Tragedy at Virginia Tech University

Yesterday I attended this excellent seminar on ministry in a post-colonial era, taught by Dr. Darrel Whiteman, an anthropologist who works with a mission society. So for 1 day, I was an honorary Methodist and was warmly welcomed by this group of brothers and sisters.

However, this is overshadowed by the tragic events of yesterday (Monday) at Virginia Tech campus. I've been trying to watch newstories and video. 2 students were killed in a dormitory. Two hours later, 31 others were killed in 4 classrooms and a stairwell of a classroom building. This is the deadliest shooting on a campus in U.S. history.

The killer in the classroom building (and probably in the dorm as well) has been identified as 23 year old senior VT student Cho Seung-Hui. Born in Korea, he moved with his family to the U.S. at age 8. He was legally in the U.S. He was known for being a loner.

I love walking around college campuses, whether it be Oxford, Wheaton, Harvard, U-M Ann Arbor, or wherever. (Well, maybe not a couple of ones in Columbus or East Lansing). Before we had kids, I used to intentionally stop on campuses that were close to the route hat we were taking. I can't imagine what it would be have been like to have seen the killings, or to have been the father of one of them.

Through Internet sites like CNN and Fox, I've been trying to read and watch stories of what happened. Despite the tragedy, there have been stories of heroism among students and professors, some of whom died in the process.

We watched live the ceremony at the VT campus. I appreciated the words of Virginia governor Tim Caine (sp?), who apparently did cross-cultural ministry in Latin America years ago. He flew back from Asia to be in Virginia during this time. He cited the example of Job in his speech.

A number of the speakers talked about the value of community at this time. Real community is something that most people are looking for. We're pleased to be finding it with some of our relationships in Paris.

God help those grieving in Blacksburg, Virginia and around the world as well.