April 3 2000

ARTICLE TOOLS

Find similar articles E-mail this page

One year after the shootings at Columbine High School, the road to healing for families and the community has been slow and laden with setbacks. For many, the slayings of two Columbine sophomores on February 14 at a local Subway sandwich shop shattered an already fragile and tortured recovery process.

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold massacred 13 people and wounded dozens of others on April 20, 1999, before killing themselves. Many families of those who died are slowly rebuilding their lives through ministries and activism. Darrell Scott, father of murder victim Rachel Scott, has launched a nonprofit ministry called The Columbine Redemption that coordinates his speaking ministry at youth rallies and through which he is raising funds to build a Christian memorial for the slain. Scott is the scheduled keynote speaker at two major youth events in Washington, D.C., this year: "Take a Stand" (May 19-21), which expects to draw 100,000, and "The Call" (Sept. 2), which hopes to attract 400,000.

Brad and Misty Bernall, parents of Cassie Bernall, have joined with the Christian Mission of Honduras to build the Cassie Bernall Home for Children, an orphanage in a rural part of Honduras. They recently agreed with the North American Mission Board of the Southern Baptist Convention to produce a movie based on Cassie's life.

Michelle Oetter—student John Tomlin's girlfriend when he was killed—has been drawing crowds at speaking engagements about the spiritual significance of the Columbine tragedy. Valeen Schnurr, who affirmed her belief in God after being shot several times, has fit some public speaking into her study schedule at the University of Northern Colorado.

An organization called HOPE (Healing of People Everywhere) has become a rallying ...