A special service for terror victims

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Even amidst the merriment of festivities, the city has to stop and offer its prayer in memory of the victims of the horror that struck on this day, ten years ago. When the prayers and songs of peace in honour of the 9/11 victims rose from Christ Church Centenary Hall, Palayam, on Sunday evening, they must have got mingled with scores of pleadings that reached the abode of God from across the ocean of humanity.  The ‘Special sunset service’, that went under the title, ‘Violence-free world’, began with an opening prayer at 5.30 pm at the Church. The prayers and songs were dedicated to the memory of those who lost their lives in the terror attacks of September 11 2001, and of September 26, 2008 in New York and Mumbai respectively. The singing session followed, which lasted  nearly 25 minutes. The formal prayer meeting was then led by Rev Vinod Victor. The pastor, who heads the Thiruvananthapuram chapter of a South Asian Christian organisation, spoke to the gathering and exhorted the citizens to keep the faith and follow the path of peace. He also remembered in his prayers the victims of the Delhi blast that occurred on September 7.  The prayer meetings are a regular monthly event held in the Church, though the 9/11 memorial service is always observed with much solemnity, said advocate Rays John Koshy, coordinator of the event. The choir was conducted by the Christian Music Academy, a city-based organisation formed with the aim of spreading the gospel through music.  One of the highlights of the evening was a children’s choir. They presented ‘One song the whole world can sing’, a song for peace written by Mitchell J Sharoff.