I received an instant message from one of the teenagers at church last night at about 10 p.m. informing me that a friend of theirs from High School had been killed in a ATV accident and that another student was also seriously injured and not expected to make it. The students were both freshman at Pekin High School. Just about 4 weeks ago, three other PCHS students were killed in a tragic car accident. The trama from that event is still affecting many of the students in our church, almost one month later. Now with this newest tagedy, I'm quite concerned that it will throw the school into a funk that it will be difficult to get past.

I'm reminded of the first loss of a close friend when I was a student in College. His name was Chris, and he was killed in a car accident shortly after I had accepted Christ and left to study for the ministry. The thing that sticks with me is the sorrow that I have at not having shared my personal faith in Christ with Chris before he died. I hope that if nothing else these students begin to take seriously the fact that life is short and uncertain, and that they would make it a point to begin sharing their faith more regularly.

All of that doesn't change that fact that the loss of these two young men will be felt for quite some time. I just pray that we all would take our mission from God to share the message of hope in Christ more seriously.