he New York State Emergency Management Agency and the Federal Emergency Management Agency have asked Adventist Community Services (ACS) to manage four donated goods and relief supplies warehouses in Poughkeepsie, Schenectady, and Long Island, New York; and Stratford, Connecticut.

Larry Buckner, disaster response coordinator for ACS, has assembled four teams of volunteers from Florida, Arkansas, Pennsylvania, Alabama, Michigan, Tennessee, and Connecticut. Each team of veteran disaster relief workers will serve for two weeks before being replaced by another team.

"The teams will sort, pack, log, and prepare items already donated for distribution to those affected by the disaster," Buckner said. "No additional donated goods are needed at this time, but supporters can make monetary donations earmarked for New York and Washington Disaster Relief by calling 800-424-ADRA (2372)."

Known for its work in disaster relief, ACS is frequently called on to establish and operate donated goods and relief supplies warehouses and distribution centers after major disasters occur. "We're happy to do our part to help America recover," said Buckner. "We'll be here as long as we're needed."

Bill Bremner, Adventist Community Services director spoke of the enormous devastation in at Ground Zero> "I've worked with an ambulance crew in New York City and witnessed many traumatic situations, but I've never seen anything like this," he said. "It was total, utter devastation, like being in a mass graveyard, a very somber atmosphere."

Bremner, whose conference runs the New York Van Ministry, was one of the first Adventist Disaster Response team members to reach "Ground Zero," the former site of the World Trade Center towers after the terrorist attacks. Armed with bottled water, saline solution, and food, Bremner and a team of leaders from the North American Division and Northeastern and Greater New York conferences were able to get into the highly secured area of Lower Manhattan because of the Adventist Church's service record there.

"Firefighters and police officers let us through because after 26 years of serving this community, we have name recognition here," Bremner said. He and the team also transported firefighters who couldn't get back to their home stations because they had lost their equipment, trucks, and fellow firefighters when the buildings collapsed.

"We have a unique opportunity to reach people right now in New York City," Bremner said. "When I told one lady that my church was offering prayer and spiritual counseling, she said, 'That's what I need. Everyone's telling me that everything's going to be okay, but what I need is spiritual counseling.'"

Volunteers with the New York Van Ministry have distributed hundreds of copies of "Power to Cope Magazine" which provides biblical guidelines for dealing with stress.

Pastors Provide Grief Counseling
Since the disaster Martin Feldbush, associate director of Adventist Chaplaincy Ministries for the North American Division, has given 100 New York City pastors a crash course in providing grief counseling for victims of this historic disaster and those who watched it unfold on television.

Those pastors are already using the training. Dionisio Olivo, president of Greater New York Conference and 10 pastors have been counseling at the Red Cross Family Assistance Center where family members of victims are being served.

Shortly after Mount of Olives Church pastor W.D. Felder attended the training session, he visited the 83rd Police Precinct in Brooklyn, one of 22 stations adopted by Northeastern Conference churches in New York.

"One thing we need and can't get enough of is prayer," said the Community Affairs Officer when Felder asked how he could help.

On the day of the attacks at the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, Adventist Chaplains Lt. Col. Bill Broome of the Army Chief of Chaplains office, and Darold Bigger, deputy chief of chaplains for the US Navy Reserves, were onsite and helped rescue the wounded. They have been available day and night to provide pastoral care for the survivors and the families of the victims. Another Adventist, Lt. Col. Ed Bowen, an army chaplain who is director of the Clinical Pastoral Education Center at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, and a member of the Spencerville Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, has also been counseling families.

At nearby Sligo Adventist Church in Takoma Park, pastors Terry Johnsson, a chaplain and youth pastor, and Ismael Gama, children's pastor, provided counseling to people who lost family and friends in the attacks and those who are experiencing fear and anxiety as a result of the tragedy.

"A lot of people are trying to understand how God would allow this to happen," Johnsson was quoted as saying in a Takoma Park newspaper. "They have every right to be sad, every right to be angry. They wouldn't be human if they didn't."

Johnsson, 30 pastors from Potomac Conference, and 18 from Allegheny East Conference, joined other clergy at a hotel near the Pentagon to counsel the families of the 188 people who perished there.

On the Scene
Many other Seventh-day Adventists also participated in the recovery efforts. Here's just a few examples:

Oakwood College - "They couldn't dig through the rubble themselves. They couldn't give aid to the rescue workers. There were plenty of people already doing that. What a group of college students from Huntsville, Alabama, could do was pick up their instruments and march through the streets of New York bringing music and a little solace to a hurting city."

An account of their effort became the lead article of a cover story in the Huntsville Times about the National Association for the Prevention of Starvation, commonly called NAPS. The group of 32 people, led by biology professor Dr. Anthony Paul, rented a U-Haul truck, packed their band instruments, and drove 24 hours to New York City.

When they discovered that they couldn't help with the clean up, they began marching down the streets playing their instruments, hugging police and firefighters, and, as theNew York Times reported, "bringing much needed affection to eight million survivors." TheNational Review Online, CNN, CBS, and New York and Huntsville television stations carried the story. The group will be featured in a special edition of Newsweek magazine next week. NAPS plans to make another visit to New York around Thanksgiving.

"NAPS usually responds to crises---famine, war, tornadoes, etc." says Paul, founder of the 16-year-old group. "A lot of our members are from New York and they got calls from people saying, 'When is NAPS coming?' So, we went."

President's Day of Prayer - On September 14, President George W. Bush convened a special noontime prayer meeting at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C. Congressional members, all former able US presidents, military and special guests were invited to participate in a day of prayer on behalf of the nation.

Clarence Hodges, vice president and director of Religious Liberty and Public Affairs, and Celeste Ryan, NAD assistant director of communication, represented the Adventist Church. Following the service, the two did television and radio interviews. Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee, a Seventh-day Adventist from Texas, also attended.

New Jersey Conference - A number of church members in this conference have provided food and counseling to rescue workers in New York City. Pastors from three counties were given a toll-free number to field calls of those who needed counseling. In addition, the conference education department brought in a counselor to help students get through the trauma and conduct a seminar for all teachers on dealing with sudden traumatic loss. The department is also conducting a fund raising campaign for ADRA and the Red Cross.

Northeastern Conference - When members offered to give blood at the New York Blood Center, they were asked to wait a month because the blood banks are currently well supplied. "Their worry is that next month when they really need help, they will be long forgotten," says conference communication director C.A. Murray. To help them out, the conference plans to sponsor blood drives at churches in each borough.

What They Do Best
From the moment they heard about the terrorist attacks, Adventists around the world reached out to help in whatever way they could. Some, like Florida Conference pastor Eugene Torres went to New York to help console family members and lend support to the Red Cross. Churches opened their doors to hold ecumenical prayer services and counsel the distraught. Thousands stood in line to give blood. New Jersey based medical doctors and EMTs flocked to the city to volunteer as rescue workers. As noted in TheDallas Morning News, deacons in Fort Worth, Texas, placed encouraging messages on church signs. And at La Sierra University, in a prayer service, president Lawrence T. Geraty, sounded the call for Adventists to do what Adventists do best: "Let us reach out in concern, love, and understanding for all. Let us be channels of healing to a hurting world."

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By Celeste Ryan, North American Division assistant communication director. Cindy Kurtzhals, C.A. Murray, Dionisio Olivo, Anthony Paul, Dick Stenbakken, and Carlos Turcios also contributed to this report.