From: assistnews
ASSIST News Service (ANS) - PO Box 2126, Garden Grove, CA 92842-2126 USA
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Thursday, July 7, 2005
CHRISTIAN LEADERS RESPOND TO LONDON BOMBING
Baptist World Congress to Still Meet in England
By Jeremy Reynalds
Special Correspondent for ASSIST News Service
LONDON (ANS) -- Four blasts rocked the London subway and tore open a packed
double-decker bus during the morning rush hour Thursday, sending bloodied
victims fleeing after what British Prime Minister Tony Blair called "barbaric"
terrorist attacks.
While the exact number of those killed vary, it appears that somewhere between
40 and 50 people were killed and maybe as many as 700 injured.
A statement appeared today on the (currently defunct) jihadist website
Al-Qal'ah (www.qal3ah.net), purportedly posted by the group claiming
responsibility for the bomb attacks in London today.
A translation provided by World Net Daily read in part, "In the name of God,
the Merciful, the Compassionate, may peace be upon the cheerful one and the
dauntless fighter, Prophet Muhammad, God's peace be upon him. O nation of Islam
and nation of Arabism: Rejoice for it is time to take revenge from the British
Zionist Crusader government in retaliation for the massacres Britain is
committing in Iraq and Afghanistan. The heroic mujahidin have carried out a
blessed raid in London. Britain is now burning with fear, terror and panic in
its northern, southern, eastern and western quarters."
Christian leaders were quick to respond to the day's shocking events.
In an e-mailed statement, Peter Kerridge, CEO of Premier Christian Radio said,
"Like many, I am shocked by the scenes of violence and destruction we have
witnessed today in London. We at Premier Christian Radio are calling for our
listeners to pray for the victims of today's terrorist attack as well as their
families and the paramedics, police and hospital staff."
Speaking in a statement reported by the Associated Baptist Press
(www.biblicalrecorder.org/content/news/2005/7_7_2005/ne070705bwa.shtml), David
Coffee, general secretary of the Baptist Union of Great Britain, said, "The
events that took place in London today fill us with horror, and our prayers go
out to the bereaved and the injured, together with all those who are seeking to
offer help and comfort, including the emergency services, security forces and
chaplains."
He added, "In a world of violence, where there is too little respect for life,
we want to stand alongside all those who are the victims of such brutality,
sharing their pain and anger, and embracing them with compassion. This is a
time when we are called to answer the evil of violence with an unswerving
commitment to the ways that make for peace and justice. We join our Christian
hope with all who seek the common good at this critical time."
The Associated Baptist Press (ABP) also reported that worldwide Baptists will
continue with plans to meet July 27-31 in England, despite the deadly bombings.
British Baptists, who will play host to the Baptist World Congress in
Birmingham in less than three weeks, voiced their desire, ABP reported, "to
stand alongside all those who are the victims of such brutality," but confirmed
plans for the meeting of Baptists worldwide will go on.
"When we gather in Birmingham as a family of world Baptists," ABP reported
Coffee said, "it will give us an opportunity to pray together for our broken
world and to show solidarity with all who suffer."
Then in a statement e-mailed from India, Hopegivers International President Dr.
Samuel Thomas said, "Our prayers go out to the victims of the London terror
attacks and their families. We understand their pain because we face terrorist
attacks almost daily from religious fanatics in India. Whenever there is hope
for peace and freedom from hunger and suffering there will always be evil
people who want to interject despair. Who can believe that there is not dark,
Satanic forces behind these kinds of attacks?"
Thomas added, "We, as Hopegivers, have a choice. Where there is death and
suffering like this, we are committed to responding with hope and tangible
love. Today's terror attack is just another reminder for us that we are still
at war with evil and our only response can be sending more help and hope!"
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Hopegivers (www.hopegivers.com) helps abandoned children and other needy or
oppressed people.
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Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy
Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter,
http://www.joyjunction.org or http://www.christianity.com/joyjunction. He has a
master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico and is a
candidate for the Ph.D. in intercultural education at Biola University in Los
Angeles. He is married with five children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
For more information contact: Jeremy Reynalds at [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (505)
877-6967 or (505) 400-7145. Note: A black and white JPEG picture of Jeremy
Reynalds is available on request from Dan Wooding at [EMAIL PROTECTED]
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