‘Black Hawk Down’ survivor says Jesus is the only way to transform the world
By Mark Ellis and Michael Ashcraft, Special to ASSIST News Service
SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA (ANS - December 29, 2015)
-- What impacted Jeff Struecker most was NOT the thousands of hostile
Somalis swarming his Humvee, nor the hailstorm of bullets and RPGs as he
attempted to rescue fellow Rangers in the ill-fated 1993 raid of
Mogadishu made famous by the movie Black Hawk Down.
What
impacted him most was the next October morning back at base when his
buddies one by one asked him about death and the afterlife.
“It
changed my life forever,” Struecker said at Liberty University in a
video posted on YouTube. “I would still be a sergeant in the ranger
regiment today if it wasn’t for what I saw the morning after the
firefight. It wasn’t really the blood and the bullet holes that had an
impact on me. It was back at the base the grown men, some of the
toughest warriors on the planet, with tears in their eyes. They said,
‘Jeff, what happened to my best friend who just died last night? Jeff,
what happens to me if I get on a helicopter or a Humvee tomorrow and I
don’t make it home?’
“Almost
all of them were saying, ‘Jeff, there was something different about you
last night, and I want to know what it was,’” he said. “For the next 24
hours, I had guys lined up to ask me about Jesus Christ because they
could see the difference that He makes when you’re getting shot at and
when the bullets flying.”
The
advice he gave that night did more to direct Struecker’s career than
the intensive Ranger training. Seeing a chance to impact the lives of
men, Struecker became a chaplain for his same Ranger buddies in the 82
Airborne Division, a post he’s held for more than a decade.
The Ranger/Delta Force mission code-named Operation Gothic Serpent began to go awry when Ranger PFC Todd Blackburn failed his fast-rope drop-in and fell 70 feet to the ground headfirst.
While
other Rangers secured the perimeter and Delta Force operators seized
two of Mohammed Farrah Aidid’s top lieutenants, the subsequent efforts
to rescue the fallen ranger led to two helicopters being shot down and
18 deaths.
The
attempt to rescue pilots and rangers from two helicopter crashes led to
the casualties and the debacle that forced Defense Secretary Les Aspin
to resign.
The
U.S. in 1992 was trying to provide free food during acute famine in
Somalia at a time when the country was ruled by seven warlords. One of
the warlords, Aidid, opposed the international aid and even killed 24
Pakistanis while they distributed food.
In
1993, the U.S. acted on a U.N. resolution and sent a military task
force to either capture or kill Aidid and his top advisers. After seven
missions, they had seized almost all of Aidid’s leaders. On Oct. 3, they
received a tip that two outstanding top leaders were meeting in a
building in Aidid’s stronghold; they decided to move in on that fateful
Sunday afternoon.
Struecker
led a column of Humvees to positions at each of the four corners of the
building. Struecker rescued Blackburn, who was unconscious and bleeding
through his nose and mouth, and stretchered him to a Humvee that would
drive him to the base.
Steering
through a narrow alleyway full of potholes, Struecker drove 15-20 miles
an hour so he would not jar the injured soldier.
Turning
a corner, “the entire city erupted with gunfire,” Struecker said. “We
were being shot at from a 100 different directions, it seemed like –
from rooftops, from alleyways and from doorways and windows. There were
rocket propelled grenades and automatic gunfire from AK-47s from 20, 30
feet away.”
Photo
captions: 1) Jeff Struecker speaking at Liberty University. 2) The
attempt to rescue pilots and rangers from two helicopter crashes led to
the casualties and the debacle that forced Defense Secretary Les Aspin
to resign. 3) Mark Ellis.
About the writers: Mark Ellis is senior correspondent for the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) and also founder of www.Godreports.com,
a website that shares stories, testimonies and videos from the church
around the world. He is also co-host for “Windows on the World” with ANS
founder, Dan Wooding, on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv). Michael Ashcraft is a teacher at Lighthouse Christian Academy in Santa Monica, California.
** You may republish this or any of our ANS stories with attribution to the ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net).
KIGALI, RWANDA (ANS – Dec. 30, 2015) -- Rwanda's High Court has sentenced a pastor to life in prison for his role in the 1994 genocide.
