On September 11, 2001 terrorists attacked the World Trade Center, which was a symbol of American prosperity. They also attacked the Pentagon, which is a symbol of the military might of America. Most of us realized right away that these attacks involved more than symbols. There were people in both of those buildings, and there were people on those planes.

It didn't take long to get a pretty good idea of how many people had been killed, but there are many more victims of the attack than those who have already died. We will never know who all of them are, but let me tell you about some you may not be aware of.

At the end of the workday on September 11th, there were children in New York day care centers whose parents didn't pick them up. Certainly children who were orphaned by the attack are victims of the terrorists.

There are people who live in the Caribbean Islands and work serving tourists in hotels and restaurants. Many workers in the service industry have already lost their jobs. How are they victims? Many work for low wages and aren't able to save much to weather economic down turns. Some will be impoverished, and others will literally starve to death because of the drop off in tourism. One of our ELCA World Hunger newsletters says, "The World Bank has estimated that 20,000 to 40,000 children under five years of age could die from hunger and disease because of the terrorist attack's ripple effect on the global economy."

A short time ago, politicians were arguing over what to do with a projected federal budget surplus. Some were hoping that a substantial portion of the surplus could be used to reduce chronic hunger in the world. Going to war will cost a lot of money, as will the various homeland security programs. I don't keep my finger on the pulse of national politics very well, but I suspect that there is no longer a budget surplus to argue about. I won't be a bit surprised to see programs that help the poor cut in favor of increasing defense spending in the budgets of the next several years.

Somewhere in the world there is a child who could have been saved from starvation with that budget surplus money. It isn't going to happen now. That child too is a victim of the terrorists.

The federal building in Oklahoma City was bombed in 1995. The work done by the rescue workers had a profound effect on many of their lives. I know of one who suffered greatly from depression, and eventually took his own life. Trauma counseling is being provided for the rescue workers and others, but the very lives of these New York rescue workers are still at stake. If one or more eventually takes his or her own life, in my book he or she will be a victim of the terrorist attack.

Tim McVeigh (sp.?) was killed as a result of his involvement in the Oklahoma City bombing. Nineteen terrorists died in the September 11th plane crashes. The American military and the Northern Alliance will kill many members of the terrorist network and their host nation's government. Some have been killed already. They too will leave behind fathers, mothers, wives and children.

It was good to see people respond to this tragedy with gifts of money. Many dollars have been raised for the disaster relief work in New York. Even this has a down side. Many charitable organizations have reported a large drop in contributions since September 11th. Many of the people who gave generously to the disaster relief effort were unable to also give to their usual charities. The ones who would have been helped by those charities are also victims of the attack.

Our ELCA hunger appeal has been helping the relief effort in New York. At the same time the starving people in Africa and South America have not gone away. In fact, they have been joined by far more than we first knew about in Afghanistan. Our ELCA world hunger and disaster appeal will continue to help as many as possible. Since September 11th, our support for this organization is more important than it has been in the past.

You can give to the ELCA world hunger and disaster appeal through this congregation or directly. Their toll free number is (800) 638-3522. Their web site is www.elca.org/disaster. Thanks for listening, and may God bless you all.

Sincerely,

Pastor Birk