In Memoriam
I doubt that I need to remind any American over the age of 10 what today marks. If you're like me, you remember exactly what you were doing that Tuesday morning, September 11, 2001, when you received the news of the attacks that changed the face of America. Even now, writing these simple words, the tragic images from that day come back with such vivid clarity that I can't help but sit back and grieve.
The numbers are as startling as the images. Over three thousand men, women, and children lost their lives that day. We heard their names read at the memorial services that followed, shocking us in the sheer numbers of the tragedy. We saw their families–wives missing husbands, children without mothers and fathers, parents devastated at the loss of their children, lives altered forever in the blink of an eye.
And we all felt the uncertainty of life, an unknown fear of what was to come. Could our government protect us from further attacks? What would be next? And this is with a government that is trying to protect us, looking out for our safety!
It is an easy parallel to draw to the persecuted church, but not a trite one. The hatred that we saw on display six years ago is constant reality for so many of our brothers and sisters in Christ–both in the Islamic world, and elsewhere. Where we can look from the outside in, and marvel at so great a violent anger, they live underneath it.
And the numbers. Oh, the numbers. An estimated 160,000 people will be martyred this year alone for their faith in Jesus Christ. One hundred and sixty thousand–more than 53 people for every one killed in the tragedy of September 11. For every person killed that day, that number looks like this:
We will not–and we should not–forget what happened six years ago. As one who has seen and heard first-hand the tragedies of persecution, I implore you not to forget their plight. As Christians, it is our calling to remember.