Nine Seventh-day Adventist Church members are among the nearly 7,000 people missing and presumed dead following the September 11 terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C.

Ted Moy, a deacon at the Spencerville Church in Silver Spring, Maryland, worked at the Pentagon. He was on a training exercise at an office very close to the point of impact. Moy leaves behind his wife, Madeline, and two teenagers, Jessica and Daniel.

Michael Baksh, mid-30s, was working in Tower 2 of the World Trade Center (WTC), his first day on the job. He was a very active member of the Church of the Advent Hope in Upper Manhattan and was recently elected chair of the church board. He leaves behind a wife and two children.

Lissy Martinez, late 20s, was also working in Tower 2. She was a Pathfinder leader of the Spanish Fort Washington Church in Upper Manhattan. She leaves a husband and two children.

Maxima Jean-Pierre, mid-40s, worked in Tower 2. A youth Sabbath School teacher at the Spanish Patchogue church, in Long Island, New York, she leaves a husband and four children.

Josue Velasquez worked at Tower 1. He was a faithful member of the Spanish Intervale Church in the Bronx and helped out with camp meeting programs. He leaves a wife and three children.

LeRoy Homer was co-pilot of United Airlines Flight 93 that crashed in western Pennsylvania. He was a frequent visitor to the Mt. Holly English Church in New Jersey where his wife Melodie is an active member.

Jorge Velazquez was a member of the Passaic I Spanish Church in New Jersey. As chief of security in Tower 2, he was busy ushering people out of the building from the 31st floor. He called home to communicate with his family at that time, but has not been heard from since. “Your father is a real hero,” the company president told Velazquez’s family.

Steve Bunin, late 40s, was active in the audio visual department of the Corona Church in Queens. He worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of Tower 1. He leaves behind a wife, Hyacinth.

Michelle Nelson, 27, also worked for Cantor Fitzgerald on the 103rd floor of Tower 1. She was a member of the Linden Church in Queens, serving as a clerk, Adventist Youth Services leader, and in the youth choir. Church members say she was well known for baking great pies.

Adventist members have also lost family and friends in the tragedy. Joan Silver, a member of the Sligo Adventist Church in Takoma Park, Maryland, lost a daughter, Valerie, 46, who worked near the top of one of the towers.

Dick Stenbakken, chaplaincy ministries director for the Adventist Church, reported that, despite rumors to the contrary, Rear Admiral Barry Black, chief of chaplains for the United States Navy and an Adventist Church member, was not harmed in the attack. “Chaplain Black was away when the attacks occurred and is safe,” said Stenbakken.

“Our Adventist family has been hurt deeply in this tragedy,” said Don Schneider, president of the Adventist Church in North America, on reading reports of those missing. He urged church members to “work even harder to share the hope that comes from knowing Jesus Christ” and to continue to pray for all those grieving loved ones lost in the attack.

[Rebecca Brillhart, C.A. Murray, Dionisio Olivo, Carlos Turcios, and Steve Willsey contributed to this report.]