Mourners Pack Funeral for 4 Mo. Siblings
By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer
ST. LOUIS - Nearly a thousand mourners packed a church to remember four siblings who drowned along with a fifth child as they tried to save a friend during a church picnic on the Meramec River in eastern Missouri.Some schoolmates wailed Friday as they passed four coffins holding Damon Johnson, 17; Ryan Mason, 14; Dana Johnson, 13; and Bryant Barnes Jr., 10. Resting against the coffins' satin linings were the children's trophies, varsity letters, school assignments and graduation pictures."I hope some day I can dance like Damon, have strong leadership like Ryan, be as forgiving as Dana and as determined as Bryant," the Rev. Jeff Allensworth said in a eulogy. "The lives of these children are not wasted."Mourners overflowed from the St. Louis Dream Center, the nondenominational church that sponsored the picnic Sunday at Castlewood State Park in St. Louis County. A brother of the siblings sang a song he had composed in their honor and accompanied himself on piano. Another brother led the congregation in prayer.The four siblings, who had never taken swimming lessons, drowned along with Deandre Sherman, 16, while trying to help Joseph Miller, 16, who was caught in an undertow but survived. Miller attended the service. All five victims and Miller are from St. Louis.The siblings' mother, Edris Moore, said that she's content to know they are with God. Others were shaken."There wouldn't be no way I could let it go," said Alice Stith, 85. "There was a lack of supervision. They were supposed to count heads."The church has had little to say about the events of that day.The Dream Center, run by internationally known television evangelist Joyce Meyer and her husband, Dave Meyer, bills itself as a "healing place for a hurting world," and does Christian outreach to youth, nursing home residents, the homeless and prostitutes.Dave Meyer said God was using Moore and her children as an expression of faith, which is "tested when water is troubled, not when the water is calm."A service for Sherman is scheduled for next week.
~~the above is the result of a merge
By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer
ST. LOUIS - Nearly a thousand mourners packed a church to remember four siblings who drowned along with a fifth child as they tried to save a friend during a church picnic on the Meramec River in eastern Missouri.Some schoolmates wailed Friday as they passed four coffins holding Damon Johnson, 17; Ryan Mason, 14; Dana Johnson, 13; and Bryant Barnes Jr., 10. Resting against the coffins' satin linings were the children's trophies, varsity letters, school assignments and graduation pictures."I hope some day I can dance like Damon, have strong leadership like Ryan, be as forgiving as Dana and as determined as Bryant," the Rev. Jeff Allensworth said in a eulogy. "The lives of these children are not wasted."Mourners overflowed from the St. Louis Dream Center, the nondenominational church that sponsored the picnic Sunday at Castlewood State Park in St. Louis County. A brother of the siblings sang a song he had composed in their honor and accompanied himself on piano. Another brother led the congregation in prayer.The four siblings, who had never taken swimming lessons, drowned along with Deandre Sherman, 16, while trying to help Joseph Miller, 16, who was caught in an undertow but survived. Miller attended the service. All five victims and Miller are from St. Louis.The siblings' mother, Edris Moore, said that she's content to know they are with God. Others were shaken."There wouldn't be no way I could let it go," said Alice Stith, 85. "There was a lack of supervision. They were supposed to count heads."The church has had little to say about the events of that day.The Dream Center, run by internationally known television evangelist Joyce Meyer and her husband, Dave Meyer, bills itself as a "healing place for a hurting world," and does Christian outreach to youth, nursing home residents, the homeless and prostitutes.Dave Meyer said God was using Moore and her children as an expression of faith, which is "tested when water is troubled, not when the water is calm."A service for Sherman is scheduled for next week.
~~the above is the result of a merge
Mourners Pack Funeral for 4 Mo. Siblings
By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer
ST. LOUIS - Nearly a thousand mourners packed a church to remember four siblings who drowned along with a fifth child as they tried to save a friend during a church picnic on the Meramec River in eastern Missouri.Some schoolmates wailed Friday as they passed four coffins holding Damon Johnson, 17; Ryan Mason, 14; Dana Johnson, 13; and Bryant Barnes Jr., 10. Resting against the coffins' satin linings were the children's trophies, varsity letters, school assignments and graduation pictures."I hope some day I can dance like Damon, have strong leadership like Ryan, be as forgiving as Dana and as determined as Bryant," the Rev. Jeff Allensworth said in a eulogy. "The lives of these children are not wasted."Mourners overflowed from the St. Louis Dream Center, the nondenominational church that sponsored the picnic Sunday at Castlewood State Park in St. Louis County. A brother of the siblings sang a song he had composed in their honor and accompanied himself on piano. Another brother led the congregation in prayer.The four siblings, who had never taken swimming lessons, drowned along with Deandre Sherman, 16, while trying to help Joseph Miller, 16, who was caught in an undertow but survived. Miller attended the service. All five victims and Miller are from St. Louis.The siblings' mother, Edris Moore, said that she's content to know they are with God. Others were shaken."There wouldn't be no way I could let it go," said Alice Stith, 85. "There was a lack of supervision. They were supposed to count heads."The church has had little to say about the events of that day.The Dream Center, run by internationally known television evangelist Joyce Meyer and her husband, Dave Meyer, bills itself as a "healing place for a hurting world," and does Christian outreach to youth, nursing home residents, the homeless and prostitutes.Dave Meyer said God was using Moore and her children as an expression of faith, which is "tested when water is troubled, not when the water is calm."A service for Sherman is scheduled for next week.
~~the above is the result of a merge
By CHERYL WITTENAUER, Associated Press Writer
ST. LOUIS - Nearly a thousand mourners packed a church to remember four siblings who drowned along with a fifth child as they tried to save a friend during a church picnic on the Meramec River in eastern Missouri.Some schoolmates wailed Friday as they passed four coffins holding Damon Johnson, 17; Ryan Mason, 14; Dana Johnson, 13; and Bryant Barnes Jr., 10. Resting against the coffins' satin linings were the children's trophies, varsity letters, school assignments and graduation pictures."I hope some day I can dance like Damon, have strong leadership like Ryan, be as forgiving as Dana and as determined as Bryant," the Rev. Jeff Allensworth said in a eulogy. "The lives of these children are not wasted."Mourners overflowed from the St. Louis Dream Center, the nondenominational church that sponsored the picnic Sunday at Castlewood State Park in St. Louis County. A brother of the siblings sang a song he had composed in their honor and accompanied himself on piano. Another brother led the congregation in prayer.The four siblings, who had never taken swimming lessons, drowned along with Deandre Sherman, 16, while trying to help Joseph Miller, 16, who was caught in an undertow but survived. Miller attended the service. All five victims and Miller are from St. Louis.The siblings' mother, Edris Moore, said that she's content to know they are with God. Others were shaken."There wouldn't be no way I could let it go," said Alice Stith, 85. "There was a lack of supervision. They were supposed to count heads."The church has had little to say about the events of that day.The Dream Center, run by internationally known television evangelist Joyce Meyer and her husband, Dave Meyer, bills itself as a "healing place for a hurting world," and does Christian outreach to youth, nursing home residents, the homeless and prostitutes.Dave Meyer said God was using Moore and her children as an expression of faith, which is "tested when water is troubled, not when the water is calm."A service for Sherman is scheduled for next week.
~~the above is the result of a merge
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