KINDNESS AND LOVE COMBAT VIOLENCE
Submitted by Abby
On April 20, 1999 shots rang out at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, killing twelve students and one teacher. Among those students was Rachel Joy Scott, daughter of Darrell Scott. Rachel was a strong Christian and lived her life passionately for Christ. She left behind her journals that document evidence of her faith and prophecies of her death. Darrell now travels the country sharing her story.
Darrell's son Craig was also at Columbine that day and made it safely out of the school. He was in the library when Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold started shooting guns outside the school, only fifteen feet away. The shots that Craig thought were a senior prank turned out to be the very shots that killed his sister Rachel, who was the first student to die. Rachel was sitting outside of the cafeteria eating lunch with a friend when the two approached her. They shot her three times and left shortly to shoot other people outside. When they returned Rachel was trying to crawl away. They went over to her and pulled up her head by the hair and said, "Do you still believe in your God?" She gathered up all her strength, looked them in the eyes, and said, "You know I do." They said, "Then go be with Him," and shot her in the head, execution style.
After that they entered the library and informed everyone that anyone wearing a white hat was going to die. Craig quickly took his white hat from his head and slipped it under his shirt. He believes that God made him invisible because two of his best friends on either side of him were shot and killed. He was later haunted by the sound of their breathing as they lay there dying next to him. As the two shooters were leaving the library to reload, Craig felt God's hand on him guiding him to get himself and everyone else out of the library. He did not have so much as a scratch on him.
Darrell now shares Craig's story as well as Rachel's with young and old people of our nation. He talks about looking through a bad situation instead of looking at it. He gives a message of triumph out of tragedy. There is no argument that Columbine was a tragic situation, but God has brought many good things out of it. Many people's lives have been dramatically changed because of the courage of the Scott family. They have inspired countless people by telling the story of Rachel's life.
Before Rachel died she wrote an essay for one of her classes in which she talked about starting a chain reaction of kindness. She believed that one person could show an act of kindness to someone else and that person would in turn do the same thing and so on. At the same time she was writing that essay Dylan and Eric were making a video about starting a chain reaction of violence. They wanted to start that chain with Columbine. It was their goal to kill as many people as possible and to overcome the world with chaos, fear, and hatred. Darrell and his family challenge people to break the chain of violence and hate and join in the chain reaction of kindness and love. They challenge people to make Rachel's dream come true and to pick up the torch that she left behind for us on April 20, 1999.
If you would like Darrell or one of his family members to speak to your organization, you may go to www.ambassadoragency.com for more information. Other informational sites are www.thecolumbineredemption.com and www.rachelscott.com. God puts it on your heart to have this man or a member of his family speak to your organization, trust Him. Step out in total faith because if it is meant to happen He will open the right doors. Satan may try to stop it from occurring, but never forget that God has the final say and the victory. He knows what is going to happen before it ever happens and He will take care of everything, down to the last detail. Always remember that when you dream, dream BIG, because when God blesses, He BLESSES!
Fly with Christ now and always!
Isaiah 50:4 Philippians 4:13 1 Timothy 4
P.S. ... I'm a senior at Ball State University. I'm majoring in Speech Pathology and Audiology and have a minor in Spanish. I have one semester of undergraduate work left and then six semesters of graduate work. I plan on staying at Ball State to get my masters degree. I will probably start off working with kids, most likely in a school system, but I would love to have my own practice someday.
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