A memorial for 13 victims stands around the graves of three of the Columbine High School shooting victims at Chapel Hill Memorial Gardens in Littleton, Colorado.
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In middle and high schools, the blessing and curse of young Christians is that their faith requires them to buck peer pressure over temptations like drugs, alcohol and sex. By refusing to hide her Christianity, Cassie triumphantly sustained her confession in the face of the ultimate peer pressure--the barrel of a gun. And her story has other messages for believers. A fear of dying outside God's grace motivates many evangelicals, and Littleton, says Epperhart, "shows the teens that your life can be taken at any moment." Wendy Zoba, author of the upcoming book Generation 2K: What Parents and Others Need to Know About the Millennials, says many youths appreciate a radical refutation of high school materialism: "Cassie captured in that moment a blind faith in something greater than instantaneous gratification."
Religious teens also see in Littleton a unique opportunity to evangelize. Lauren Leahy, 14, attends a Christian school in Carrollton, Texas, but goes to a Bible-study group for public school students. She says that after the shooting "we saw a huge increase in people coming to repentance." Classmate Kevin Bieri, 14, reports excitedly, "My unsaved friends keep asking why Cassie said yes [to the God question]. Sometimes if a lot of them are interested, I will get a Bible and walk them through Scripture to help them understand."
In the days after the killing, the parents of Rachel Scott, another evangelical slain at Columbine High, did not comment about the details of their daughter's death. Two weeks ago, however, they broke that silence. Their understanding is that Rachel's murderer shot her first in the leg and then asked if she believed in God. When, like Cassie, she said yes, he replied, "Then go be with him now!" Such testimony, evangelical youth leaders say, will keep the fires of revival burning bright.
--Reported by Julie Grace/Chicago and Emily Mitchell/New York