Rich on the Road

It's a tough story to tell.  I can only imagine how difficult it is for friends and family to grieve through it.  Christy and Geoff Hart, their 12-year-old daughter Rebekah and two little foster girls (ages 5 and 6) all killed minutes after leaving church Sunday morning in Plano -- broadsided by a young man who ran a red light and is now hospitalized in critical condition.

Geoff and Christy On a Mission in Mexico

It was my assignment today to go out to the church, Custer Road United Methodist, and update the tragic tale.  It is always difficult to report this kind of story but this one, a little more so.  The Harts, it turns out, were very active in the Missions Ministry.  The kind of folks that, I'm sure, if they were in my church would be among my closest friends.  Debbie Pomponio, who heads up the children's ministry, shared with me a brochure that Rebekah recently designed, to help raise money for mission work in Mexico.  She told me stories about how the whole family had rolled up their sleeves in Matamoros and worked hard to better the lives of people there.

 Rebekah in Mexico

The two little foster girls (sisters with different fathers who have not yet been publicly identified by Child Protective Services) had been with the Hart family just a few months.  Debbie told me a story about a mural of Jesus at the church, about hearing one of the little girls say "I love Jesus."