Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings listened during a special vigil service for those affected by Ebola on Wednesday at NorthPark Presbyterian Church in Dallas. Rawlings spoke briefly during the service, calling Ebola a "scourge" and thanking those in attendance for their prayers. (Jim Tuttle/Staff Photographer)
Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings joined about 20 members of the NorthPark Presbyterian Church Wednesday night as they gathered for a service to pray for Ebola victims in Dallas and West Africa.
“Thank you for this evening of hope and prayer, what we need in the city of Dallas, what I need,” he said.
At the church, located near Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital Dallas, Rawlings spoke briefly about his meetings with the families of Thomas Eric Duncan and Nina Pham.
“This is a very personal issue,” he said. “I’ve gotten to be with the families of Eric Duncan and I’m honored to do that and understand the pain they have been going through and the anxieties they face.We have lifted up Nina in our prayers and her family is so tight and so loving and she is so hopeful and then just this morning another case.”
Duncan died last week and Pham remains hospitalized in good condition. A third patient, Amber Vinson, was taken to Emory University Hospital Wednesday night.