200,000 assembled in front of the City Hall in Oslo


theTERROR ATTACK in By Roger Dahl


The Whole People of Norway Were Touched On the evening of July 22, people started pouring into the


streets and found their way to local churches in order to share their grief and despair following the terrorist attack. In the days and weeks that followed, memorial places appeared all across the country. Many brought fl owers, lit candles and wrote down their thoughts and feelings. We were all affected. Our government was attacked by


the bombing of buildings, and our whole nation was attacked through the massacre at the youth camp at Utøya. Young people from all over the country were gathered for political training and work. Norway is a small country, so everybody knows somebody who knows somebody that has been affected by this catastrophe. Crown Prince Håkon started his appeal at the memorial where


200,000 people gathered at the city hall in Oslo. “Tonight our streets are fi lled with love. We have chosen to answer the gruesome


Baptists in Solidarity with Norway continued Callam, in his letter, assured Baptists in the Scandinavian


country that “Baptists around the world, together with other people of goodwill, are holding you all in our prayers,” particularly those who lost loved ones, who were physically injured, and those who were traumatized by the mass murder. “We will continue to pray for those who are injured and for


those who have lost their dear and near ones,” Bonny Resu, BWA regional secretary for Asia and general secretary of the Asia Pacifi c Baptist Federation, said in a letter to Aadne. “We also pray for you and Norwegian Baptists who, along with other believers and churches, and your government and civil organizations, seek to minister and console those who were most directly affected by this horrifi c tragedy.”


18 BAPTIST WORLD MAGAZINE


“People are gathering in great numbers, hugging each other and greeting people from other cultures with love and understanding.”


The Baptist Community of the Congo River expressed


solidarity and condolence and offered prayer “on the behalf of the Norwegian people.” Callam expressed his hope that peace will reign in the face


of such “terror of pointless violence,” and urged Norwegians to remain fi rm and strong “as a democratic, peace loving country.” “In the midst of your mourning, may you never forget that ‘the


steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; His mercies never come to an end’” (Lamentations 3:22), Callam said.


Norway


with intimacy. We have decided to meet hate with fellowship. We have made a choice to show our values . . . . Those at Utøya and the government building were the targets for the terror, but it hit all of us. “We can never again allow ourselves to think that our opinions


and attitudes are without importance. We must face every day, ready to defend the free and transparent society that we love. Beloved youth: You are our courage, and our hope. It is you that will form what kind of Norway the future will bring. We cannot do without a single one of you, and yet we lost so many. The Norway we all want, we will allow no one to take away from us.” Memorials were arranged all over the country, some initiated by single people.


Multicultural Memorial Service


People in Norway often turn to the Norwegian Lutheran Church in times of grief. This is because of its history as the state church

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