Tragedy in Costa Rica

For anyone who hasn't already heard form the news, there has been a tragedy in Costa Rica involving a local missionary group. The missionary group is Impulse Missions, and my church is deeply involved with this group. No one from our church had actually been able to go on this trip, but many of our close friends from fellow churches went.

Over the past two weeks, I had been receiving many updates from our friends on the trip to Costa Rica via Facebook. I saw many posts about how much fun it was to play with the kids at the school they were invited to teach at, and how the faith of those people was amazing. This week was supposed to be their last week down there.

Unfortunately, on Wednesday, a group of students who had gone on the trip decided to cool off and have fun in the water. No one warned them about the strong Costa Rican tides. Five students were sucked under, and two were pulled from the water unharmed. The other three students consisted of 17 year old Caity Jones, 16 year old James Smith, and 16 year old Kai Lammar. Caity was pulled from the water Wednesday, but by the time that the rescue efforts had gotten to her, she had already drowned. The other two were missing. As of yesterday, only James's body was found. He too had drowned. The search for Kai is still going on, but he is feared dead. It is extremely sad for everyone involved with these students, Impulse Missions, and central Ohio in general. I did not know any of the students that either drowned or went missing, but I still feel for their families.

While this is a tragic event, Impulse Missions will continue with its efforts. I myself had planned on traveling to Costa Rica for a missions trip next January (assuming my church and I can finally convince my parents). As long as the trip is not cancelled, I will continue to try and go on the trip.

Please keep the families of Caity Jones, James Smith, Kai Lammar, and all of the people invovled with the Impulse Missions in your prayers.

Disaster In Japan

Hey everyone,

I'm not sure if there's anyone who doesn't know about the enormous earthquake and tsunami that happened in Japan, but here's some basic info just in case:
1. The Earthquake hit at 2:46 p.m. (12:46 a.m. ET).
2. It was an  8.9-magnitude.
3. Waves reached heights of 30 feet.
4. All transportation methods have been shut down (airports, trains, etc.)
5. The death toll is predicted to rise over 1,000.
6. Waves reached up to 8 feet in both Hawaii and on the Western Coast of the US
7. Tsunami warnings went out to 50 countries and territories
From http://www.cnn.com/

Here is a video from YouTube that summarizes many different news stations' reports and footage:



It's so sad what has happened today in Japan. My heart goes out to those who have been affected by this disaster. It's crazy how many natural disasters have been occurring lately. It's depressing, too. My best wishes goes out to Japan, and to the large clean up that is ahead of them.

Egypt Crisis

This is a picture of protesters in Egypt

On the news for the past week or so, there have been many reports about a crisis going on in Egypt and in several other Middle East countries. Many people in these countries live in poverty, while a small percentage of the citizens live in wealth. That gap that is clearly visible to all people is one of the major sparks of the revolts now occurring. Many protesters in Egypt are demanding that their president leave immediately. They say that there has been years of corruption, and they want the man responsible out now. There have been many bizarre incidents surrounding the revolts including the Internet access to Egyptian citizens being cut off. Within the last few days there were words about how peaceful these protests were. Now, however, there has been a violent out lash of pro-government supports against the anti-government protesters. There has also been an out lash of Anti-American feelings in many protesters in the Middle East. Public opinion has mostly turned Anti-American.

Honestly, as far as the Anti-American feelings in the Middle East are concerned, our government can thank themselves for that. Our government always has to stick its nose it's not wanted. What ever happened to the idea of keeping our government our government. So thank you, all the nosy Republicans and Democrats, for largely contributing to the Anti-American feelings all over the world.

In Sad Disbelief...

It's hard to believe that some of the terrible things that happen happen the way they do. As many of you already know, on Wednesday, November 10, 2010, four people in Knox County, Ohio went missing. Thirteen year old Sarah Maynard, eleven year old Kody Maynard, their mom Tina Herrmann, and family friend Stephanie Sprang. Sarah and Kody had gone to school that day, but they did not appear the next day. On Thursday, neither Tina nor Stephanie went to work, and Tina's manager went to her house to see if she was home. Her manager found Tina's pick-up truck gone, and a blood in the house. The police then got permission from Tina's ex-boyfriend, who was still living with Tina and her children, to search the house. They found a large amount of blood. Tina's truck was then found near Kenyon University were police also saw and spoke to Matthew Hoffman. On Sunday the police recieve information from a local Wal-Mart that Hoffman had purchased a tarp and some trash bags. This, and some other tips, led police to get a search warrant and have the SWAT team search Hoffman's home. They found 13 year old Sarah bound and gagged in his basement. The search then continued to try and find the other 3 missing people. Sadly, yesterday, on November 18th, a little over a week later, the bodies of Tina, Stephanie, and Kody were found in trash bags in a hollow tree. The information that led the police to the bodies was provided by Hoffman through his attorney. This sad and tragic story didn't have the ending anyone was hoping for.

Hoffman is without a doubt guilty. The worst part is that he gave them the information to find the bodies, which most likely means that the police bargained with him saying they would take death row off the table if he cooperated. This is infuriating. Where is the justice? Isn't justice and liberty what this country is built on? There will be no justice until that man is dead! How could someone murder someone in cold blood like that? A little eleven year old boy?! What's also terrible is that he clearly plotted this, and my guess is that if he killed the others but left Sarah alive that he wanted Sarah. As much as I would love to believe that all that happened to poor Sarah was being bound, gagged, and terrified, but that unfortunately most likely is not the case. Hoffman probably raped her, that poor girl. Because really, why else would he have kept her alive? I'm praying that I'm just assuming the worst and that nothing did happen to her, but the chances still seem slim. If he did hurt her, that would be kidnapping, rape and three cases of first degree murder. Even if he didn't rape Sarah that should still be much more than enough to get him death row. And it obvious they'll plead insanity like they usually do with cases like these. But of course he's insane! He plotted to murder three people! How can you do that and not be insane?! That doesn't make it right! He should pay for what he did to completely innocent people!

A weird thing about all this is what I know about Hoffman and Herrmann's ex-boyfriend through my Dad's boss. My Dad's boss owns a gym up in Mount Vernon that both of the men were members of. The lady who works the desk told my Dad's boss that Hoffman was always really weird and asked her to go out with him and climb trees. How weird is that? Neighbors of Hoffman also said that he liked to put hammocks up in his tree to watch people in the neighborhood. The bodies were found in a hollow tree. That gives me the creeps. And another thing, according to the gym records, Herrmann's ex went into the gym the day after the four went missing. Who goes to the gym when their family, and Herrmann's ex said he considered Herrmann and her children his family, goes missing?

This entire thing is beyond tragic. Hoffman should be left begging and pleading for forgiveness at Sarah Maynard's feet as far as I'm concerned. I'm not usually a violent person, but to plot to kill children? There's a special place in hell for people like that. If Hoffman doesn't get the death penalty, I hope jail life is a miserable as it can be for him. Tina Herrmann, Kody Maynard, Stephanie Sprang, and Sarah Maynard did not deserve any of this. My prayers go out to them and their families. God rest their souls. R.I.P.