President Bush spoke to the media and to the world from Gleneagles, Scotland, regarding the attacks on the transit system in London, England. Image courtesy of the White House.

1. By now you've probably heard the sad news from London, England, that a terrorist group bombed several subway trains and one double-decker bus. Many people were killed and many more were hurt—some quite badly. This was done by terrorists who believe that they can get leaders and nations to do what they want by hurting innocent people. Even though this makes us feel sad and perhaps even scared, it's the perfect time to make a difference in this tragedy by praying in two ways. First, pray that God will powerfully strengthen and heal those who were injured in the attacks as well as providing heartfelt comfort for those who lost loved ones. Second, pray that no further attacks will take place and that the people who did this will stop. Pray that God will touch their hearts with His love, changing them into people who don't hurt others.
2. The terror attacks happened just as President Bush and many other world leaders began their meetings at the G-8 Summit, so it's a great time to pray that they will continue to pursue the goals for the summit, and that the most positive, God-pleasing results will come from their time together. Ask God to help everyone to follow through faithfully on their promises, resulting in the needed help for poor nations in Africa.
3. If you've been listening to the news lately, you know that the President has a big choice to make in the next several weeks. Since Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor told the President she wants to retire from the Court, he now must choose someone to take her place. Many people have suggestions for the kind of person President Bush should choose, but as kids who pray, we can help out by praying that God will guide the President as he chooses a new judge for the Supreme Court, helping him select the person who will please God and rule justly.

First Lady Laura Bush and her daughters, Barbara and Jenna, will travel to Africa after the G-8 Summit. Photo courtesy of boston.com.

4. Mrs. Bush and her daughters are having a great summer! Last month they were in Arizona enjoying the Grand Canyon and this month they are traveling to three countries in Africa after things wrap up in Scotland. So we can pray for the protection and safety of Mrs. Bush and Jenna and Barbara as they travel to South Africa, Tanzania and Rwanda, asking God to bring about the very best results possible as they speak with others about education for young girls (remember, some girls and women do not enjoy the rights and freedoms we have!), the fight against HIV/AIDS and other concerns.
5. As always, we must pray for our troops, asking God to powerfully help and protect this new generation of Americans defending our freedom against our enemies in Afghanistan, Iraq, and around the world, praying for all those who are taking the fight to the terrorists overseas, so that we do not have to face them at home. And we must remember to thank God for His mighty protection over our land in recent years.

Vice President— Richard Cheney

Photo courtesy of the White House.

The Vice President is one of the closest positions to the President, and in Richard Cheney, President Bush has an experienced and trusted advisor. In fact, Vice President Cheney came home from his vacation in Wyoming when he learned of the terror attacks in London. That way he was able to keep track of everything and better monitor America's response and assistance.

Vice President Cheney brings a lot of great experience to his job, both in business and in public service. He has served four presidents starting with Richard Nixon and was Chief of Staff for Gerald Ford. He has also served in Congress as a representative from his home state of Wyoming. How popular was he? He was re-elected five times!

Mr. Cheney was Secretary of Defense during two key military campaigns—Operation Just Cause in Panama and Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East. During these campaigns he shaped the U.S. military during a time of great change—the Cold War was ending and a new way of dealing with the nations of the world was being developed. For this dedicated service, Vice President Cheney was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President George H.W. Bush (#43). Click here to see a picture of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

As Vice President, Mr. Cheney is also the President of the Senate where he sometimes casts the deciding vote. He must be ready to step in to the role of the Chief Executive should anything ever happen to the President!

Mr. Cheney was born in Lincoln, Nebraska, on January 30, 1941 and grew up in Casper, Wyoming. He earned his bachelor's and master's of arts degrees from the University of Wyoming. Mr. Cheney married his high school sweetheart, Lynne Ann Vincent, in 1964, and they have grown daughters, Elizabeth and Mary, three granddaughters and one grandson.

Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation— Robert Mueller

Image courtesy of the University of Virginia Law School.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation has a rich history of protecting Americans and fighting crime—all the way back to 1908! Created by Attorney General Charles Bonaparte and President Theodore Roosevelt, earliest investigations concerned corruption and crime of all kinds. Since the first 34 investigators were hired, the agency has become one of the largest in the world with a force of 28,000 employees.

The first priority of the FBI is to defend Americans from terror attacks and foreign intelligence threats as well as fighting corruption, organized crime, white-collar crime and all major acts of violent crime. That's a lot of things to take care of, but they also investigate crimes as well! The FBI has jurisdiction over 200 categories of federal law! In fact, the FBI is home to the largest database of fingerprints in our country, used extensively in criminal investigation and identification. They receive more than 37,000 sets of fingerprints every day, seven days a week.

Robert Mueller is a former Marine and Vietnam veteran. After military service, Director Mueller earned his law degree and began practicing law, but was soon tapped to be Attorney General first in San Francisco, and later in Boston. He was appointed Assistant Attorney General under President George H.W. Bush and had a rich history of public service mingled with the private practice of law. He was appointed Director of the FBI on September 4, 2001, just days before the 9/11 terror attacks. In the ensuing years, he has overseen the perhaps the largest reorganization ever of the Bureau.

Robert Mueller received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Princeton University and his Masters in International Studies from New York University. He received his Juris Doctor degree from the University of Virginia School of Law in 1973, where he served on the Law Review. He is married and with his wife, Ann, has two children.

This new attack on the transit system in London may raise a lot of questions in your mind. It could be that you know about the September 11 attacks but you were quite a bit younger when those happened, so this news may affect you in a different way. You may feel more afraid or less afraid, depending on your circumstances. Or you may not feel afraid at all.

It's really important to remember that terrorists are not everywhere all the time. Only God is everywhere all the time (He is eternal and omnipresent). So even though you may feel afraid that a terrorist may hurt you or someone in your family, it is not very likely, since, compared to all the people in the world, there are very few terrorists.

bully? Image courtesy of hpsd.ca.

Two authors, who love kids very much, Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop, have written a book to help kids in times like this. In their book,* they talk about the fact that terrorists are a bit like a bully on a playground. When a bully is on the playground, you may just stay away from the bully, hoping you don't get picked on. That may work for awhile, but you may wonder all the time what the bully is doing.

If the bully begins making trouble for others, you or your friends may need to stand up to the bully, showing him that he can't get away with hurting others all the time. It's good to stand up to bullies, because if you don't they may get even worse, feeling pleased that they get away with hurting others.

Even though being around a bully may make you want to hide, people eventually have to face up to a bully and show him that they can't keep hurting others.

Sometimes, someone decides to take the bully on and they fight the bully so that everyone can have fun on the playground again. This can be worrisome—it can be dangerous to fight a bully, and others may worry that someone will get hurt. They may also worry what happens if the bully wins.

In the same way, terrorists may keep trying to hurt innocent people, but our government and other governments are standing up to terrorists, working hard to stop their actions. We can have faith in these efforts, because they do help.

*130 Questions Children Ask About War and Terrorists, Stephen Arterburn and David Stoop. Tyndale House, Wheaton, IL. 1991, 2002.

This photo shows President Bush standing behind British Prime Minister Tony Blair as he tells the world that "We will not weaken our resolve. Our values will long outlast theirs." Image courtesy of the White House.

British Prime Minister Tony Blair showed that the United Kingdom is absolutely resolved to fight these attacks. Addressing the world from Scotland, he said, "It's important that those engaged in terrorism realize that our determination to defend our values and way of life is greater than their determination to cause death and destruction to innocent people. They can never succeed in destroying what we hold dear." Can you hear the determination in his words? He's not going to let this bully keep hurting everyone on the playground!

President Bush also promised to keep America's friendship with Britain strong, vowing to do everything possible to stop terrorists. Speaking from Scotland, he said, "We will not yield to these people, will not yield to the terrorists. We will find them, we will bring them to justice and at the same time, we will spread an ideology of hope and compassion that will overwhelm their ideology of hate."

With these words, President Bush is also showing that he will not let the terrorists keep bullying everyone who wants to enjoy the playground.