9/11 survivor recounts horrific event, calls crowd to live boldly

As Americans look to 15-year-old scars, when terror struck deep into the heart of the nation on 9/11, an equal, if not more powerful memory is evoked — that of people coming together and reaching out to help their fellow man. That was the picture painted fresh at Liberty University Convocation on Friday as 9/11 survivor Sujo John shared his story.

John was working in marketing for a telecommunications company on the 81st floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit. Describing firsthand the events that transpired on Sept. 11, 2001, John explained how God used that day to set a new course for his life. A native of India, John had come to America to chase his dream but soon found himself struggling with doubt about his life and purpose.

“I believe that America (is) a place where dreams and dreamers collide,” John declared. “No other nation but America (was) founded on nothing else and nothing more than the Gospel of Jesus Christ.”

John confessed that before 9/11, he had lost sight of his dream. He was pursuing money and success while hiding his Christian faith, for the most part, from the outside world. In fact, the morning of 9/11 he sent an email to a trusted friend about his struggles. Then, his world was literally torn apart as he heard the sound of an explosion and a plane wing ripped through the building above his head.

“Fire breaks out on our floor, walls start collapsing around us, as I look up, there is a huge crater; I can actually see 10 floors directly above us, a picture of … steel and cable,” John described, noting that his wife, then pregnant with their first child, had a job on the 71st floor of the South Tower. “As this building is shaking violently, and as fire is breaking out on our floor, and as the smoke is getting intense and the heat is getting intense, I am saying, ‘God, if this building is going to go down with us, I am never going to see my wife again; I am never going to the child that she is carrying.’”

A colleague rallied John and his coworkers, and they made their way to the stairwell, joining 100,000 other people in evacuating the tower, a process that took John 1 hour and 20 minutes before the tower collapsed behind him.

“That day America and the world saw the worst form of evil,” John recalled, noting that the first responders were firefighters and police, not military. He described how first responders were running up while everyone else was running down. “They showed the world that this country is made up of men and women who are willing to lay down their lives.”

On 9/11, John said he was faced with the reality of death, but also something more powerful.

“One day the body will return to dust or ash,” he said. “(But) there is something within you this morning that will never, ever die. No burning building can take it out; no cancer can destroy it, for my soul will never die; your soul will never die, for my soul has an eternal destination; your soul has an eternal destination.”

In the midst of the events of 9/11, John recalled the day he accepted Jesus at the age of 15. In the burning skyscraper, the Spirit of the Lord gave him a newfound boldness — John witnessed to other victims as he made his way out, urging them to call upon Jesus for salvation. Eventually, he was reunited with his wife — who did not make it in to work before the attacks — but his life was never the same again.

Today, John is the founder of You Can Free Us, an organization that battles human trafficking. His story has been told around the world and featured by a number of national media outlets, including NBC’s Today, the 700 Club, the New York Times, and more.

As he himself was confronted with his own mortality in the burning building on 9/11, John confronted Liberty students with their own, challenging them to live for more than the comfortable pleasures of life.

“If you live comfortably around the safe harbor called Christianity, then you are going to be just another person who walked this earth,” John said. “But, if you will embrace this cost that is all about living risky, all about being a crazy fool at times for Jesus, then you’ve got to sail away from the safe harbors that you got (sic) so comfortable with. … Set your sail high, and when you set your sail high, the wind of the Holy Spirit will catch you, blow you to places you never thought you would go.”

John was sent off with a standing ovation from the crowd. His next stop is New York, where he will minister to police, firefighters, and other first responders.

Liberty honored the memory of 9/11 on its campus Friday morning by placing 2,977 American flags on the lawn in front of the Jerry Falwell Library, one for each of the lives claimed in the attack. The display was coordinated by Liberty’s Young Americans for Freedom club.