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I was in Brussels on March 22 of this year – one year after the March 22, 2016 terrorist attacks. I got up early and went to the airport, hoping to attend the memorial service, only to find that you couldn’t get in unless you had an invitation.

My tongue-in-cheek thought was, ‘Well, I didn’t need an invitation to walk to within 150 feet of an exploding bomb!’ But I held my tongue in my cheek and thanked the guy who was just doing his job.

I was disappointed however.
Being part of such a tragic and unprecedented event in Belgium made a mark on my life. How could it not? I knew I’d been blessed to have been where I was when the bombs exploded. Weeks later, however, I learned that the first bomb exploded 150 feet behind me in Delta Row 11 – the exact row that I was headed for. I had stopped to weigh my luggage which was the only reason I wasn’t standing in that line at 7:58 am when the first terrorist detonated his explosive device.

Thank God for heavy luggage!

This was what the damage looked like from the first of two bombs that were detonated. This one happened 150 feet behind my back.

The Media Descends
Within hours of leaving the airport, I was contacted by NBC News, ABC News, CBS News and even CNN. Wow … news travels fast. I agreed for NBC and CBS film crews to come out to the house where I was staying for interviews. ABC and CNN wanted me to come downtown to the square where candlelight vigils were being held, but I didn’t feel comfortable being in a large crowd. I really just wanted to stay where I was – alone – and process what had happened.

Over the next few days I talked to more media – from several network affiliates in the states including all three of my hometown news affiliates. My friend, Rocky Gathright, and I were also interviewed by the Jerusalem Bureau Chief of CBN.

After a while, I got tired of telling the story and was relieved when the story became yesterday’s news.

The people of Belgium were shocked that something like this could happen in their small country of 11 million people. Many came down to participate in vigils for the victims.

This Is My Story
I did, however, realize recently that I’ve not yet posted anything about the experience on my Elevate Europe ministry website. Since the March 22 terrorist attack is now part of our story, I wanted to share it here.

So below are links to newsletters I sent out via email and Facebook immediately following the event. These newsletters tell the story as I was processing it.

One day I’ll write something current, but for now, this is my story.

March 25 Newsletter :: Brussels Terrorist Attacks – This Is My Story so Far

April 18 Newsletter :: Around The World and Back Again

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