BY RHONDA S. MOSS

xcited parents, spectators, and neighbors lined up along Georgia Avenue to witness the parade of  approximately 10 marching Pathfinder clubs that came from Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Richmond, Virginia. As they arrived, parents vibrated the streets with cheers!  With poster themes such as "We Are Not About Drugs, Crime, or Violence," the youth stepped in unison with fellow Pathfinders at the fifth annual rally on September 22, escorted by metropolitan police officers, a hook and ladder fire engine, and a mounted police officer.

Beauty Grows Out of Ashes
Danielle Fordham opened this year's rally with the national anthem as many held their hands across their hearts.

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World War I veteran Elder Daniel Davis (who delivered the opening prayer for the occasion, and after whom the Allegheny East Conference youth camp is named)  said of the terrorist attack on September 11: "Those who live by the sword will die by the sword.  God will put a stop to terrorism. The devil created this devastating situation, but God permitted it in order to allow us to grow closer to Him." "Beauty grows out of ashes," he said.

Educate the Children
This event was the largest anti-drug, anti-crime rally in the Washington, D.C., metro area, lasting from 3:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m. It was well represented by city officials, including D.C. school board member Dwight Singleton and Ward 4 councilman Adrian Fenty. They both agreed  that the September 11 terrorism didn't relate just to D.C. but to the entire United States. "We need to educate our children about what's happening in the world and why there need to be changes in some laws," one of them said.

Toni Rucker, a 3-year veteran D.C. firefighter who handed out helmets to children, was part of the company that responded to the Pentagon tragedy. That's where she witnessed firsthand the mass devastation of senseless violence. She echoed the sentiment of others who felt this event was a good opportunity for youth to address such issues on a local level. A monetary collection was taken for firefighters and the rescue workers of D.C. and New York, and red, white, and blue ribbons were distributed in tribute to the victims of the World Trade Center and Pentagon terrorist attacks.

Moving Forward
As the rally moved forward, performers such as saxophonist Charles Johnson (who played his soothing rendition of "Leaning on the Everlasting Arms"),  9-year-old storyteller Asia Johnson,  Brotherhood Mime Group, Angelic Dance Group, Petworth Community Choir members, Steppers to Christ, Voices of Zion, and the First Seventh-day Adventist Church(Washington, D.C.) youth choir presented items. Altogether, more than 30 performers, performing groups, and oratorical readers were on hand, with a security crew of approximately 40 guards to keep things safe.

Vendors provided literature on rape and crisis intervention. Also on hand were counseling and drug prevention services from agencies such as the D.C. Rape Crisis Intervention Center and Prepare Our Youth. Emergency food and clothing were given out to anyone needing such services.

Several times throughout the rally moments of silence were requested for victims of the tragedy.  "Although the rally wasn't originally planned with the terrorism situation in mind," said Pastor Mark McCleary of First church, "it came at a strategic time." He noted that though the rally was an annual event, it was also in line with President Bush's call for national prayer. The rally was "a coordinated coincidence," he said, allowing youth "to come together to pray for themselves, one another, and the community." It was "a time of healing for our family, community, and the nation."

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Rhonda S. Moss is a member of the First Seventh-day Adventist Church in Washington, D.C.

BY WILONA KARIMABADI

eptember 11, 2001, is a day that will never be forgotten. With the rest of the world, Ameri-cans watched in absolute horror and disbelief, realizing that terrorism had invaded our homes and our sense of security in a way we never believed possible. Television cameras captured the absolute destruction and mayhem that ensued as jets plowed their way into bastions of American society and government. And over a clear Pennsylvania sky a plane filled with heroes gave their lives so that their fellow citizens could live.

Seventh-day Adventists the world over were also profoundly affected by this calamity. For Adventist believers a mission to minister in the name of Christ has proved to be as powerful a motive as that which moved the rescuers, the military, or the FBI in the period immediately following the attacks. And Adventist young adults were at the forefront.

On Thursday, September 13, just two days after the attacks, volunteers from Columbia Union College (CUC) in Takoma Park, Maryland, arrived at the scene in New York. This group of young people was assembled from the school’s Religion Department. Zack Plantak, chair of the department, organized CUC’s team and made a journey to New York City himself to help out. The following day a team arrived from the social work department of Andrews University in Berrien Springs, Michigan. Within a week new teams arrived to relieve the others. John Gavin, a social work instructor at CUC and a key leader with the Columbia Union’s Metro Ministries program, spent two weeks working there.

Once in New York the teams were based at three area churches. They were given accommodations through the Church of the Advent Hope in upper Manhattan and at Hoboken Faith Community Fellowship, a church planting project based in Hoboken, New Jersey. These young adults stepped up to the difficult challenge of ministering to a city in crisis by participating in efforts to heal their pain. They conducted grief/stress seminars, staffed drop-in centers for counseling at churches, helped conduct informal prayer meetings and support groups each evening, distributed flyers offering help, and placed posters in stores and subway stations. They also handed out packets of information on community services to victims’ families and friends; worked with the Red Cross at the morgue and family center doing critical-incident stress debriefing; assisted people in dealing with further emotional and spiritual issues related to the tragedy; and participated in special worship services of prayer and remembrance.

Gavin commented on the effort: “The goal was to assemble teams of mental health and social work professionals to help these people deal with the emotional trauma of these tragedies.” The teams worked to accomplish that by setting up drop-in centers that were to serve as emergency counseling units. Gavin worked directly with volunteers each day and was extremely moved by what he witnessed in New York.

The greatest amount of ministering was done on an informal basis—out on the streets, where team members walked around to alert people to the services available. Gavin says that these encounters witnessed police officers, family members of victims, and local residents just break down in tears. Volunteers would take time to kneel by a patrol car, for example, to talk and try and make sense of the madness.

Gavin also spoke of his visit to Ground Zero, describing it as “surreal.” “With the big lights on, it almost looked like a movie set,” he said. What he found especially moving, though, was the sight of people working together and gathering in places like Union Square to light candles, talk, sing, pray, and cry.

Young adult Shannon Royes, an Andrews University social work student, was part of her department’s team. Royes was awestruck at what she saw, but believed participants were used by God to minister to the people of New York City. “Ground Zero was such an unbelievable sight,” she said. “I could not believe that something so devastating had happened so close to home. I felt so sad for the people who were there when it took place. My heart broke for the firefighters who were pulling their friends out of the rubble. It was such a sad, unspeakable feeling.”

Royes also related that team members had a primary responsibility to help people process their experiences. There was a lot of listening involved, but it seemed that that was what was needed most. Royes said that she, along with other students, left with a deep sense of satisfaction that they could be of help.

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Wilona Karimabadi is production coordinator for the Columbia Union Visitor.