Good News Florida

LOCAL 26 MARCH 2018 Good News • South Florida Edition On February 14, 2018, a day that is usually filled with celebration turned into tragedy as a gunman stepped onto the campus of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School and bru- tally took the lives of 17 stu- dents and faculty. Most everyone in our community has felt the weight of this, but for First Priority Club leaders and students, it was very per- sonal, as one of their club members, Helena Ramsay, 17, of Coral Springs, was among the victims. First Priority’s mission is “connecting the Church to reach the campus for Christ.” Their team, in conjunction with area churches, has been ac- tively ministering to students and family at MSD and other schools, and they welcome your support. Chris Lane, president of First Priority, recounted the un- folding of that day just hours after the tragedy. As of the writing of this, it has been a crazy few hours due to the school shooting at Stone- man Douglas High School. We just had lunch with several of our Campus Coaches who were headed to Douglas for the weekly First Priority Club meeting. (TJ Mc- Cormick is the pastor of Coastal Community Church and they lead a first priority club group meeting there.) Lit- tle did they know what was about to happen. The calls, text messages and reports started coming in…(actually right before this situation we got a call to pray for another school campus that had received a bomb threat). So, we prayed. Then the report of an active shooter, shots fired, and injuries. So, we prayed again and started to follow the situation. Our campus coaches who were on their way to Douglas for the First Priority Campus Club meeting were not able to enter the campus because it was already locked down. They began to pray and min- ister to parents as everyone waited for details. Our Broward director Stefan Bomberger was also there and able to stay in contact with area churches and pas- tors in the community. Churches and leaders began to contact us to let us know they were praying and available to help in some way. The plan for ministry and help was going into effect. The days ahead will not be easy, but God is real and he wants all men to turn to him. This will be an opportunity as people have questions and need com- fort. It will be an opportunity for all of us to share the love of Christ. I pray for boldness as we all encounter people who need Jesus. This is real stuff and we never know what our future holds. We all need to be more generous with the Gospel and let people know that there is HOPE and it is in JESUS! This is a harsh reminder of why First Priority is so needed in our schools. So many of our young people are hurting, lost and need Jesus. As we take the Light of Jesus, continue to pray for hearts to turned to- ward Him. Helena Ramsay With heavy hearts, First Priority announced that Helena Ramsay was killed in the shooting. Helena was a senior and she was an active member of the school’s First Priority Club. Helena was quiet and re- served but she showed valor and care while protecting a friend during the shooting. A few weeks prior to the tragedy, Helena took a spiritual gifts test with other members of her club. Her test results showed that her gifts were faith and ex- hortation. The definition of exhor- tation according to the test is “to First Priority Responds to MSD Tragedy FP Coach Jeff Dale and students Samantha Grady and Helena Ramsay participate in a game at First Priority. 'RQ·W ORVH \RXU MR\ DQG KRSH 7KH /25' LV FORVH WR WKH EURNHQKHDUWHG DQG VDYHV WKRVH ZKR DUH FUXVKHG LQ VSLULW 3VDOP )25(&/2685(" 1RZ LV 127 WKH WLPH WR EH HPEDUUDVVHG DVKDPHG RU SULGHIXO ³$9´ UDWHG E\ SHHUV 0DUWLQGDOH +XEEHOO ‡ \HDUV VHUYLFH LQ 6RXWK )ORULGD