January 5, 2000
Wedgwood students visit
Kosovo, bring gifts for kids
___By Todd Starnes
___Baptist Press
___FORT WORTH (BP)--When Kevin Pratt saw the suffering of teenagers and children in Kosovo, he knew his life wouldn't be the same.
___"In the most profound way, I've been changed," said the 15-year-old survivor of the Wedgwood Baptist Church shooting.
___Pratt, who recounted his trip on NBC's "Today" show Dec. 21, and 16-year-old Lisa Jackson, along with their parents, traveled to Kosovo the week of Dec. 13 to help deliver more than 400,000 gift-filled shoeboxes to children in that war-torn region. The project, called Operation Christmas Child, is a part of Franklin Graham's Samaritan's Purse ministry based in Boone, N.C.
___Crystal Woodman, 17, a survivor of last April's shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado, joined the Wedgwood teenagers to represent young American victims of violence in the Samaritan's Purse outreach.
___"Several months ago, we received a letter from Franklin Graham, and he mentioned taking two students from our church to Kosovo," explained Jay Fannin, Wedgwood's youth minister.
___Fannin's task was difficult--who would represent the church's youth ministry on the journey? "I wanted to find two kids who had good presence about themselves and had a strong faith," he said.
___He settled on Pratt and Jackson, both of whom were in the church's auditorium on Sept. 15, the night a lone gunman would murder seven people at a youth rally. While Pratt and Jackson escaped physical injuries, Pratt said the shootings impacted his life.
___"We were all so terrified," he said. "I remember hiding under a pew, praying to God. I told him that my life was his life no matter what happened."
___Pratt, a member of the Crowley High School marching band and the Civil Air Patrol, kept his word --when Fannin offered him the opportunity to go to Kosovo, he accepted.
___"I was very impressed with how Kevin carried himself through the tragedy," Fannin said. "He has a very strong prayer life. You can tell he's been given strength by the Holy Spirit to endure this."
___Jackson, a senior, is an active member of the youth ministry at Wedgwood. In addition to the youth choir, she is a member of Acteens and the youth creative ministry team.
___"I knew she would do a great job with this," Fannin said. "Her family is a great family to have in the church. They are very supportive of the ministry here."
___With blessings from the church, Pratt and Jackson, along with Pratt's mother and Jackson's father, left for Kosovo Dec. 16.
___"They wanted someone to relate to the kids in Kosovo," Pratt said. "Once we were there, I realized the shootings in Columbine and Wedgwood couldn't compare to the suffering in Kosovo. We just went through minutes of terror. They've been living with it for months. We have no idea what it's like for them to live there."
___In Kosovo, the Wedgwood teens delivered shoeboxes filled with Christmas gifts to the Kosovars. Through a team of translators, the pair shared their faith in Jesus Christ with boys and girls, some of whom had lost both parents in the region's fighting.
___"I talked to one little kid named Elvis. He was about 4 years old, and his parents were dead. Our translator didn't even know if her father was still alive," Pratt said. "I know where my family is. But that's not something the people in Kosovo have."
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