September 1, 2026
25 years after 9/11: Gen Alpha still looks for hope
Created in response to the attacks, ‘Do You Wonder Why?’ booklet helps children find biblical answers to difficult questions about tragedy and suffering
ST. LOUIS — Twenty-five years after the September 11 terrorist attacks, one of the defining events in modern American life is undergoing a generational shift. While 76% of adults have named 9/11 among the 10 historical events of their lifetimes that had the greatest impact on the country, young people born after the attacks encounter September 11 as history rather than lived experience, relying on classroom lessons and personal accounts to understand what happened.
Yet understanding what happened is different from helping children make sense of why tragedy happens.
“Twenty-five years can change how a generation understands an event, but it does not change the questions children ask when tragedy becomes real to them,” said Fred Pry, Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF®) vice president of administration. “They still want to know why terrible things happen, whether God sees what they are going through and where they can turn when life suddenly feels out of control.”
Following 9/11, then-CEF President Reese Kauffman realized the ministry had few resources available to help children facing traumatic events. In response, Kauffman sent CEF education experts Lynda Pongracz and Brenda Hanson to New York City to learn from first responders, counselors, teachers and parents who had cared for children through the attacks. Their research revealed a need to address not only the fear and uncertainty children experience during tragedy, but also the difficult questions they may have about God.
The result was “Do You Wonder Why?”, a free, interactive booklet designed to help children work through tragedy from a biblical perspective. Organized around questions children may struggle to express, the resource addresses fear and explores why bad things happen, whether God knows and cares and how to get through a difficult time. Crucially, the booklet gives children space to respond and can serve as a starting point for conversations with parents, caregivers and other trusted adults. The booklet ultimately points children toward the Gospel and the comfort and hope found in Jesus Christ.
“What began as a response to one tragedy became a resource CEF could carry into many kinds of crises,” Pry said. “It gives children language for their fears, room for their questions and a clear path toward the hope of the Gospel.”
Since 9/11, millions of copies have been distributed in response to crises around the world, including the Columbia space shuttle disaster; devastating hurricanes in Florida; war and displacement in Ukraine; the Maui wildfires; the catastrophic Texas floods, and many more.
The 25th anniversary of the September 11 attacks underscores a deeper truth: the questions tragedy raises about suffering, fear and God are not bound by time or generation. While the memories of 9/11 belong to those who lived through it, those questions remain part of the human experience.
“Every generation will face moments that leave children asking why,” Pry said. “Our responsibility is not only to remember the tragedies of the past, but to be ready to walk with children through the difficult moments of their own lives and point them to the real hope they can find in Jesus Christ.”
Child Evangelism Fellowship® (CEF®), founded in 1937, has been establishing the Good News Club® ministries in countries around the world for decades.
In 2025, more than 34 million children worldwide were impacted by the Good News through CEF ministries.
For more CEF news, see the ministry’s latest edition of the online magazine Impact™.
CEF is an international, nonprofit, Christian ministry that has been dedicated to seeing every child reached with the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, discipled and established in a local church since 1937. CEF is located in all 50 American states and in most countries around the world, with over 3,800 paid staff and tens of thousands of volunteers around the world.
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To interview a representative from Child Evangelism Fellowship, contact Hamilton Strategies, Media@HamiltonStrategies.com, Beth Bogucki, 610.584.1096, ext. 105, or Daniel Moyer, ext. 104.
