New York Disciples Remember 9/11

Editor’s note: At 8:46 am on Saturday, September 11^th, 2021, the twentieth anniversary of 9/11, the bells of all the worship houses in New York City will toll together, for the lives lost in the attacks on the World Trade Center, twenty years ago this month. Every year on the anniversary of 9/11, family members gather at the memorial at ground zero in Lower Manhattan to read aloud the names of those who died in the tragedy. Our hearts are with our brothers and sisters in our ICOC churches in the tri-state area of New York and New Jersey and Connecticut as they commemorate the event that many say changed our lives forever. We’re grateful to our sisters from the New York church, who have taken the time to share their first-hand experiences with us. We are proud to tell their stories in three parts: today (September 3^rd), on September 10^th, and September 11^th.

By Iris Zayas - Hudson Valley

It’s now twenty years on, from that dreadful day. Walking by my boss’s office on what normally would have been a beautiful fall day, I heard him shout that a plane just flew into one of the World Trade Center towers. I ran into his office to confirm and then immediately ran to the phone to call my husband Phil. Phil worked at the World Trade Center. When he answered, he told me that it was the other building and not his that was just hit and that they could see debris falling from the building. He informed me that they were advised to stay put and I told him, “Forget what they’re telling you, get out ASAP!”.

My mother-in-law, who was battling cancer at the time, called me, hysterically crying, asking if I had heard from Phil. I told her yes and that he was about to evacuate the building and at that moment the second tower was hit. My co-worker got hysterical because her sister worked in the tower that was first hit and she was unable to connect with her, so I grabbed her, ran to the restroom and started praying with her. I felt desperate. I remember praying to God, “if it is your will please protect Phil, and if it’s not your will then give me the strength to raise my girls exactly the way you would want me to.” Soon my co-worker heard from her sister, and I was still waiting to hear from Phil, wondering if I was going to be a widow. Amazingly I felt surrendered and calm, like God was going to take care of me and my girls no matter what.

I think of the scripture in James 4:

13 Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” 14 Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.

God has helped me to realize that He is so much bigger, stronger and wiser than I am,  and He knows exactly what He is doing with my life. I always need to trust Him.
I held it together that day until Phil walked into my office and then I just broke down. Grateful that God had saved my best friend, husband, and father of my children.
Twenty years later, that same lesson still rings true in my life. God is still big enough, strong enough and wise enough to take care of me and my loved ones. It’s lessons like this, learned in the most challenging of times, that continue to minister to us for many years to come.