June 1, 2006,

Dear Crusader Family,

We come to you this morning with a heavy heart. Varsity Crusader Quarterback Jered Pyles drown yesterday while swimming in Alum Creek with his best friend and fellow Crusader Paul Smith. The distance became too much for Jered and he could not make it.

We are saddened by this tragic loss, but we do not mourn as those without hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. While Jered may have gone down in the presence of his friend Paul, he rose in the presence of Jesus, his Savior and Lord, in Whom he had placed his trust.

Please be praying for the Pyles family; his dad and mom, Rick and Kerri, and his sisters, and the Smith family; Paul, his Dad and Mom, Bennett and Kim, and the rest of the family.

Jered was days away from completing his Junior year at Worthington Christian High School. Within hours of the Lord calling him home, Jered answered a final exam question with these words:

I would say that Galations is my favorite. Galatians is such an encouraging book for my own walk with God. I know I'm in Christ and when I die I will be with Him. I know this because I have faith and believe that what God has said is what is true and right. When we accept Christ as our Savior we are no longer lost slaves of this world, instead we are "heirs" to heaven. And this is very encouraging to me.

In sadness but with Hope in the One who has everything in His control,
Nancy
for the Crusader Family