God’s Help in Crisis

A Still Small Voice: Rescued by God at the last minute
By Dale Hurd, CBN News

There are so many stories of God's hand at work amidst the horror of the World Trade Center attack. This is the miraculous story of how God preserved the life of one woman who listened to the Holy Spirit's voice.

NEW YORK CITY - As two hijacked planes were heading on a collision course with the World Trade Towers, one woman was prayerfully making her way to her desk on the 61st floor. It was an ordinary New York morning, and then tragedy struck. An announcement said she should stay, but a silent voice told Dawn Robinson it was time to leave.

"Every morning I make it a habit while I'm getting ready to pray, 'God, please help me through the day. This is the day that You have made. I'm going to rejoice and be glad in it.' Daily that's what I do to get prepared to go to work. And even that morning as I walked to the 61st floor, I rounded the corner and I said, 'I thank You for a good day. This is going to be a good day,'" said Dawn.

It was shortly after that the first plane hit the World Trade Center. There was confusion and Dawn went to a lower floor with some friends to see what was going on. They were told that everything was okay and to go back their office.

"So I went toward my office, but halfway to the elevator something stopped me. I wasn't trying to decide, 'Am I going to go up to my floor?' I just knew in an instant that I needed to get out. I felt immediate claustrophobia. I never experienced that before. It was an awareness I had never felt before, and it was immediate. It wasn't, 'Maybe I shouldn't go up.' I knew right then I had to get out of there no matter what the cost. I had to get out. And I know for a fact that was the Holy Spirit that spoke to me right then," Dawn said.

"So I turned around and I saw some of the people that I worked with and I said, ‘We have to leave now. Now. We have to go.’ So we found the stairwell and I would estimate probably 75 percent of the people stayed because they did exactly what they were told to do. They either stayed and went to the cafeteria, or they were trying to get back up to their floors.

"But something inside of me told me, 'Go, no matter what the cost. Get out of here.' So we started running down the stairwell, and you have to remember, there were thousands of people that ended up running down that same stairwell by the time we were actually going. And I think, I'm not sure, but I think we were on the 42nd floor when it hit our building. At this point, we still didn't have the comprehension that planes were hitting our buildings. At this point, in fact, somebody said, ‘Oh, I think it's terrorists.’ We all started laughing because we thought, ‘There's no way it's terrorists,’" she continued.

"So we started running down and I think it was on the 42nd floor or so that it hit us and it knocked us up against the walls. At that point, people were screaming and hysteria broke out. There was smoke covering us. There was water coming down. So some of us were yelling, “Just go! Go fast!” Because you're scared to death, you know you're up 40 flights and it's going to take a long time to get down 40 flights of stairs with thousands of people joining you," she explained.

"So I held on to the banister. I'm 49, so I made sure I had something to hang on to so I wouldn't be knocked over. I just tried to remain focused and I held on to that all the way down. It was a circle of stairs."

"I just kept praying very loudly, 'God, please protect us. Jesus, be with us.' When we got to the second level-that's also the street level-we found some doors that we could get out of. Debris was constantly falling on top of us once we got outside. It was like you were running, literally running from the fire that you saw behind you. And then the same sound [of an explosion] I had heard up in my office was what I was hearing again. I thought that we were just constantly being bombed, because you couldn't look up and see, and you couldn't see your hand in front of your face," she said as tears welled up in her eyes.

But Dawn pointed out that God clearly intended to take care of her.
"I feel like I have a whole new chance at life now. Had God not stopped me and put that urgency inside of me, I wouldn't be here today, because our floor was on fire and the second plane hit our floor," she said.

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Promises of Protection

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea (Psalm 46:1- 2*). *Verses are New King James Version unless otherwise noted.

Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil; for You are with me; your rod and Your staff, they comfort me (Psalm 23:4).

“I am with you to save you and deliver you," says the Lord (Jeremiah 15:20).

Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you (Daniel 6:16).

Your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right hand or whenever you turn to the left (Isaiah 30:21).

I am with you always, even unto the end of the world (Matthew 28:20 KJV).

