Planting a New Life After An Accident Killed My Friends
My life came to a sudden jolt on June 11, 1990. My life changed forever.
Planting Trees — one of those jobs you love to hate.
Here’s the love: sure, I made good cash… about $210 per day! But you definitely have to bust your back to do so. I attribute that to my “never give up” Saskatchewan farming attitude.
Love: camping in a little community with other tree planters from across the country (and the world); but you have to endure rain and mud that seems relentless.
Love: coming back from work famished with hunger and eating a top notch meal prepared by the cooks. More love: sitting around a camp fire and discussing life philosophies.
Here’s some of the hate: Mosquitoes and black flies that can suck you dry. More hate: “REPLANT” (for which you give time without pay). There’s probably more, but that should do for now.
My summer that year was going well. I was saving up to pay for university in the fall and I was right on track.
Questions about faith? Bring your doubts
Why would I need faith?: Find some answers
I got on a crew of 17 tree planters. Half were partiers like I had been “trained” in my first couple of years at the University of Saskatchewan. The other half were Bible school students and Christian types.
I fit in quite well with the first half due to my “training.” Actually, I fit in pretty well with the other half due to my religious attendance of church and moral family values growing up.
The fact remained: I was searching. Actually, as I observed the “Christians” on our crew, I discovered a peace in the life of these friends that I craved to have as my own. To make a long story short, the meetings that they held on Sundays gave these people an opportunity to tell about how Jesus Christ changed their lives — in a personal way.
The problem: I thought they needed Jesus. I was still pretty strong.
I told Amber, the sole female on our 17 person crew, “I’m going to try harder — to be the person I want to become.”
Her response: “You need Jesus Christ in your life to help you make any permanent change. Why don’t you ask him into your life tonight?”
Narrow? Maybe. Despite what I had seen in the lives of these friends, I wasn’t ready to give up control of my life to a God I didn’t know. But I began to pray.
One week later. Rain for 41 days straight left us planters sick of planting and sick of being perpetually wet. Some of us went into Prince George to get cleaned up, get a meal and phone home — a pseudo day off. We needed it.
It was raining lightly, a breath of fresh air away from the planting block. Prince George, believe it or not, seemed like paradise.
The Jolt: Eight of us traveled in the new 15 passenger van on the graveled lumber roads. I fell asleep. Probably the best state to be in for what happened next.
We crashed into the embankment of the washed out bridge on George Creek. Dano, Paul, Chris and Amber died on impact.
I don’t know how I escaped. With a broken lower leg pointing at 90 degrees the wrong way, I winced and then passed out as I straightened my damaged leg.
The Change: I became keenly aware that God had somehow reached down and rescued me from George Creek. I bowed my head and thanked Him for saving me. Then I did what I had been resisting for a long time. I asked Jesus Christ to save me and help me. The rest is history.
Hi, I was very good friends with Amber and with Paul’s wife Tammy. It was a devastating time for everyone who knew them. I’m pretty sure I remember you being at Paul’s funeral. I am so glad to hear that this pain-filled event led you to the Lord. In some ways it does not seem that long ago and I still think of Amber and how different my life would have been, had I not known her. Thanks for sharing your story.
Lynelle Sorensen (Sherwin)