Arisa (on the left) with Olivia on the Cell Group Retreat last month.
We had some heart wrenching news on Friday before Christmas. One of our students was killed in a car accident. We gathered about 25 of her friends together last week and let them share memories and cry together. In a few minutes I am heading out to a memorial service. Please pray for her family and friends as they grieve during these tough days. Praise God that Arisa is now walking with Jesus.
December 26, 2005
On Christmas 2005 we remember a US military family here in the Philippine’s recent tragedy. I’ve worked with the father, Patch, during the past year in Balance Piston and other JSOTF-P (Joint Special Operations Task Force-Philippines) activities. He has a beautiful wife, Fumi, a Japanese woman from Okinawa, and four sweet children, Arisa, 14 years old; Akari, 12 years old; Anna, 10 years old; and Akira 9 years old. Patch flew his family from Okinawa to spend the holidays here in the Philippines on December 20th. On December 22nd, the family had a fun filled day in Subic Bay at a water park playing with the dolphins and walking on the beach. They posed for a beautiful family photo at the water park before they left for their hotel.
On the trip back to Manila that evening in a contracted van, the car in front of them suddenly slowed down significantly in traffic, and as they were breaking to counter the speed, a bus hit the van from behind. The car rolled twice and Patch and the van driver got out first to help the other family members out of the wrecked vehicle. Then the van driver RAN AWAY. The family was taken to the closest hospital in a Filipino ambulance (or pick-up as Patch describes it) for medical treatment. All family members survived except for beautiful little fourteen-year-old Arisa who died on the way to the hospital.
I met them at the hospital after I got a call from JSOTF-P asking for a mom-like presence for the kids. The family was in shock as you can imagine and the next nine hours was spent in a hellish nightmare for them all. This hospital was jammed with people and it was obvious we needed to get them out of there to another hospital that could be relied upon for better treatment. Four people in the emergency room died as we were waiting for the children to be released. The hospital wouldn’t take the military insurance, so they kept the mother hostage until the bill was paid. People chipped in to pay the bill and get them out of there to another hospital. After another set of x-rays and medical analysis, all the surviving family except for the mother, Fumi, was released with minor scrapes and bruises. They kept Fumi for observation since she had a concussion and back pain.
Yesterday was spent with three very depressed children whose lives are changed forever and Christmas memories will always include those of this tragedy. As ten-year-old Anna and I were waiting in the emergency room, I asked her what she thought happened to loved ones who died. She replied at first that she didn’t know, but then remembered the bible stories Arisa had told her since she became involved in a bible study group of other teens.
Anna said, “Arisa said if you believed in Jesus Christ, He will save you from your sins.”
“That’s what I believe, too,” I replied. “Was Arisa a Christian?”
“Yes, she was in a bible study group. One time the group came to our house. Arisa was very religious,” Anna answered.
“That’s very good news, Anna,” I answered. “In fact when a person becomes a Christain and dies, they go right to heaven. That’s where Arisa is now with our Lord Jesus. I’ll bet an angel met her right after her spirit left her body and took her to the presence of Christ. The bible describes heaven as a place where there are many mansions and the streets are paved with gold. There is no pain or unhappiness there, only peace and happiness because we are with our Lord. We will see our loved ones who have put their faith in Christ again. I’m sure of it because that is what the bible promises.”
Anna and I talked and cried throughout the night in the waiting room and she wanted me to tell her bible stories I knew. It is difficult to know the right things to say to comfort ones in grief, but the Holy Spirit was present that night giving assurance to a little girl that she would indeed see her sister in eternity if she too gave her heart to Jesus.
The next day she told another person, “Arisa is in heaven. She believed in Jesus and He saved her from her sins.”
We never know what the next minute will bring to our complacent lives. One minute we’re experiencing joy and the next minute, we’re in a nightmare world of emergency rooms and funeral homes. When the bible says BE YE READY, it’s a wake up call to us all. In spite of the pain we feel when we’ve lost someone dear, our faith in Jesus will make all the difference. He gives us hope and comfort when life throws these kinds of curves. What a blessing it is that this family can know where their daughter is on this Christmas Eve. What a blessing it is that a young girl somehow reaches back to us all from heaven and reminds us how precious life is and how in a blink of an eye it can be taken.
Life is very short……….way too short for feeling sorry for ourselves because our life has not turned out exactly like we wanted it too………way too short by holding on to hurt feelings from some wrong we feel we’ve suffered from other people……….. too short for jealousy, greediness, bitterness and selfishness…..too short for anything other than love, forgiveness, sacrifice, and devotion to our King of Kings.
We cannot make it through this life on our own. It’s way too hard. We cannot be all we can be on our own, only through the empowerment and strength of the Holy Spirit. It has been the times in my life where I’ve been “I” focused and not “Christ” focused that I’ve failed miserably. I’ve often beat myself up looking at my miserable imperfections and wishing I could be good, kind, and perfect.
That is our Christmas gift, though….the baby boy born to take our sins upon Himself brings us into a right relationship with the Heavenly Father. His grace makes us perfect in the sight of God and gives us peace and comfort at times like these when peace passes all understanding. Please keep the Adams family in your prayers this Christmas and pray that we can all find the kind of assurance Arisa found before her short life on this earth ended.