15 Years Later...

This week has brought about many different emotions for both John and I. We have spent an incredible amount of time in reflection on the events that took place just 15 years ago in a little town called Mineola.

On June 8, 1992, DCBC (Dallas Chinese Bible Church) loaded up 3 vans with excited teens headed for a summer camp in East Texas. John was new to the church, having only met a few of the other kids previously. At just 16 years of age, John didn't know that his life would change dramatically as he ventured from Dallas with this large group of students. He never realized how close death could stare him in the face.

John's van was the middle one, trailing closely behind the group of young middle schoolers ahead, the youngest of the high schoolers behind. Trying to get their bearings to find their way to the camp, the drivers approached a large and dangerous intersection in Mineola. They had no idea just how infamous this particular intersection was for traffic accidents, having had 22 in the previous 8 years, killing a few people, and injuring many more. After stopping at the two-way stop sign, Betty, John's van driver, pulled out to follow the van ahead. As the van drove through the intersection, a 12 ton cement truck, fully loaded, plowed their van, dragging them 200 yards down Highway 69. John recalls seeing the large, orange truck approach them quickly. He remembers nothing more.

On that day, 4 kids and the driver Betty were killed. The two girls sitting on the same seat next to John died despite resuscitative efforts made to save their lives. Betty died on impact, and Raymond and Jonathan, sitting behind John, never made it out of the van that burst into flames the moment it was struck by the truck. Everyone else was pulled out by friends and strangers who witnessed the event. The other 10 people in the van were injured, most of them seriously. The kids suffered burns, blunt trauma, internal bleeding, and head injuries. John got a traumatic head injury and endured major brain surgery as a result of the accident.

Last week John was a counselor and I was the camp nurse at the same church camp that the kids were on their way to in '92. After the camp ended on Sunday, we headed to the intersection where the accident occured. Below is a picture of John standing at the now well-marked site, traffic lights and all. They have since leveled the ground where before was the blinding hill the cement truck driver appeared from. They finally put stop lights there too. It's really sad that it took such a tragedy for the state to finally mark the intersection well. It should have been done a long time before the '90s.

I wasn't in John's life when the accident happened. Maybe that's why I am grieving so much now. John's been through that. The other survivors have mourned. The families of the deceased have grieved too. I think it's my time now. My time to weep for the deaths of these precious children. My time to rejoice for the lives that were saved.

Genesis says, "Therefore, a man shall leave his father and mother and cling to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh." This verse is becoming more real to me through the deep emotions that I have experienced this week. I believe that this is one of the many mysteries of God. We as humans cannot possibly comprehend how two people become one through marriage. Yet somehow we are so intricately united, both in body and in spirit. And as I encounter God, my beloved spouse walks alongside me. I long to experience the pain, the sorrow, and the joy that my husband has experienced through this accident. I desire deeply to walk through life right beside him, and to encounter the Spirit with him. This IS a mystery.

I can't possibly connect the wealth of emotions and feelings I have and understand exactly what I they mean. That's ok. I have spent much of this week in tears, both sad and grateful. I praise the Lord for saving this wonderful man that I call my husband. My sweet John survived. And if for nothing else, to meet his wife. As this week comes to an end, if I don't feel another thing, I feel blessed...blessed to have this person in my life whom God abundantly loves.

(Jenny, Stanley, and Mikayla with us at the cemetary)

This is a picture of us and the Wang's at Raymond and Jonathan's gravesite. Yesterday on the 15th anniversary, we met each other to remember the lives of the kids who died, and to celebrate the lives that the survivors now live. Jenny was also in the accident with John and miraculously survived. So was Stanley's brother. We had a beautiful time with them at their house this week, talking about the events that occured that dreary day, and reflecting on their feelings both then and now.

I don't know why, but I am tirelessly seeking to put the pieces together, to surface the details of that day, and to understand what the survivors and the families went through. John and I are praying about how we can keep this story alive. We want to show God's faithfulness in the midst of both life and death. Starting with one of the teens that saw the accident from the van behind, and then on to Jenny, we have begun to talk to the people who were there that day and the family members of all the kids involved. It is our hope to write a book with the collection of the many stories we have already been and will be told.
For the first time, I see how God's faithfullness and glory somehow permeate even the most tragic and painful situations. All praise to Him!