Specific Prayer Requests From Wedgwood Baptist Church, Ft. Worth, Texas
By Walter H. Norvell

I am Walter H. Norvell. I am the Dean of the Weekend College at Dallas Baptist University, Dallas Texas. I am also a Ph.D. student at Southwest Baptist Theological Seminary. My family and I are members at Wedgwood Baptist Church and were in the services Wednesday night as this tragedy occurred. This is written in response to a request for specific prayer needs. I don't know many of you except through e-mail contacts or through my dissertation work or my denominational writing. Please pray for our church. Please forgive typos, etc. It is hard to type through the tears.

It is so kind of you to ask for specific prayer requests for our family and church. Assure your youth that our family and our church

family are sensing God's presence in powerful ways because of the prayers of our Christian brothers and sisters. Because of the great response and the great need for support I am also going to send this list on to others as well.

Please feel free to distribute this to every praying Christian you can find.

Here are some prayer requests:
Pray for Justin Laird. He is a football player at Brewer High School and a member at First Baptist Church, White Settlement. He took a bullet in his spine and is paralyzed at this time. Pray that God will do a miracle so he will fully recover.

Pray for our church staff: Dr. Al Meredith, pastor; Mike Holton, Minister of Education/Administration; Jonathan Gardner, our brand new Minister of Music; Chris Shirley, our Minister of Adult Education and Singles; Dax Hughes, Minister to Students; Jay Fannin, Youth Minister; Kim Heron, Minister to Children; and Kevin Galey, counselor. Kevin is among the wounded.

Pray for Jay Fannin, our youth minister. Jay, along with several other youth ministers, planned this event.

Pray for the Christian band Forty Days. They were leading the youth in the praise, actually singing "Alleluia" when the gunman burst in.

Pray God will give them a new power and focus in their music ministry because of this event.

Pray for Mike Smith. Mike is the 11th grade boys Sunday School teacher (David's class). Mike enlisted Kim Jones to help with the rally and she was killed doing the job she volunteered for. Mike is having a hard time dealing with this.

Pray for Tim Hood. Tim is the technology teacher at Southwest High School and leads the media team in our church. He had just succeeded in interesting Justin Ray in the youth group because Justin enjoyed video work. Tim assigned Justin to his video taping position in the sanctuary. Justin was killed. Tim is having a hard time dealing with this.

Pray for youth who brought visitors to this event. Our son invited and brought a friend from school. These kids feel anguished and troubled because they brought visitors, yet they were doing just what all Christians should be doing.

Pray for Mary Beth Talley. We have a sweet, physically and mentally challenged youth named Heather MacDonald. Mary Beth shielded Heather and was shot in the back. Her wound was not serious, but she will face surgery in a couple weeks to have the bullet removed. Mary Beth will not accept the title, but she is a real hero.

Pray for Jeff Laster, our building maintenance worker, the first person shot Jeff is a student at SWBTS and is preparing for ministry. His condition is improving.

Kevin Galey, our counselor, is wounded and recovering. I helped pull Kevin to safety right after he was shot. Kevin is the father of three wonderful little boys. Pray for his wife, Leslie, as well.

One of the dead is Sydney Browning. She was our children's choir coordinator and deeply loved by every child who has been in her choirs. Pray for those children. Sydney was also a teacher in the city's alternative education program for problem kids. She loved her students, many of whom were kids that others have given up on. Many Saturdays, Sydney would go down to the park and meet her students on their turf to play basketball and just hang out. Her students were excelling because of her commitment to them and her witness. Pray for
her students.

Pray for the Clark family--Larry, our church organist, Glenda, who worked with Sydney in the children's choir, and their sons Aaron and Andy. The Clarks invited Sydney to live in their home while she was struggling financially with seminary studies and before she could find a job. Sydney was like a second mom to the Clark brothers. Glenda and Larry were sitting in the church lobby with Sydney when the shooter attacked and killed her. They were unharmed.

Many former church members are traveling to Fort Worth to be with us as we go back into that sanctuary on Sunday morning. Pray for traveling protection as they come and leave.

