Dear Friends,
I remember September 11, 2001 well. A group of missionaries were in the TEAM office in Caracas gathered around
a TV set watching the unbelievable events unfold. Venezuelans gathered in the streets in front of appliance stores with
TV's. The shock was real, but a long way away.
Yesterday terror hit much closer to our new home. 13 bombs were placed in backpacks and left on trains entering
Madrid from our side of the city. They are trains that we have taken during our first weeks here, as recently as
last week. 10 of the bombs were detonated during rush hour in the busiest stations in Madrid.
Dave and Rose Prince are TEAM missionaries that live and work on the south side of Madrid. On Wednesday Rose helped
Kay clean out the apartment where we lived our first month, and Dave and Rose have been a big help as we“ve gotten adjusted.
They send their kids, along with kids from several other families, on the train from Madrid out to Acalį de Henares, where
the bombs were probably placed on the trains. Dave and Rose heard the explosions from their apartment knowing that
their kids had just gone to the station to board the train. In fact, bombs were detonated in two stations as their
kids“ train traveled between them. The bombs missed them by about a minute in either direction. A boy in Ian“s
class who was on the train was crying after arriving at school. He“d seen dead bodies, injured people and experienced
the terror that is terrorism. We thank God for His protection for the children at the school.
That said, there are many who are suffering today. About 200 were killed and 1500 injured, the worst European terrorist
attack since the Lockerby flight in 1988. But those are just statistics.
It“s hard to know how to react. We don“t even know our neighbors yet. Yet as John Nicely, the director of
the boys“ school said, the trains were from this side of town. Many, many neighbors are directly or indirectly affected.
And only Jesus Christ has the answers people need.
And we don“t know how to ask you to pray. But the Holy Spirit does (Romans 8:27). So please pray as God leads
you.
In Christ,
Mark, Kay, Greg and Ian
PS
Oops! I gave you the wrong phone number...trying to rush! Here is the right one...
Phone: 3491-887-7638
You can call us for three cents a minute using 1010987. Just dial like this: 1010987-011-3491-887-7638.
