach. ?Boeing?? I said, naming a common aircraft manufacturer. ?Da!? he said. ?Da!?, holding up two fingers again. Again he drew buildings and held up two fingers. His meaning was getting clearer now.

Hmm. Two Boeings like aircraft had crashed into two buildings in New York City. What a terrible tragedy. But such things just don?t happen. Professional pilots fly Boeing aircraft, and they certainly do not dive into buildings in New York. There must be some mis-communication here, something definitely lost in the translation. But given the language barrier I wasn?t going to find out any more from Vova. I figured that he probably had heard some pieces of garbled news and had wanted me to know about it. I thanked him and he went back to the other side of the house where the family had a black and white television. I kept eating.

My friend Jim, who was visiting this home with me, came out of the nearby bathroom. I said ?Jim, Vova just tried to tell me something about two Boeing airplanes crashing into two buildings in New York City. I don?t think that I?ve got all the facts straight, but I thought you would want to know that something probably has happened back home.?

Jim and I were part of a group of 13 American men who volunteered to come to Bucha, Ukraine, for 15 days. During our visit our task was to help a local Baptist church build classrooms. They were located next to a state orphanage. Our evangelical church in Virginia sponsored us. Jim and I were staying in a small but tidy home with a widow and her family.

After dinner Jim and I met up at the church with the rest of the team. We were going to a soccer game that evening. Suddenly a van pulled up next to us. Two of our team members jumped out and excitedly said ?Terrorists crashed hijacked planes into the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. The Trade Centers have collapsed!? ?No! Are you sure?? I replied. ?We saw it ourselves on the television? they said. ?They collapsed? Those buildings wouldn?t collapse. All the way down?? I responded. ?All the way. The entire country is locked down. No planes are flying.? They answered.

I felt like someone had slugged me in the stomach. I felt sick and sat down. 50,000 people worked in those towers. So this is what Vova had tried to tell me!

Later that evening, at a gas station, a burly, tough looking Ukrainian recognized me as an American and walked up to me. His face reflected grave sympathy and concern. He began pouring out his heart in a torrent of words, but I could not understand anything he was saying. As I walked away I said to an interpreter ?What was he saying?? ?He was expressing his sympathy and support? was the reply.

Here we were, stuck thousands of miles from home. Our families and friends were facing the unknown, and we could do nothing about it.

The next day, while visiting the home of a local Christian missionary, I saw news clips on CNN-International. People were jumping from buildings. It took me a moment to realize what I was seeing. I will never forget it. Never.

The daughter of a friend of one of my team members was killed in the North Tower on 9-11.

One week later, on schedule, we flew home. Security was tight. When we arrived we were amazed at the changes that had taken place. We arrived at Dulles International and drove home. There were flags everywhere. America had clearly changed.

As the months went by I realized that many common Americans had been deeply traumatized by the experiences of 9-11. They had watched it unfold before their eyes, live on television. They had endured the suspense of not knowing what was coming next. I was spared this because it was all over before I knew it had started.

On each anniversary of 9-11, until justice is fully satisfied on OBL, we should watch the footage of the horror of that day. Let us not forget the death of the innocent ones. Let us not rationalize away this calculated plan to murder unsuspecting people. This is a clear case of Right versus Wrong, Civilization versus Barbarity.

I support President Bush in his actions in Afghanistan, Iraq and throughout the world. We must win this conflict by ?draining the swamp? of corruption, totalitarianism and ignorance in which the terrorist mindset flourishes. The Gospel of Jesus is the best answer. The Western values of Tolerance and Freedom are based upon Christian concepts of the equality of man and a loving compassionate God.

May God Bless America and keep her strong!