Many of the youth present, from our church and other churches, are struggling with fear, sleeplessness, depression, guilt, and other serious emotions and symptoms. Pray for their emotional healing. In particular, pray that God will bless people with sleep. So many kids are telling me they can't sleep.

Pray for the police officers, METs, city workers, fire fighters, counselors, and many other caregivers who came to our aid. Every one has shown great respect and love to our people. Several more would have died if not for their work. Their work has a special stress, too. Many are mothers and fathers of teenagers themselves and they feel our hurt very keenly.

The media people are just surrounding us. As bad as that sounds, it is providing us a way to share the gospel with thousands of people.

Pray that our staff and people will graciously share their testimonies and the plan of salvation in these interviews. Pray for God's power will be on us to share our faith.

Pray for the families of the deceased: Justin Ray, Cassie Griffin, Sydney Browning, Sean Brown, Kim Jones, Kristi Beckel, Joseph Ennis.

Pray for our youth as they share their faith in Christ Jesus with their families and school friends.

Pray for parents of youth. It's really hard to rejoice your youth is alive and the parents next to you are grieving because their youth is not alive. It's hard to let them out of your sight. It's hard to realize that there really is very little you can do to protect them in such a crisis.

Pray for my Sunday School class. Our teacher is Chip Gillette. Chip just lives across the street from the church building. He is a police officer. He was off-duty and home, making him the first officer on the scene. Chip is another hero in our church. Our class is made up entirely of parents of youth.

Pray for this entire generation of teenagers. God has something in store for this generation. Satan is throwing all he can at this group. Pray that more teens will come to know the Lord and that Christian teens will stand up for the Lord.

There are many things to praise God for in all this:
Many youth and others have renewed their faith and strengthened their faith in this tragedy. This could have been worse. I firmly believe it was the desperate prayers going up that prevented the gunman from using the 60 addition bullets he had on his person. He could have killed nearly half the people in the sanctuary .

Praise God for the support these hurting brothers and sisters in Christ are getting. The support and encouragement is phenomenal. Every little word that people say to you is an encouragement and help. You would not think it so, but it is true. As tragic as it is, God's good news of salvation is being proclaimed like never before. God is working miracles and opening doors like never before. I was asked to speak at DBU yesterday morning and I led those students and faculty in prayer.

Mary, my wife, was asked to e-mail everyone in Early Childhood Intervention where she works for the Tarrant County and she testified to the Lord's power. Her e-mail was read in every office staff meeting across the county. That's just us. Our members are on the news programs all over the country.

I want to praise God for the media. As intrusive as it was, my older son, Jonathan, studying at Baylor University, was beside himself with fear and worry until he saw me on the TV screen. He could tell my body language that our family was safe.

If some of you would like to send notes, letters, or cards, you can send them to:

Any Youth or Any Member
Wedgeway Baptist Church
5522 Whitman
Fort Worth, Texas 76133

Our people will gratefully receive them. We also have a website you can reach at http://www.wedgwoodbc.org . The Baptist General Convention of Texas is asking people everywhere to wear simple Wedgwood blue ribbons on their clothing or attach them to their car antennas to remind them to pray and to show their solidarity with our church.

Today, Saturday is going to be a long day. My son and I are going to the high school this morning to hear youth from Columbine share about their healing process over the last eight months. Only youth who were in the sanctuary and their parents will be admitted.

Then we have four funerals to attend later in the day. I am going to carry a note pad with me and list prayer requests as I can. I will forward these to you as I have time. I want you to tell your youth that when all you have is your faith in Jesus that it is also all you need. It is enough. God bless each and every one of you. Keep the faith.

Sincerely,
Walter H. Norvell

Wedgwood Baptist Church Press Release
September 16, 1999

On behalf of our congregation we want to express our deepest grief and sympathy to those who lost loved ones in the senseless shooting that occurred in our church last night, September 15, 1999. Our hearts are aching as we seek to find comfort in the midst of this tragedy.

We want to express our sincere appreciation for the overwhelming outpouring of help, love and support we have received from the city of Fort Worth and the Family of God.

