ISLAMABAD, Pakistan, Mar. 20 — As they lay in their hospital beds the wounded worshippers prayed for the people who organized and attacked them last Sunday.
"They're seriously wrong if they think this can achieve their ends," said Michael Abel of the attackers. He is one of a dozen Christian ministers who comforted the survivors and led them in prayers. They draw their strength from the example set by Jesus Christ as he forgave his enemies just before he died on the Cross.
Five people were killed when grenades exploded in the Protestant International Church just as the congregation prepared to read the Gospel of Luke. Of the 45 people injured, 33 were foreigners including 10 Americans and 3 Canadians. Survivors of the incident first thought many more had died because of the pool of mangled bodies on the floor of the sanctuary.
Elisabeth Mundhenk , a 54-year-old English teacher from Hamburg, Germany, saw two young men in black heaving hand grenades at the worshippers. She dived under a piano until the smoke cleared.
"There was blood, blood, blood, intestines lying on the floor," she said while awaiting treatment at the hospital for shrapnel wounds in her leg. "It was horrific. There was a horrible smell and we could barely breathe."
Torn Bibles and Body Parts Littered the Gutted Sanctuary
Smoke and screams filled the Church, as parents groped to find their way downstairs, where the children were at Sunday School. Other parishioners feared touching the wounded, because unexploded grenades lay near their bodies.
"Everyone panicked," said Mark Robinson, 32, of San Clemente, Calif. "I saw one woman on the steps with a piece of shrapnel in her carotid artery. She bled to death right there."
"There is evil in this world," Mundhenk said. "And it will continue until He comes back." Mundhenk trembled as she recalled the attack, using her fingernails to pick out slivers of flesh from her blue cotton skirt.
Although no group claimed responsibility, suspicion fell on Islamic militants, angered by President Gen. Pervez Musharraf's crackdown on extremism and his cooperation with the United States in its war on terrorism.
The State Department issued a worldwide caution for Americans abroad, warning that additional terrorist attacks against U.S. interests may be imminent. As security is increased at official U.S. facilities, the State Department warned that terrorists will seek softer targets such as churches, schools and restaurants.
Christians make up only 2.5 % of Pakistan's 147 million people.
The last attack against Pakistani Christians occurred in Punjab province in October 2001, when gunmen killed 15 worshippers and a Muslim guard. In 1997 a whole Christian village Shanti Nagar was attacked by Muslims and burned. Catholic Bishop John Joseph was murdered on 6th of May 1998.
Source: AP and Reuters, Bible Network News
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