In
just 100 days in 1994, some 800,000 people were slaughtered in Rwanda
by ethnic Hutu extremists. They were targeting members of the minority
Tutsi community, as well as their political opponents, irrespective of
their ethnic origin.
The
genocide in Rwanda has directly led to two decades of unrest in DR
Congo, which have cost the lives of an estimated five million people.
Rwanda's government, now run by the RPF, has twice invaded DR Congo,
accusing its much larger neighbor of letting the Hutu militias operate
on its territory. Rwanda has also armed local Congolese Tutsi forces. In
response, some locals have formed self-defense groups and the civilians
of eastern DR Congo have paid the price.
Pastor
Rick Warren, senior pastor of Saddleback Church in Lake Forest,
California, and author of the best-selling “The Purpose Drive Life”, has
been deeply involved in bringing healing to Rwanda, and has announced
that Rwanda has become the world’s first “Purpose Driven Nation.”
About
the writer: Dan Wooding, 75, is an award-winning author, broadcaster
and journalist who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents,
and is now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he
has been married for 52 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter,
and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the author of some
45 books and has two TV programs and one radio show in Southern
California, and has reported widely for ANS from all over Africa.
Fernando
Machado and Diane RodrÃguez announced their pregnancy on social media
in early December. The revelation caused a sensation in a region that
has endured an explosive evolution in LGBT rights, similar to the United
States, according to Fox News Latino.
MIDDLE EAST (ANS – Dec. 30, 2015)
-- The Arab Spring, which began just over five years ago (December 18,
2010), started with a wave of protests in Tunisia followed by other Arab
countries. It was positively acclaimed as a social movement demanding
an end to human rights violations, government corruption and poverty.
Under
the old authoritarian rule, the position of Christians’ minority rights
was, to a certain extent, safeguarded. The ousting of dictators like
Colonel Khaddafi in Libya and Hosni Mubarak in Egypt left a power vacuum
that benefited Islamist fundamentalists, and also criminal gang,” it
says.
About
the writer: Dan Wooding, 75, is an award-winning author, broadcaster
and journalist who was born in Nigeria of British missionary parents,
and is now living in Southern California with his wife Norma, to whom he
has been married for 52 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter,
and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. He is the author of some
45 books and has two TV programs and one radio show in Southern
California, and has reported widely for ANS from all over the Middle
East, including from Northern Iraq.
PAKISTAN (ANS-Dec 28, 2015) - For Asia Bibi, the Christian woman sentenced to death for blasphemy in Pakistan, this Christmas was shrouded in mercy.
Trusting
in God’s Providence, Asia told members of her family who went to the
prison to visit her on the morning of Christmas Eve, “Christmas is a
celebration of God’s mercy. I forgive my persecutors, those who have
made false accusations against me, and I await their forgiveness.”
“Pakistan,”
Hussain added, “will guarantee the well being and protection of our
Christian brothers using all means possible,” recalling certain
provisions that have already been adopted by the Pakistani government.
About
the writer: Jeremy Reynalds is Senior Correspondent for the ASSIST News
Service, a freelance writer and also the founder and CEO of Joy
Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter,
www.joyjunction.org. He has a master's degree in communication from the
University of New Mexico, and a Ph.D. in intercultural education from
Biola University in Los Angeles. His newest book is "From Destitute to
Ph.D." Additional details on "From Destitute to Ph.D." are available at 
ALBUQUERQUE, NM (ANS – Dec. 27, 2015)
-- While the week after Christmas is pretty slow for some, that’s not
the case for Joy Junction Homeless Shelter CEO Jeremy Reynalds. He wants
to up his already routinely frenetic pace in any way possible. Why the
mad dash?
As
people plan their end of year giving, Reynalds said he hopes they will
consider Joy Junction, where all donations are tax deductible to the
fullest extent allowed by the law.
RAMADI, IRAQ (ANS – Dec. 27, 2015)
– Iraqi forces have retaken a former government compound in Ramadi from
where Islamic State (IS) group militants have been resisting an army
offensive, the military has said.
“By
controlling the complex this means that they have been defeated in
Ramadi. The next step is to clear pockets that could exist here or there
in the city.”
The
Iraqi military believes the remaining militants have headed north-east;
with fighting also reported to be under way to the south-west of the
compound.