Veteran ANS Correspondent, Jerry Wiles, and His Mission Team Safe, Initially Stranded in Brussels

Veteran ANS Correspondent, Jerry Wiles, and His Mission Team Safe, Initially Stranded in Brussels

By Dan Wooding, Founder of ASSIST News Service

BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (ANS – March 25, 2016) – Veteran ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net) correspondent, Jerry Wiles, has reported that he and his team from Living Water International are safe, following the twin terror attacks rocked the Belgian capital.

The terrorists, believed to be from Islamic State, also known as ISIS, struck on Tuesday, March 22, 2016, with double-throng assaults on Brussels’ Zaventem Airport and the Metro that killed 31 and wounded at least 230, according to the Belgian federal prosecutor.

Shortly after the attacks, Jerry Wiles, who is President Emeritus of Living Water International (https://www.water.cc), spoke to Ruth Kramer of Mission Network News (https://www.mnnonline.org) from Brussels. He and a Living Water team were at the airport awaiting their flight back to the United States following a visit to Liberia.

Their group was evacuated along with hundreds of others to a nearby hangar (without their carry-on bags) where they waited out the immediate crisis.

Wiles said, “All the flights were cancelled yesterday. The airport was closed down. It’s still closed down. It’s considered a crime scene right now. We’re in hopes that we’ll fly on Friday, but there’s no guarantee of that.”

Ruth Kramer then said, “As they wait for the scene to clear, the Living Water team is taking the opportunity to help where they can. In some cases, it was just listening and offering quite comfort.”

Wiles then told her, “You know how the Lord works in these situations. It was pretty incredible just to see it. Of course, it’s pretty scary…and we dealt with a lot of people who had lost family members and co-workers from the airline personnel.”

On his Facebook page on March 22, Wiles wrote: “Thanks for all your prayers. We are safe and in good shape in Brussels. Pray for all those who lost lives, family members and co-workers and all the injured.”

Then in an e-mail on March 24, he told me, “I'm now in Amsterdam getting ready to depart to Houston. We've been pretty rushed since arriving in Brussels on Tuesday.”

Kramer said in her story that other Christians from Operation Mobilization Belgium came alongside the Red Cross to give aid. Wiles says it’s not really a surprise. “I think followers of Jesus are prepared to minister to people in times like this, to pray with them, to share with them and just try to demonstrate hope and concern in the midst of fear and chaos.”

Ruth Kramer said that another concern is the timing of the attack: Holy Week. Religious leaders were “shocked and saddened” by the terrorist attacks in Brussels, but some shared concern over security questions: Christians expect to gather in churches to observe Maundy Thursday, Good Friday, and Easter services. It is wise to be alert now, Wiles observes, but “we need to pray for followers of Jesus, for the Church, to keep the focus not so much on the fear and the problems as much keep our focus on the Lord and His kingdom purposes, and always being prepared.”

Even as Brussels creeps cautiously throughout the day, Paris looms in the background. Wiles acknowledges that “there’s still a lot of concern. There’s still a lot of thinking: ‘Maybe there’s going to be another one?’ A lot of people are on edge right now here, so [pray] for the people who are being affected, the families, the co-workers.”

He went on to say that in the midst of the chaos and fear, “Here and now, as we engage with people, often they’re more open to the Gospel; they’re more open to talk about spiritual things in times of crisis.”

Kramer wrote: “It’s more than an afterthought, but as far as Liberia goes, and as to why Wiles was there, it was to see how much has changed since the Ebola crisis.

“There are still devastating challenges facing the country in the wake of the Ebola crisis. Health and education services are crippled by the loss of front-line health workers, broken families and relationships after so many lives lost, children left as orphans, and survivors still stigmatized by neighbors.

“However, because of the support from the body of Christ, Wiles says God continues to equip and transform communities with safe water, hygiene education, and the Living Water of the Gospel.”

She then quoted Isaiah 58:8, which says, “Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the Lord will be your rear guard.”

About Jerry Wiles: With a background in military service, business, missions/ministry, and education, Jerry N. Wiles, serves as president emeritus of Living Water International (LWI), one of the world’s leading faith-based water solutions ministries. He is a noted authority on the burgeoning “Orality Movement,” which is transforming the face of evangelism worldwide. Wiles coined the term “oral discipleship” in the 1980’s to describe strategies he was developing to reach “oral communicators” — two thirds of the world’s population who do not learn through reading. As LWI for president the past 20 years, Wiles helped facilitate 9,000 water projects for communities in 26 countries.

Photo captions: 1) Jerry Wiles teaching at an Orality Training Workshop in Southern Ethiopia. 2) Chaos inside the Brussel airport following the terror attack. 3) The three men said to have been involved in the attack on the airport. 4) Jerry Wiles portrait. 5) Norma and Dan Wooding on a reporting assignment for ANS (Photo: Bryan Seltzer).

About the writer: Dan Wooding, 75, is an award-winning 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 more than 52 years. They have two sons, Andrew and Peter, and six grandchildren who all live in the UK. Dan is the founder and international director of ASSIST (Aid to Special Saints in Strategic Times) and the ASSIST News Service (ANS), and is also the author of some 45 books. Dan also has a weekly radio show called “Front Page Radio” aired each week on the KWVE Radio Network (www.kwve.com), and also two TV shows, “Windows on the World” (with Mark Ellis, and “Inside Hollywood with Dan Wooding,” both broadcast on the Holy Spirit Broadcasting Network (http://hsbn.tv).

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