Praying for Virginia Tech

I visited Erin's site today and thought ya'll might like to read what she had there. We both know folks who serve on the staff of Campus Crusade for Christ there at Tech--some were staff when we were students and some were fellow students. I can't imagine how they must feel right now, but I am so thankful that they have a loving, caring God who will give them the strength they need to get through these tough days and minister to the students who will have so many questions.

May God be glorified! Here's the stuff from Erin below:

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Here is an excerpt of an E-mail sent out by one of the CCC staff at VT. It helps to put reality to the situation. These were real people. They were students, friends, roommates, boyfriends, girlfriends, sister and brothers, sons and daughters. They are mourned and missed.

Thanks again for all of you who continue to pray for us and comfort us with your kind e-mails and phone calls. Today hasn't really been much better than yesterday, if any better. While yesterday shocked us immensely, today we have come to find that the people we were praying for yesterday have, in fact, gone to be with the Lord. Mary Read and Lauren McCain have been confirmed dead today. They were both freshmen women who were heavily involved in the movement. Mary was signed up to lead a Bible study next year. Lauren has faithfully served the Bridges International ministry that I lead all this year. I knew her pretty well and recall her passion for the Lord through prayer. She had such joy when she would praise the Lord in prayer times. She had a heart to see people from around the world come to know Christ. While we mourn the losses, we're comforted that both of these women are worshiping the Lord in His presence at this very moment.

We also learned today that another student involved in our ministry, Jarrett Lane , was also murdered yesterday. We had not met Jarrett, but he regularly attended our meetings and even went on our Fall Retreat conference in October.

Pray for a couple students who witnessed the events yesterday. Molly is a freshman girl who is involved in our ministry who was the first person to discover the bodies in the residence hall yesterday morning. She obviously knew both people well since they were both on her hall. I'm sure her dorm will never feel like home again.

Clay is a Senior who has been involved in our ministry for several years. He was in one of the classrooms that the gunman came into and he was the only person in his class of about 20 people who left the classroom unharmed. While he wasn't physically harmed, he is in severe shock. Please pray that the Lord will be giving both of them comfort as they deal with this tragedy. I can't even begin to imagine what they are going through.

We continue to ask you to pray for us as we cope with the loss in our own lives and pray that the Lord would give us supernatural wisdom in how to best minister to students as they mourn the loss of friends. Also be praying for the students who have lost friends as well as parents and family members who have lost loved ones in this tragedy. Many people are dealing with the shock and loss of friends, classmates, and family members. Jesus said, "Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted." Please pray that the Lord would truly bless and comfort those who are mourning tonight. Lauren has a brother who was involved in our ministry a few years ago, Joel. He has been teaching English in Japan for the past year and I'm sure is on his way home now. Thanks for all your prayers!

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This is Greta speaking:

So much has been on the news that I barely even turn it on anymore. Everyone wants to politicize, sensationalize, and criticize. In only a few days, the tone has turned from one of sorrow and sympathy to a debate on why it happened and who should or shouldn't have spoken at the Convocation.

My dear friends, let's not lose sight of the words mentioned above:

Many people are dealing with the shock and loss of friends, classmates, and family members.

Being a VT alumnus, I felt the impact quite strongly, but even still I did not personally know the ones who died, or the ones who were injured. Instead of flipping on the tube to sit enthralled by the latest horror of it all, join me in sitting still before the Lord and mentioning these folks in your prayers.

And, along with Erin (from whom I stole the post) join me in wearing Orange and Maroon tomorrow to remind the world to pray.