This was written at the request of some missionary staff, hoping to give Jared's family & friends back home a glimpse into his last few hours. When first asked to write this, I shrank from the task. How do you capture the pain and emotion of such a tragedy in mere words? With God's help, I attempted to give an accurate account of what happened May 8, 2014. I wrote it after talking to the students and different eye witnesses, and also on my husband's first hand account. While I tried to be as accurate as possible, I accept responsibility for any errors and would be glad to know, so I can correct them.
Jared's Final Flight
As the shimmering sun set over the beautiful Caribbean Sea, it's brilliant rays reflected off the tranquil waters. Viewing it from above, twenty nine excited students from Terre Hill High School, along with their chaperones, prepared to begin their descent into the tiny island of Grenada. Along with the excitement, there was a sense of sadness. Only that morning they had said good bye to one of their class mates, Josh Martin, who was battling the final stages of bone cancer. At this point, he was too ill to travel with his class on their much anticipated senior trip.
As they exited the plane, they were greeted by the warm, humid air, so common on this tropical island. Excitement and chaos ran high as the bunch gathered the many suitcases and divided into three groups, one for each of Olive Branch Mennonite Mission's locations. As he and his buddies were shown their room for the night, they joked about who was going to be the "lucky" one that has to sleep on the cot. Its thin mattress and small size didn't appear very conducive to a good nights sleep.
"I'll sleep there," Jared offered, and his classmates were only too happy to let him have the honors.
The next morning, when questioned on how the small cot slept, he said, "It slept good!..other than the side rails poking into my sides!"
As a reward for his sacrificial night, he was promised an extra cookie at supper time.:) Little did we know, by that time, he would be experiencing something far better than that promised extra cookie.
Devotions and breakfast were over in record time and they were soon ready to head out to their first work project. As they prepared to leave for the job site, Jared realized the water jug setting there needed to be loaded in the bus, and took the initiative to do so without being told.
It looked like hot, fun work to this energetic bunch...mixing up concrete and pouring it in the framed areas to make steps for one of the LaBorie church members. Thaddeus is planning to get married in June, and for the sake of his lovely bride to be, decided to make steps down to his house situated on the side of a steep hill. As is usually the case, work is a lot more fun with a group and there was lots of joking and laughing, along with the hard work. Big stones were carried down the hill to fill in some of the areas.
At one point, there was a close call and a scare, as a large rock happened to get dislodged at the top of the hill. It picked up speed as it headed toward the unsuspecting workers. Screams and shouts filled the air as people jumped this way and that, in order to not be hit. Thankfully, they all managed to get out of the way, and the work continued.
They only had 3 steps to do yet when they realized they were a few bags short on concrete. There was some discussion as to whether they should go buy more or call it quits for the day. They decided to stop for the day and headed farther down the hill, beside a creek, to enjoy their picnic lunch. The energetic Jared couldn't resist the fallen log across the creek. At the encouragement of his classmates, he stepped on it and, as they began video taping him, he took another tentative step. They cheered him on, expecting at any moment the branch to break and he would end up in the creek below. The video continued but the branch held strong. He stood a moment, then decided to take a seat on the log, dipping his feet in the cool water. As the person video taping pressed the off button, someone made the remark, "Jared! That was a boring video!" Little did we know how precious that would become to his loved ones.
As they left the job site, they surveyed the beautiful countryside of this small island. This led to a discussion, where they agreed that, if it would be their time to die, Grenada would be a beautiful place to leave the earth. Little did they
know, for one of them involved in the discussion, this would soon become a
reality.
Since the work project had stalled, they decided a last minute trip to the beach would be a great way to fill up the afternoon. By the time they got all the loose ends tied up, it was around 1:30 till the group arrived at the beach.
Grande Anse is one of the most beautiful beaches in the world. Towering mountain peaks and hills speckled with colorful houses are framed under the vast expanse of brilliant blue sky. Bright, colorful flowers are accented by surrounding lush, green foliage. Gentle, balmy breezes blow, wafting the smells of the ocean along with them. Calm. Peaceful. A relaxing place. A place you can go to forget the cares of the world for a few hours.
However, relaxing was not on the forefront of young Jared's mind as he spied the clear, turquoise waters of the Caribbean Sea. Dashing from the bus, he exuberantly made his way to the enticing water, his pile of clothes flung on the sand and promptly forgotten. Hoping to get a glimpse of the mysteries of the ocean floor and colorful aquatic life, he donned some snorkeling gear and headed into the waters.
This is where the beautiful story ends. At least for us. For Jared it only begins. Instead of exploring and conquering the mysteries of the ocean floor, he conquered the mystery of death and is experiencing something that makes the most beautiful beach in the world pale by comparison.
As the chaperones relaxed on the beach, all seemed well as the boys shouted to each other and explored the deep depths of the ocean floor. Only after a security guard from a nearby resort came over and mentioned that four guys were out snorkeling and now he only sees three, did they even think something might be amiss. The guard didn't seem too concerned, as people do tend to move here and there and the chaperones figured a quick head count would assure the fourth swimmer moved elsewhere and all is well. Unfortunately, a head count revealed one of their number was missing and the search began. Two classmates, along with Chris High and James Brubacher, quickly swam out to where the group was last seen. It didn't take long till Jared's body was discovered, close to the ocean floor.
