Australian Cricket Chaplain Dr Mark Tronson spent a worrying 14 hours last night praying that his two children staying a street away from one of the London explosions were not injured or killed in the series of devastating terrorist attacks.
Hayley Tronson, 23, and her younger brother Wesley, 21, drove out of Russell Square on a European couch tour approximately 30 minutes before the explosion which was detonated adjacent to where they were staying, Dr Tronson explains.
Hayley, a high school teacher from Canberra, was joining her younger brother Wesley, who lives in Manchester, for a European adventure tour popular with young Australians.
"I was in my office at 9pm last night and somebody phoned to tell me to look at the news on TV," Dr Tronson says.
"I tried to phone them but all the telephone lines were blocked," Dr Tronson says.
"I tried the Department of Foreign Affairs hotline number but it was engaged."
"So I thought I'd just pray about it."
The worried father was only able to get through to his son and daughter on a mobile phone 14 hours after the bombing rocked Europe's largest city.
The pair are now in Brussels at the beginning of their 17-day tour.
"The nature of terrorism seems to have the effect of steeling the ordinary person's resolve and the fact that both the UK Prime Minister Tony Blair and the US President George W Bush are calling for prayer illustrates the enormous strength freedom brings," Dr Tronson said.
Dr Tronson, a Baptist Minister and Chairman of Well-Being Australia, said "the anguished cry of the Psalms down through the centuries provides a little comfort for those families who have suffered the most terrible and frightful loss'.
Hayley and Welsey are two of Mark and Delma Tronson's four children.
The family will be reunited for the World Baptist Congress in Birmingham at the end of the month, an occasion Dr Tronson says as a parent he is now even more thankful for because of the tragedy.
"We're a close family and I'm thankful that our children have chosen to follow the Lord," Dr Tronson explains.
"It will be great to see them all again."
There are 300,000 Australians living in England.
Church leaders around the world are calling on all people of faith to offer prayers for those caught up in the series of explosions.
Reports say the bombings have killed at least 52 people dead and as many as 350 maimed or injured.
Eight Australians have been reported as injured, two critically.
