Sujo John and his wife Mary moved to the U.S. to start a new life. They both got great new jobs at the World Trade Center, six months before 9/11.
Sujo and Mary were living right outside of New York City in New Jersey and commuting to their jobs at the World Trade Center. Sujo was working in the North Tower, and Mary was working in the South Tower. One morning at 8:45 a.m., just six months after they had started their jobs, Sujo was walking back to his desk on the 81st floor after faxing some documents when he heard a loud explosion. Fires erupted all around, and panic began to set in. American Airlines Flight 11 had struck the building just a few floors above where Sujo was.
Sujo and some of his coworkers were able to make it to the bottom of the building, passing firemen and policemen along the way who were making their way up to where Sujo had just come from. Unknowingly, the first responders were headed to their deaths. Sujo tried to make a call to Mary, who he thought was in the South building, but nothing was going through. He couldn’t help but worry about her and their unborn baby.
It took about an hour just to reach the mezzanine level of the building because the stairwells were so crowded. Sujo walked out to the courtyard, which was in between the buildings, to see it covered with bodies of jumpers from the upper floors. This was a sight he would never forget. He and a group of about 15 people had reached the revolving doors when they heard the South Tower coming down. Sujo thought to himself, “God, this is it.”
ASHES AND DEBRIS
By this point, Sujo was covered in soot and ashes. He and a group of people huddled together as debris from the South Tower began falling around them.
As the ground shook beneath them, Sujo told the people to call on the name of Jesus, that only He could save them. They began calling out, “Jesus!” Then, the entire building collapsed. It was about 20 minutes later that Sujo rose from the ashes and debris. As the cloud of dust cleared, he realized that all the people around him had been crushed.
Sujo started walking. He found a man who was face down in the rubble. He told the man the same thing: to take the name of Jesus. As the man stood up, Sujo saw on his jacket “FBI.” They walked together towards a flashing ambulance light, a light that Sujo said God gave for a purpose. After they found the light, the agent went back into the North Tower to help. Sujo found out later that he was killed in the collapse.
SURVIVORS REUNITED
Sujo walked away aimlessly, trying again to call Mary. He tried again and again. Nothing. Finally, his phone rang. It was Mary. She told Sujo that she was alive and that she had not made it to work that day. Evidently, her train arrived at the World Trade Center subway stop just five minutes after the first plane crash, and she was not allowed into the buildings. Mary had been walking around on the streets, crying, and thinking that Sujo was dead.
Miraculously, Sujo and Mary had both survived. On 39th Street, near the ferry, they were reunited. They looked back at their buildings, which were now heaps of smoke and rubble. At this point, it was around 4 p.m., but they had each been praying for the other all day. They chose then and there to dedicate their lives to God’s call.
25 YEARS LATER
It has been 25 years since 9/11, and Sujo continues to share his survivor’s story. Since that fateful day, Sujo has been traveling the nation and the world, spreading the Gospel of Jesus. He does not view 9/11 simply as a story of surviving a disaster. He sees it as the day that God gave him a new purpose.
Days after the events of 9/11, Sujo appeared on the 700 Club for the first time. According to Sujo, this interview played a huge part in launching his evangelistic ministry. He began speaking at churches and events across the U.S. and across the world, preaching the name of Jesus. During his time preaching the Gospel, Sujo was exposed to the horrors of human trafficking. He recalls that one time, when he was being shown a red-light district, a little girl grabbed his hand and said, “Can you free us?” Sujo would never forget this encounter. In 2010, Sujo founded You Can Free Us, an international human rights organization fighting against modern slavery.
Today, You Can Free Us has worked in the United States, Canada, India, Poland, the United Kingdom, Ukraine, and Israel. They map out where the red-light districts are and plan rescue missions to liberate women, girls, and children from captivity. They are then taken to safe houses for long-term psychological care.
Sujo’s mission is to proclaim the name of Jesus and help save people from the “rubble” of modern slavery, just as Christ saved him from the rubble of the 9/11 terrorist attack. He is honored to be welcomed back on the 700 Club.
To learn more about Sujo John, click the LINK.
To support his ministry, You Can Free Us, click HERE.
