Church members find new strength and forgiveness after the wreck that killed one teenage girl and severely injured three

ASHLAND — The healing doesn’t come easy following a church van wreck that killed one teen and put others in wheelchairs.

Despite tough questions about what happened and why, Ashland Christian Fellowship members say there is healing — and it’s pushing them into a well of faith and forgiveness they didn’t know they had.

Sometimes it’s the little things that get everyone through, like bringing meals, mowing yards, driving errands and cleaning house for the families of the 11 girls who survived the deadly rollover on Interstate 5 in Sacramento near dawn on Aug. 17.

When Derek and Susan Rosenlund brought their daughter Elisa, 15, back to Ashland weeks after the crash, they were touched to find church members had built a wheelchair ramp to their front door.

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Talent 14-year-old Jessyca Tahlor Newmann was killed in the crash. Among the worst injured, Elisa suffered multiple pelvic fractures and a broken back and ribs. Others who were severely injured include Kelsey Smith, 15, of Medford, who had a broken neck; and Kayla Heffner, 15, of Talent, who had a punctured lung and dislocated neck. Other teens in the van suffered minor injuries, police said.

They were returning from a house-building mission trip to Mexico.

Clearly among the worst suffering is youth pastor Jeremy L. Hascall, 28, who was at the wheel when the van crashed.

A California Highway Patrol report concluded that he fell asleep and the van drifted off the road. He overcorrected, sending the van swerving and it rolled moments later, ejecting some of the passengers, police said.

Investigators have recommended that Hascall face a vehicular manslaughter charge. The case remains under review by the Sacramento County District Attorney’s Office.

Hascall has joined parents of survivors in grief relief groups. They have been forgiving of him, he said.

"It was an awful, awful thing and it’s been a tough couple of months," he said. "I’ve been grieving, but the Lord is really getting me through this.

"You don’t try to explain why it happened, or it just makes you feel worse."

Derek Rosenlund said he’s not angry now with Hascall, but did get mad when he read the accident report showing church leaders didn’t enforce seat-belt use. The three-vehicle caravan also skipped motel sleep through the night, napping only at rest stops.

"That’s a no-brainer," said Rosenlund, an Ashland firefighter and paramedic. "I see dead people all the time that I know would have lived if not thrown out of vehicles. The church can do a better job of being accountable on safety and protecting our kids."

Still, Rosenlund plans no legal action against the church and has heard of no other action among survivors’ parents, with whom he has met in support groups. Medical and other expenses are being paid through the church’s vehicle insurance, members’ health insurance and church resources.

With surgery done, doctors say Rosenlund’s daughter, Elisa, will have to relearn how to walk. She has nerve damage to her legs, but the pain has lessened considerably, he said.

To say there’s been lots of prayer after the accident would be like saying the ocean has lots of water. It’s pretty much constant, in every meeting or gathering, said the Rev. Al Garner — plus the prayers of many other West Coast churches.

There’s also been a lot of counseling — not secular, but in-house counseling, as well as grief and stress management from three visiting Christian counselors — members of the emergency response team that helped the girls in Sacramento.

"It’s a day-by-day thing," said Garner. "As a body, we’re very healthy and have tremendous faith and energy. Except for the death of the one girl, the girls (survivors) have been very resilient.

"The tragedy has brought people together and brought out the best in them. And there’s still a long way to go."

If one struggles to explain Newmann’s death and the severe injuries to the others, ACF members do not.

It’s part of the battle with Satan, who clearly had his hand in the tragedy, church members said, adding that God allows these things out of his own wisdom, to teach lessons and ultimately open hearts to greater love.

In the local magazine Christian Journal, the Rev. Garner wrote of the accident: "Just ahead in the night, a host of the minions of darkness were gleefully acknowledging the headlights coming toward them, anticipating that the blow struck by their leader (Satan) would silence these do-gooder ambassadors of the Most High. Tragedy struck as the man of God driving a van occupied by 12 girls went out of control … those dark minions who gleefully rejoiced (now) began to tremble and cower as they watched the joy of broken young men and women, no longer children, lift their hands in praise and cry: ‘Holy is the one who has counted us Worthy.’ "

ACF parishioner Rick Youngblood said, "Yes, Satan, the force of darkness is always there (at such accidents). He doesn’t like places like this, where young people come into contact with Jesus, and he’ll disrupt it any way he can. But God orders everything. You don’t ask how bad things could happen to good people like this. There are no good people or bad people. We’re all sinners. The question should be: Why do good things happen to bad people?"

Pointing to the positive fallout from any tragedy, Youth Pastor Elijah Meyers said, "We’ve seen miraculous things happen through Jeremy (Hascall, the van’s driver). The healing that’s been done in him and the (teen) kids — they’re different, not the same kids.

"It’s just another miracle from Jesus; it really is another witness that God makes diamonds from coal," Meyers said. "Jesus turns suffering into supernatural glory. It’s amazing that a bunch of high school goofballs now have passion, love and a real relationship with Jesus Christ."

The youth pastor said he believes everything is "filtered through God, who let this happen so he could use it for good." The passage, he said, is Romans 8:28: "In everything, he cooperates for good with those who love God."

Rosenlund said he believes we live in a "fallen world" where everyone, including Christians, makes mistakes.

"After the accident, the devil was working on everyone of us to be angry, depressed and condemning," he said. "That’s where our victory was. We came right out and said, ‘God, I need your strength to overcome this.’ We came together, not weaker but stronger.

"I get sad sometimes watching Elisa, and ask myself if she’ll ever play basketball and soccer again. But I know God’s going to get us through this. That’s the difference between a person of faith and not — how you respond when you fall down. You get up because you know God loves you."

Rosenlund has, through his faith, decided to avoid seeking retribution against the van’s driver.

"What Jeremy is going through is horrible," he said. "He’s suffered enough now. My daughter has suffered enough. Is my going after (suing) someone going to help things? No. God has allowed me — not to forget — but to forgive and to move on."

John Darling is a free-lance writer living in Ashland. E-mail him at jdarling@jeffnet.org