As Chuck entered eternity, a few miles away, Michael Senn, pastor of Midway Assembly of God in Midland City, was attending a funeral service. As he and his wife headed toward the gravesite, they suddenly got a call from a neighbor—were they okay? There were swarms of emergency vehicles in the Destiny Church parking lot and shots had been fired.
“We live on 12 acres,” Senn explains. “We live on one end and on the other side, Destiny Church (a building Midway Church rents out to another congregation) is located. Dykes lives right next to Destiny Church and our 16-year-old son was home alone—and we weren’t sure what was going on or where the shooter was.”
After making sure their son was okay, Pastor Senn headed to Destiny Church. His church, Midway, was just down the street with their activities building/youth center just across the street from Destiny Chuch and Dykes’ home.
“I was on the scene about 35 minutes after it happened,” Senn says. “There were still a lot of kids there, and I was able to talk and pray with some of them.”
Senn recalls one 13-year-old boy being particularly distraught, with some school officials approaching Senn and asking him to talk with the boy. Senn soon learned that the boy was a friend of little Ethan. The boy’s mom would sometimes watch Ethan at their home.
“We went inside the church and talked,” Senn says. “He explained to me what happened—he had seen the whole thing and was really upset about Ethan being taken. I was able to talk with him and then pray with him, but I could tell he was really traumatized by what he had just seen.”
With emergency vehicles, police officers, FBI, snipers and bomb squad personnel swarming the area, the media was soon present in full force as well. At first, Senn allowed the media to use the youth center as its base, but then the FBI requested its use, with Senn agreeing.
Senn says that he was originally asked to gather ministers to counsel with the kids at the schools in Midland City, but as classes were canceled for an extended period, professional counselors from around the country came in to assist when school resumed.
However, as Senn was in constant contact with officials, the media—which included every major national and local network—frequently came to him for interviews.
“I always had an opportunity during the interviews to encourage people to come together and pray for Ethan, focusing on Ethan’s safety and return to his family,” Senn says. “And Sheriff Wally Olson, every time he went to the media, also asked people to pray.”
The church property also became a key to the rescue of Ethan. Behind the church’s youth building, authorities built the mock set-up of Dykes underground shelter to practice their rescue attempt.
While Senn was working with the media and officials, urging people to pray, Layton was ministering to his congregation and Chuck’s wife, Jan. Layton says when he and his wife visited Jan in the hospital—as she was taken there when she learned of Chuck’s sacrifice—they had the opportunity to comfort another young woman, as in a small town (2,300), one person can impact a significant percentage of his or her community.
“When we came in and asked for the Poland family, the young woman at the counter pointed down the hall and then began to cry,” Layton recalls. “My wife went to her and the young woman explained that Chuck used to be her bus driver.”
Senn says that through the experience, the entire community has a greater realization of the needs that exist in the community and are more conscious of their relationship with God.
“Evil has no geographical boundaries or age categories,” Senn says. “Evil is everywhere. I believe the enemy is coming against us by attacking what is close to us—our children. We need to be constantly aware of our relationship with God and be praying, praying God’s protection for our children and our families.”
After being held captive for seven days, Ethan was rescued and Dykes was killed in a surprise raid by authorities on the bunker. Layton says that just prior to Ethan’s rescue, he and a pastor friend had sat together and prayed once more for Ethan’s safe release. Layton says the news of Ethan’s rescue was like a refreshing to his spirit, though he felt sorry that Dykes had lost his life.
“But sometimes you bring things upon yourself,” Layton says of Dykes, “and I believe he did.”
In reflection, Layton recalls that the Sunday before Chuck’s death, he had asked him a question.
“I asked Chuck what he would like to see God do in this church and in this community,” Layton says. “He told me, ‘I’d like to see this house [the church] filled. I believe that would please the Lord.'”
In one sense, Chuck’s desire was fulfilled to overflowing. Layton said that they had to hold Chuck’s funeral, not at the church, but at the Ozark (Alabama) Civic Center, with an estimated 1,000 (or more) attending.
“We had scores of bus drivers, teachers, principals, officers even people from Washington, D.C., at the funeral,” says Layton, who officiated the service. “The family asked me to take the opportunity to preach God’s Word as they realized not everyone attending would be Christians or even know who the Lord was—that I should present Scripture for those people, so that’s what I did.”
Some people have questioned why it had to be such a loving person like Chuck who lost his life in this tragedy. It’s a difficult question, but the answer may simply be, God knew that on Jan. 29, on a school bus in Midland City, Ala., 22 kids would need a real hero.
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