Joel J. Chery

For the Damned No Glory: Caught in the Midst of Terror Joel J. Chery

Henry Wiseman's life has been a continuous saga, marked by turbulence and the intrusion of violence and terror. As a child, Henry experienced racism and prejudice firsthand, growing up under the specter of apartheid in segregated South Africa. As a young man, he engaged in a personal crusade to bring about changes in his homeland, and consequently achieved one of the greatest successes of his life, all during his first year as a freshman at Northwestern University, in Evanston, Illinois. Henry later met this beautiful young Jewish woman, Eva Meir, with whom he fell madly in love. They complemented one another's life, as they committed to each other in marriage and began a family of their own. Henry became an active member of his community and would eventually lead a moderate-size congregation in Evanston, as the pastor of the Second John the Baptist Church of Evanston. In his capacity as a religious leader, Henry found himself drawn into the path of a serial killer who descended on Evanston and unleashed a campaign of terror that led to the kidnapping of two young girls from Henry's congregation. Henry would eventually offer himself as a hostage and manage to persuade the killer to surrender to the authorities. With time, Henry was able to make good on a promise to his wife to take her on a dream vacation to South Africa and Israel. They were in Israel for only a few days, exploring the wonders of this majestic land, when suddenly they found themselves trapped on a hillside road overlooking the West Bank, as a group of Palestinian terrorists on a mission of vengeance against Israel exploded a deadly biochemical bomb some two hundred yards away from where they stood.