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Junior Member
 
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 11/17/2009 12:20:03 PM
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| I'm not sure what I am even asking here. Today we buried a young man that was once a member of our youth group. he died of swine flu at 21 years old. This young man has not been to our youth meetings in about a year but is a very dear friend of all the current youth and a very close friend to my son. My son and him were friends in high school and have remained friends since graduating in 2006. This is very devastating to my family as well as the youth, the thing that bothers me the worst is that our high school has seen 9 deaths in the past 7 years. Does that seem a little much to anyone but me? I don't recall but one death of a student the whole time I was in high school. These students today have to face death at least once and sometimes twice in the same year of friends that they walk the halls of that school with. The thing is I could understand this a little better if we were in a big city with thousands of people but we are in a small town of maybe 1000, the high school has approximately 300 students from 9-12th grade. This seems like a lot of deaths. It saddens me so much to know that I can not touch every young person out there with the love of Christ. I do not want to see another young person die without knowing Christ. This young man that we buried today did know the Lord and is dancing with the angels this very moment but it saddens me to know that I may not be able to reach some of these youth before there time is called. I guess I just needed to express myself, no certain question to ask.
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Forum Expert
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Last Login: 2 days ago @ 8:18:26 PM
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Sheila,
Please let me offer my deepest sympathy to the young mans family, your ministry, your family and the entire community. Death, as you know, is never easy and I hurt for you this morning yet rejoice at the same time that, as you said, he is dancing with the angels. I look forward to meeting him one day....
Matt M
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Forum Guru
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Last Login: 11/18/2009 7:13:05 PM
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Dear Sheila:
A child's death is always devastating to everyone. When the pain strikes close to home you become aware of the other families experiencing the same nightmare of suffering. Your feelings are the same as mine. Since my daughter was killed on a youth group outing I am painfully aware of the other kids in the area who have died. Car accidents, sports injuries, suicide...it rips at your heart and many people wonder how God can be called a loving God if he allows this.
If we measure God's love by how much he blesses us it does not make sense. If we believe the Bible when it says God proved His love by sending Jesus to pay for our sins we can still trust that God is good, knows what He's doing, and has a good reason for it. Teach the kids to believe the Bible, not what they see with their eyes. Redouble your efforts to tell children the gospel message and get others to help. I'm so glad my daughter was a believer. She too is in heaven now. What a comfort that is. I will see her again.
To help the parents and family of this boy you and your kids should write and mail letters of your memories of their son. Also, send copies of any photos you have. Direct them to The Compassionate Friends organization and stay in touch through the coming months and years. Bring meals, frozen in disposable containers. Remember every birthday and holiday with a card. Everyone should band together and care for the family. This is a dark time for them. Do not give them a bunch of platitudes, or cute poems or verses. Just grieve with them. Never ask if they will have another child. Don't offer any advice actually. They will be quite angry and depressed. This will take years -don't rush them. Listen, pray, ache in your heart, and care for them as best you can.
E-mail me if you want to talk more.
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| Sheila, I feel your pain. We had four teens die in our very small HS (about the same size as yours) in one two drunk driving accidents last year. It was a very rough year all around. I don't know what we can do to reach more teens. I wish I did. I doubt very much that any of the four that died in our school were saved and it breaks my heart. My husband is the pastor of a local church and thank GOD that the school calls him when there is a crisis and allows him to be there to talk to the staff and students the next day. As a former teacher, he's got a great relationship with the school.
Pictures taken on vacation at Lake Junaluska, NC.
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