In memory of Vegard

This was certainly a sad first. I've never experienced the death of a former pupil before. That is - not until this week when Vegard Løkhammer, aged 19, died from the fatal injuries he had sustained while on a mission trip to Rumania.

He had travelled to the former Communist state together with a group of other teens from the Sotra-based Tremor Church. Their goal was, I believe, to provide relief and a glimmer of hope to some of the countless orphans in a country still suffering the after-effects of a derelict and mismanaged economy.

One day, while playing soccer on a field, disaster struck. The ball swerved erratically off the uneven pitch, and Vegard rushed to retrieve it. This was, tragically, to be his last conscious effort. Moments after he was brutally crashed to the ground by a car. There is no question that this was a case of reckless, irresponsible driving. Several of his co-travellers witnessed, in shock, what transpired on the country road.  But they probably never fully realised until much later that the injuries to Vegard's head would prove fatal.

FROM HOPE TO NO HOPE

Shortly after receiving treatment by some of Bucuresti's best brain surgeons, the young boy was transferred to Haukeland University Hospital in Bergen. There initial hope for speedy recovery was cut short by the discovery that his brain was effectively beyond healing or repair. So all his loved ones and friends at church could do from then on, was to hope for a miraculous intervention from God. Vegard's brain had been prounounced dead, so no one suffered from a delusion that death wasn't a highly likely outcome.

Less than 24 hours before his death on September 7, Vegard was disconnected from the respirator that that aided him for weeks in holding on to life. The former student of Danielsen Lower Secondary School, a committed follower of Jesus, was now fully in the hands of his God and Saviour, who hours later chose to bring Vegard to a place we can only speculate has recieved him warmly.

IT JUST DOESN'T MAKE ANY SENSE

There are obvious paradoxes involved in this loss of life. It's extremely difficult intellectually to reconcile the concepts of an all-powerful and protective God, and our free will as human beings - the free will to do good or bad. And in this case answers will continue to elude us as we cannot even begin to decipher any meaning whatsoever in this untimely death. Sometimes thing happen that we cannot account for. We all long to life a safe and carefree life, but - realistically - we know that tragedy hits even the best.  Not even those in the full bloom of youth are exempt from adversity or the apparent 'whims' involving a freak car crash.

We mourn and remember a fine ambassador of Christ. But it is also important to remind ourselves of this fact: Vegard's life was not in vain. He served his Lord faithfully and fervently, seldom missing an opportunity to care for those around him. He was much loved because of that, and his legacy and reputation are secured in this: he chose to follow Jesus, but never half-heartedly.