MADRID, Spain (ABP) — Had it happened another day, David Dixon might no longer be dean of a Spanish seminary, no longer be pastor of an international church, no longer be father to three boys.
Dixon normally would have been waiting in the Madrid train station March 11 when one of four trains were bombed, apparently by terrorists, killing more than 200 people. But that particular morning, Dixon's seminary classes were pushed back an hour to allow a visiting professor to teach in his place. Dixon and his wife, Susie, heard about the explosions on television at their home.
The Dixons are missionaries in Spain who were fired by the International Mission Board last year for refusing to sign Southern Baptists' new doctrinal statement. Fifteen-year missionary veterans, their work now is supported in part by individual Baptists from Texas, their home state.
Although spared in the train attacks, which many Europeans are likening to 9/11, the Dixons immediately realized many classmates of their high-school-age son were likely aboard one of the attacked trains.
The couple thought about friends and family. They thought about church members. They sent an e-mail to their overseas friends and family to let them know they were unharmed. And they hit the phones and the computer to try to locate their local friends. “Our phone rang all day long,” David Dixon said. “We got over 40 calls that day.”
All the missionary children who go to school with the Dixons' children survived unscathed. Of the people who died, one was the cousin of a fellow church member.
While Susie Dixon continued answering the home phone, her husband went to the seminary. Classes were cancelled, as schools across Spain observed three days of mourning. Seminary students held a prayer service, asking for comfort and spiritual revival, before going to a public demonstration of solidarity against the terror acts.
More than 2.5 million people gathered in the largest of the anti-terror rallies. Flags with single black stripes were draped over balconies, displayed in cars and flown outside buildings. Hotels opened their doors to serve freely victims' families traveling from around the world. Taxis gave free rides to victims' families.
“Spain as a country was traumatized, as the United States was as it watched Sept. 11,” David Dixon said.
Spanish Baptists gathered March 16 at First Baptist Church in Madrid, near one of the damaged trains. A memorial of “M-11,” as some call it, is scheduled for March 20.
“This is a culture and society that shows a lot of solidarity,” Susie Dixon said. “That's shown brightly in this time of crisis.”
These terror events provide a unique chance for the 8,500 Spanish Baptists to share their faith in a nation where only a fourth of residents are spiritually involved, according to the Dixons. Citizens are searching for hope, they said, and believers can help them find it in Christ.
“I hope people will consider the fleeting nature of life and realize their need for a savior,” Susie Dixon said.
Giving meaning to people's lives and leading them to establish relationships with God helps turn hatred to love, David Dixon said.
“It's the heart where terrorism arises,” he said.
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