Related articles and links |  1 of 3

Thirty years ago, just as the World Trade Center's two towers were going up, nearby Primitive Christian Church went down in flames. College student Marcos Rivera came running back to his church to find a gutted hollow. Now, like much of the New York church, Primitive has rebuilt and is flourishing. Other church leaders describe Primitive as a place where good teaching and the grace of God have built a people with a character that can stand hard times. It was tested Tuesday morning by the nuclear-like explosion that flew over the neighborhood.

Rivera, now pastor of his church, was sipping his coffee Tuesday morning. He had just picked it up at the Egyptian diner on the corner. On his way to the church, he glanced over his right shoulder at the towers as he does every morning. "In the neighborhood everyone seems to do this," Rivera says. "We grew up with them being built and as part of our lives."

Tuesday seemed another normal day of shuffling and reshuffling the church's schedule.

Across the street, the Rev. Nelson Santiago was splashing some water on his face at the kitchen sink, which has a window framing the towers. As usual, his mind was checking out his to-do list for the day. He didn't notice the fires on Tower One.

His secretary came into the church, saying, "Pastor, the trade tower is on fire." Rivera wondered if she was joking.

"No!" he responded.

"Yes, Pastor, come out."

Santiago and his wife Angela had finally noticed the burning tower outside their window, but they were not worried.

Closer to the towers, the feelings were rising. The High School for Leaders and Public Service stands pretty close to the towers. A smoky odor was beginning to permeate the school. Pastor Rivera's son Matthew, 15, smelled an odor like burning ink. His friend Phillip Santiago, 14, was on the next floor down, the 10th. His room had windows, but he too dismissed the smell. He thought that the papers flying around outside were another prank of a rival high school next door. He quickly returned his focus to the English class. He didn't want the students at the other high school think that they could distract him.

Then the second plane hit. In a flicker of a moment the situation turned into a vital Job-like test.

On Phillip's floor, the windows "rippled like water," one witness recalled. As the building shook, a teacher downstairs started screaming, "A bomb! A bomb!"

Phillip admits he was terrified. When the teacher told the students to continue their work, he thought, "Forget that!" The girls started to cry; the guys were furious.

Matthew immediately started packing his Timberline bag. Turning to his best friend Larry Pitta, he yelled, "I want to get out!"

Back at Primitive Christian, Rivera ran out of the church. "There was a roar of weeping when I got outside," Rivera said. "I started yelling, 'Oh God, have mercy! Protect us!'" Pacing, Rivera was thinking about his son and the other children of the church. Finally, he decided to stay for his people. "I got a hold of myself. I had always told my son to come home in such event and not be spectator. I was pretty sure he would do that."

Santiago and his wife were already on their way to the school but got blocked by police vehicles strewn like pebbles. They turned to each other. "We need to trust God," they told one another. Then they saw "a horror on faces with wide mouths." Tower One had collapsed.

next page... |  1 of 3

September (Web-only) 2001, Vol. 45