At present, we are hoping to return to our Worship Center on Sunday morning at the regular times of 9:00 and 10:35 a.m. This has not been an easy decision as many have been left deeply traumatized. However, we believe it is important that we not allow the Kingdom of Darkness to hinder what God wants to accomplish in His people. Our Sunday School classes will function as small group support teams as the Body comforts one another.

We want to praise our sovereign Lord for His gracious protection on those hundreds of people who were not injured as scores of bullets flew. Our God is a very present help in time of need.

Lastly, we want to affirm our unwavering Hope in the One who is the Resurrection and the Life. We have not "lost" our loved ones. We know exactly where they are.

"Absent from the body; present with the Lord."

Dr. Al Meredith
Senior Pastor
Wedgwood Baptist Church
September 16, 1999

Artistic Dedication - Message of the Wedgwood Martyrs

The border graphic for this issue of Handmaidens carries a message from the Holy Spirit who inspired it. Parts of the graphic are adapted from an old greeting card.

The angel here greets and prays over the souls of those martyred in Texas. There is sadness, humility and reverence in her countenance and her colors appear faded, for she is awash in the light of the Lord. In His intense glory, she seems so much lighter, her colors softer...

The lilies stand for the resurrection of Christ as celebrated at Easter and now for these latest martyred souls as they rise into the heavenly realms. Jesus was the first, and all those dead in Him shall follow and be raised to life eternal. They are white and pure, having put on the righteousness of their Saviour. Like Jesus, these precious ones were sacrificed. This priceless gift of their lives has earned them great reward... What a lovely crown awaits them!

The circle represents eternal life... there is no end. It also reminds us of of the family circle of believers with the cross in the middle... a faint blue cross behind everything else. You must seek it, looking closely to find it, just as we must do daily. It is the reason for every other element in the picture. Bedecked with flowers representing the souls of those now in the Lord's presence but not through martyrdom, the cross displays them as a crown... part of the laurel to be displayed at the wedding feast of the King of glory.

The spires represent the church on earth, red as washed in the blood of the Lamb and gold for they are the Lord's treasure and He has bestowed royalty upon them.

Christian Victims All But Ignored
Submitted by Bobby Lewis

This says a lot about our country and values, love in Christ, Bobby

The New York Post, September 17, 1999, Friday
Media Mum When the Victims Are Christians
By Rod Dreher

THE Fort Worth church murders were not a senseless act. They had an express purpose: to kill Christians. "It's all bull- what you believe!" Larry Gene Ashbrook shouted as he fired, witnesses said. Ashbrook targeted Christians just as the Kentucky high-school student who fired on a prayer group in 1997 did. He targeted Christians just as Dylan Klebold and Eric Harris did in their Columbine High School rampage, which also marked athletes and a black student for death.

This is called hate crime. It's a distinction the media had no trouble making when Buford Furrow opened fire on Jews at a Los Angeles Jewish center last month. It's a distinction the media had no trouble making when those racist monsters dragged black man James Byrd to his death, or when the anti-gay wretches tortured and killed Matthew Shepard.

On those occasions, the national soul-searching commenced - as it should have. There was grief at the savagery and hand-wringing over what should be done to instruct our children in the virtues of tolerance, nonviolence and love of neighbor. In his public statements addressing the tragedies, President Clinton rightly challenged Americans to resist those who would demonize Jews, blacks and gays. And before the police even knew the identity of the killer in the L.A. shootings, Attorney General Janet Reno vigorously denounced them as
a hate crime.

And now, when the victims are Southern Baptists? Reno issued a mealy-mouthed, tepid statement blaming guns, and saying we've got to think about "how we deal with hate." Typical. "She dispatched a civil-rights team of investigators to Texas in the James Byrd case, as well she should have," fumes Robert Knight of the Family Research Council. "But has she dispatched a team of investigators to find out what happened in Fort Worth?" We shouldn't be surprised that Reno and other elites have trouble mustering up much outrage over the mounting body count resulting from anti-Christian hatred. The number of Christians killed this year alone by fanatic gunmen greatly exceeds the number of abortion providers or gays murdered by right-wing haters. But one waits in vain for the federal task force or blue-ribbon government panel looking into the root cause of these bloody pogroms. One grows old waiting for a "Nightline" town meeting about the way Christians are routinely demonized by the news and entertainment media.

