Seven lives were lost, including five children in a fiery accident as a van full of kids from Marksville, Louisiana traveled to Disneyworld in Orlando, Florida.
According to the Florida Highway Patrol the accident happened last Thursday south of Gainesville, Florida. A semi-truck and another vehicle crashed on I-75 North, went through a guardrail, traveled the median, and hit southbound traffic. The original vehicles in question struck the church van and another semi-truck.
As the two semis collided, they both caught fire and both drivers lost their lives. As fuel poured out of the wrecked vehicles, the situation grew more dangerous as other cars were hit with flying debris from the explosions that followed.
“It exploded. I mean, just a ball of flames,” said one driver who narrowly missed the crash and who was thankful to be alive.
The families and church members of Avoyelles House of Mercy Church were not so lucky. Five of their children lost their lives in this crash.
A local Floridian pastor from New Life Assembly of God reached out via Facebook to encourage his congregants and members of his community not to focus on the wrong things.
“I don’t want you to focus on all the information. They’re still releasing the information to the families, the ones that should know way before we do,” said Pastor Richard Newman Jr. “What I want you to focus on is praying for the families that are affected, this tragedy that’s hit our community. Let’s pray for the families that are affected. Let’s pray for the Church. Let’s bind together as the Body of Christ in a time where our fellow brothers and sisters need the Lord’s comfort more than ever.”
Since we live in a broken world, we cannot explain the “why” behind tragedies, but we can connect with God, who is faithful through the good times and the bad times.
We join with Pastor Newman and pray for all those who lost their family members in this tragic accident. May God comfort them as they mourn. May He give grace to those who love and support the mourners, and may the body of Christ come together as we are commanded in Galatians: “Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.”