I, the Lord your God, will hold your right hand, saying to you, “Fear not, I will help you”(Isaiah 41:13).



Pentagon official recounts events that spared his life
By Lt. Col. Franklin Childress, Baptist Press

WASHINGTON - In Jeremiah 29:11-13 the Lord boldly declares: "I know the plans I have for you. Plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Those verses have never been truer for me than they were on Tuesday, September 11, 2001.


My office was ground zero for the jet that hit the Pentagon. My office was totally destroyed, most of my co-workers were killed or severely injured, but I was spared. On that particular day, I was at my apartment waiting to receive a baggage shipment.

I checked into the Pentagon on September 4 for an assignment as the public affairs officer for the Deputy Chief of Staff of the Army for Personnel. I was assigned to a newly renovated wing of the Pentagon. I was overwhelmed by the strangeness of the Pentagon-who does what, what my role is.

I went through the process of checking in and meeting everybody I would work with and completed my processing requirements by Monday, September 10. As part of my arrival requirements, I worked with the Transportation Office at a nearby military installation for delivery of my household goods from Hawaii.

They initially set up the delivery for my shipment to be on September 6. When I called back to check the confirmation of that date, the person I spoke to said that the previous clerk had dropped the ball and I would have to wait a week to get my goods delivered. I was a little angry, but I resolved to take it in stride and make another appointment.

Little did I know that the date I chose for the delivery would be a decision that saved my life. I thought that I might have to meet my new boss, Lt. Gen. Maude on Monday, September 10, so I chose to have my baggage delivered on Tuesday, September 11.

I was sitting on my balcony watching and waiting for the moving company truck that was to deliver my baggage to arrive at 9:32 a.m. when I heard what I thought was a sonic boom. Then I heard fire trucks and ambulances rushing through the streets. I turned on the TV and was appalled to see that an American Airlines jet had crashed into the Pentagon. My shock continued as I watched the news come in about the World Trade Center in New York. I was watching when the twin towers came crashing down. My reaction was that I was watching the end of the world.


Then the most tragic news of all hit me like a hammer blow. The office where I work was the impact point of the crash. I learned that my boss and many of my co-workers were unaccounted for. If I had been at work that day, I would not be writing this now.

What I have come to realize is that I have been given the ultimate gift from God-my salvation. If I had been there that day, I would have been ready for God to take me home. I also realize that I have been given a second gift, that God miraculously spared my life that day. I am truly grateful to Christ who gives me strength.

Some people describe me as lucky and say that I was saved by a coincidence, but I believe that I am blessed. I know who saved me, and His name is not luck. I do not believe that anything happens by accident. I believe that God spared me for His purposes; I have to be still and let Him reveal His purpose for my life. Until that happens, I will tell everybody that I can about my miraculous gift.

In closing, I pray that every man, woman, boy, and girl who reads my words will consider the meaning of life. I pray that after their careful and prayerful consideration they, like me, will give their life over to Jesus Christ and trust Him as their Lord and Savior. I promise that if they do that they will have the promise that Jesus gives everyone, that they will have life and have it more abundantly.

I also pray that every Christian would be bold in their own witness. I believe that we have a narrow window of time to reach the lost because people are now open to the Word and because Jesus Christ is coming [back] soon. We may have been born for such a time as this.

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Jew saves 'brother' Muslim
By Nigel Rosser, News & City

A Pakistani Muslim told how he was plucked to safety by a Hassidic Jew ahead of an avalanche of shrapnel after the World Trade Center attack.

The story of Usman Farman, a 21-year-old banker, counterbalances the wave of anti-Muslim anger sweeping America. Mr. Farman said: "I was on my back, facing this massive cloud that was approaching.

"I wear a pendant around my neck, inscribed with an Arabic prayer for safety. A Hassidic Jewish man came up to me and held the pendant in his hand. He read out the Arabic. What he said next, I will never forget.

"With a deep Brooklyn accent he said, 'Brother, there is a cloud of glass coming at us. Grab my hand. Let's get the hell out of here.' He helped me stand and we ran." Mr. Farman finally stopped about 20 blocks away.

"He was the last person I would have thought would help me."