Thursday, 4:30 PM
Lawrence families pray for missing soldier
By Maria Cramer
Globe Staff
LAWRENCE -- Dozens gathered this afternoon at the Christian Ebenezer Church to pray for the safe return of Army Specialist Alex R. Jimenez, 25, of Lawrence, one of the three US soldiers abducted south of Baghdad May 12.
"God, we pray to you for Alex we pray to you for his family," said the Rev. Victor Jarvis, pastor of the church.
Later in the service, he invited fathers and mothers in the church to the front of the worship hall and asked them to link hands and pray for Jimenez.
Yesterday, Jimenez's family, in New York city awaiting information from the US military, learned Jimenez is believed to be among the two soldiers thought to be alive.
Jimenez was one of a group of 7 soldiers and an Iraqi interpreter who were attacked while on patrol May 12. Four of the soldiers and the interpreter were killed in the attack; one of the soldiers is believed to have been killed by his captors.
Miguel Rojas, an Air Force staff sergeant from Bedford, Mass., who returned on May 2 from Qatar, said a prayer for Jimenez and his family.
"We pray that you take care of him," Roajs said. "We bet that you let him know that we're praying for him now."