As they struggled to hold his head above water and began the exhausting journey to land, the thought was that,
we are already too late. Panicky screams filled the air in an attempt to summon help. Once on land, revival efforts began. The rest of the group gathered in a circle and, with arms around each other, cried and pleaded with God to save their dear friend. As word spread to the ladies on the beach and the missionaries and chaperones that stayed back, many, many prayers ascended heavenward. How we begged and pleaded with God to let him stay. A beloved son, much-loved younger brother, idolized older brother, energetic friend to all, he is so loved and so young! For some, words failed and we simply clung to Romans 8:26, and took assurance that the Spirit hears our groanings which cannot be uttered.
As a crowd gathered, revival efforts continued. A doctor from England, staying at the resort began his attempt to save the young life. As ambulance sirens wailed in the distance, prayers continued to ascend to the throne of God. Frantic pleas. Shocked minds. Incomprehensible. Tears. Helplessness. Panic. As the ambulance drove away with Jared, many emotions filtered through everyone's shocked mind. It can't be. Only a few minutes ago everything was ok.
James Brubacher went along in the ambulance and Chris gathered the shocked, subdued bunch together and headed into the hospital. At the hospital, the news reached their ears that he was gone. Gone. Gone! No, God! So final! Many stages of grief were expressed in those first raw moments. Anger. Shock. Disbelief. Some faces remained stoic, frozen in shock. Tears. Many, many tears.
Before they viewed his body, they were advised, "It's ok to feel anger, just don't stay there and don't let it turn to bitterness." Anger is one of the stages of grief and most likely will need to be dealt with at some point along the journey of loss.
As they viewed his body, his hair and pillow still held traces of sand from the beach that, only an hour ago, he was having so much fun in. Walls were pounded and beach towels thrown to the ground, as an attempt to work out the raw emotions that were being dealt with. Knees buckled and grief stricken bodies collapsed to the ground.
Why God? Why this class? Why Jared?
Chaperones were dealing with feelings of guilt, helplessness and failure. Weren't we vigilant enough? Should have we set up a buddy system? Should we have trained him better how to use a snorkel?
As word spread around the island and back to his home country, prayers for Jared changed to prayers for his family, his classmates, and all the others affected by his death. A cottage meeting planned for that evening was changed into a special service held in Jared's memory. As we met together in a somber group, tears flowed freely. And as we gathered in the church building, songs were sang that ministered to our aching hearts. Words, that we sang so many times before, leaped off the pages and held special new meaning. One of the first songs one of his classmates picked was, "It Is Well with my Soul."
When peace like a river attendeth my way, When sorrows like sea billows roll! Whatever my lot, Thou has taught me to say, it is well, it is well with my soul! What an amazing testimony! As we sang that song, many tear-swollen faces were lifted toward the heavens, hands were raised upward, fists clenched and unclenched, each fighting their own private battle of letting go and trusting in the sovereignty of God.
There were songs of surrender, songs of comfort,
"Does Jesus care when my heart is pained, too deeply for mirth or song? Oh yes! He cares! I know He cares! His heart is touched with my grief!" Songs of hope.
Whispering hope, Oh how welcome Thy voice! Making my heart in it's sorrow rejoice!
As each of the pastors shared, the listening audience was encouraged to grieve, to let go, to let this situation help them be a better person and not let bitterness take root. They were encouraged to think of where Jared is now and, if he could, he would not even want to trade places with us. To take comfort in the fact that Jared was sold out for God and has met his eternal reward.
As I ponder the events of the last few days, it's so easy to question God. We, in our human reasoning, want to know why.
Why this country? Why on his senior trip? Why this class? Why someone like Jared? So full of life and potential. Judging from his past life, he made an impact on many people. Why couldn't God have spared him so he could keep on being a light and testimony for Him?
But as I think more on that, I believe he may be impacting just as many people through his death. As the crowd gathered on the beach, the small group of young men standing there in prayer, with tears running down their faces, did not go unnoticed. With the close proximity of the resort, this was viewed by people from several different countries around the globe.
Why this class? Through Josh's illness, this class already realized the frailty of human life. I believe God has some great plans for this class and is preparing them for some specific purpose that we don't know of yet. I sense, through all of this, there are hearts being molded and surrendered to God.
Why this country? On a small island like this, the news of the tragedy spread fast. People are watching. Wondering. How does a Christian react to death? This very morning, the same group that encountered such loss was sharing in testimony and singing in the town of St. Georges. Does this go unnoticed? No, it doesn't. Chris talked to quite a few people this morning that were listening to the songs and also knew of the deep sorrow in each of these young people's lives. And yet, still they sing. What a testimony.
And that's why I believe Jared's death may have impacted people as much as his life has.
(Written by Katrina High on May 10, 2014)
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"Can you Here the Prayer of the Children?"
Singing in St. Georges, two days after Jared's death
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| Waiting for the airplane at JFK Wednesday morning...(Jared is the one that has his feet propped up) |
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Jared's last sunset he viewed on earth
Work project at Thaddeus's house (Jared is wearing a green shirt)
Waiting for concrete
Shoveling gravel for the cement mixer
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Jared helping to shovel gravel for the steps...taken about 3 hours before his death
Little did this class know that in a few hours time, one
of their classmates would meet his eternal reward
The evening Jared died....shocked classmates trying to wrap their minds around the tragedy
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| A memorial service the evening Jared died...yes, Jesus cares |
Singing in town on Saturday