To so many media figures, Christians - specifically evangelicals, orthodox Catholics and others who believe in traditional Judeo-Christian moral teaching - are not victims, but victimizers. They are so used to casting Southern Baptists and fellow travelers as buffoons and bigots that they find it hard to imagine them as anything but.

It may never be said on TV, but I know what many people privately believe: "Well, it's too bad for those Southern Baptists, but you know, they do bring this sort of thing on themselves, boycotting Disney, preaching against homosexuality, crusading against abortion and all that."

"There's a sense that 'it's payback time, you deserve this,'" says Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights. "I'm not surmising this; I see it over and over again."

If Larry Gene Ashbrook, guns blazing, had walked into a synagogue, a gay bar, an abortion clinic or even a black church service, there is no doubt what the government, cultural and media elite's reaction would be. Unfortunately, dead Southern Baptist kids don't seem to matter as much to them as a murdered gay youth or a
slain abortion doctor.

Columbine & Wedgwood
From: Mark Friis

Ladies and Gentlemen, Brothers and Sisters,

Our schools, our workplaces, our daycare centers, now our churches. What do these places tragically all have in common? They have become shooting galleries!

In communities across America, the wounds, the pain, the suffering, are all very much alive...still, even after days, weeks or months of these initial attacks.

What's safe anymore?

Would you all join with our brothers and sisters, and me too, in rebuking these Satanic attacks upon our nation.

Say this or whatever you feel is appropriate:
SATAN, BUT THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST, I REBUKE YOU FOR ATTACKING GOD'S HOUSES OF WORSHIP (by shooting, burning or bombing), AMERICA'S PUBLIC SCHOOLS, OUR WORKPLACES, AND DAYCARE CENTERS. YOU CAN KILL ALL OF GOD'S CHILDREN YOU WANT BUT YOU CAN NEVER KILL THEIR SOULS. YOU CAN AND WILL NOT EVER WIN AGAINST THE ALMIGHTY AND OMNIPOTENT POWER OF GOD. NEVER. NEVER EVER.

AMEN...AND AMEN!

I received the below from a Columbine parent who's family had a meeting with a member from Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, TX.

God Bless,
Mark

From: DEBORAL33
Date: Sun, 26 Sep 1999 14:34:03 EDT
Subject: Westwood Bible Church

Dear Friends and Family,
After the recent tragedy at the Westwood Baptist Church, Lissa (my oldest daughter and a Columbine student) prayed for a way to help that community. Last Sunday, we were late for church so sat in seats at the very back of the church. During the Pastors opening, the man next to us raised his hand and indicated he was visiting.

When it came time to greet each other, we spoke with this man, telling him we were glad he was visiting and expressed that we hoped he would come back again. The man, Gary Byers, indicated that he was visiting from the Dallas/Fort Worth area. He said that he had come to Colorado to walk the school grounds of Columbine High and pray for our school, youth and community.

I mentioned that Lissa was a Columbine student, thanked him for his prayers and we were seated as the service continued. After the service, we continued our conversation with Mr. Byers. He explained that he works for the Lamb & Lion Ministry near Dallas/Fort Worth. He spoke with passion about his work with Christian youth, the affect that Columbine has had on youth throughout our nation and his belief that God is using today's youth for a mighty Christian revival.

We invited Gary to join our family for dinner and were much blessed by his company and Christian
fellowship. Yesterday, Gary sent an e-mail. It is a forward from a Wedgwood Baptist Church member with specific prayer request. Please copy this e-mail and join my girls and me in prayer for these request. I often pray in general terms, but feel compelled to pray for the specific names and circumstances mentioned in this e-mail. I ask that you will do the same. My hope is that you will also take a copy to your church Pastor and ask his staff and church to pray for these individuals. We believe that meeting Gary and receiving
this e-mail is God's answer to Lissa's request for a way to serve.

The letter is like listening to the Columbine story all over. The names are different, but the needs are the same. I hope as many praying people as possible will receive this message. The e-mail follows......
God bless,
Deb-

Editor's Note: The original e-mail is above as our "lead story."

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