Sep 10, 2021 4 min read

Pennsylvania Residents Reflect on How They Coped with Tragedy

Melanie Lopez couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

 

The Charleroi native had just moved to Brooklyn in June 2001 to start working as a nurse at the World Headquarters of Jehovah’s Witnesses. On September 11, she was assigned to the infirmary, located in The Towers Hotel on the Hudson.

 

“We were on the roof when the second plane hit. It was shocking. It didn’t seem real,” Melanie remembered. “Not long after, when we were back inside, the windows began to shake as the Twin Towers were collapsing. It was terrifying.”

 

Melanie’s husband, Mike, experienced the tragedy on both coasts. A Los Angeles native, he was scheduled to move to Brooklyn the week after 9/11. “When I arrived in New York, it looked like a war zone. The Twin Towers were still smoking. Everything was covered in dust. Abandoned cars were everywhere. Missing person signs littered the streets.”

 

For many, relief from these traumatizing events came from reaching out to help others who were struggling. Within days of the attacks, Jehovah’s Witnesses set up teams that spent hours each day in Lower Manhattan. With a small Bible tucked in their pockets, they consoled everyone, from the families of victims to first responders battling physical and emotional exhaustion.

 

It was a work that changed how the organization approaches disasters, with an organized comfort ministry now being an integral part of its response to natural disasters and even the pandemic.

 

Johnstown resident, Franco Sees was among one of the groups that went to Ground Zero. “I never anticipated that just one day would change our lives the way it did. People were desperate for hope and reassurance. Rescue workers would just ask us to pray with them. I remember one fireman who stopped and specifically asked me to use God’s name, Jehovah, as I said a prayer with him.”

 

Recalling the gut-wrenching days he spent as one of those volunteers near the smoldering remains of the Twin Towers still stirs deep feelings in Robert Hendriks.

 

“It was very emotional and extremely difficult for me, but the faces of those I passed on the street said it all,” said Hendriks, now U.S. spokesman for the Witnesses. “They needed comfort, and the best thing I could give them was a hug and a scripture.”

 

Helping others has long been linked to better emotional well-being in psychology research. The book “The Healing Power of Doing Good: The Health and Spiritual Benefits of Helping Others” describes “powerful” effects, even for helpers who’ve experienced trauma themselves.

 

For Melanie, providing help to others took many forms. “One of my coworker’s parents were working in the Twin Towers. Another was so distraught she was afraid to leave the building. Our team took turns rallying around her and others who needed the reassurance.”

 

Mike and Melanie also resumed their public ministry soon after the tragedy. “I went into the heart of the city, people living near Times Square,” she said. “New Yorkers really wanted to know how God felt about what happened. Answering their questions and offering a message of hope not only made me happy, but gave me peace. It calmed me down.”

 

Mike was able to share in the ministry right after, while still in LA, as well as when he got to Brooklyn. “People on both coasts were traumatized. Three of the four hijacked planes were headed for LA. Many people were affected and needed comfort. They needed answers. It was the same when I got to the East Coast. Even though New Yorkers tend to look serious to strangers, that veneer was off. Everyone was worried and needed reassurance. That experience helped me see the importance of just offering a kind word of encouragement.”

 

Many Jehovah’s Witnesses coped with the trauma of that day by helping others. Melanie remembers this outreach. “Refreshments were set up in the lobby of the 90 Sands Building, located at the bottom of the Brooklyn Bridge. The doors were open for residents, volunteers, policemen, or anyone else to receive food and drink, as well as hear an encouraging scripture.”

 

Two decades later, Mike and Melanie are among millions of Jehovah’s Witnesses who continue to find comfort from reaching out — this time in talking with pandemic-stressed neighbors back in Charleroi. “It makes me feel good to be able to give people in my community hope, even if it must be done through letters and telephone calls instead of going door to door,” said Mike.

 

The couple shares scriptures and resources that have helped them, like articles on coping with trauma and loss on jw.org, the official website of Jehovah’s Witnesses.