Quake claims seminarian

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100115/NEWS01/100119751/0/www.avsa.org

By Roger Buddenberg WORLD-HERALD STAFF WRITER

A Lutheran seminarian who interned last year in Lincoln apparently has been killed in the Haitian earthquake while on a mission trip with his wife and other classmates of Wartburg Theological Seminary in Dubuque, Iowa.

Ben Larson, 25, was in the same Port-au-Prince building as his wife, Renee Larson, and his cousin, Jonathan Larson, when the quake struck, according to Wartburg. After trying unsuccessfully to rescue Ben, the two others made their way to the U.S. Embassy and were planning to return home soon, the seminary said.

All three were spending a January term in Haiti — Ben and Jonathan as teachers, Renee doing research for her master’s thesis. Ben hailed from LaCrosse, Wisc., and Renee from Garrison, N.D.

Married in December 2007, the Larson couple came to Nebraska to spend their 2008-09 school year at internships in Lincoln, he at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church and she at the Lutheran student center at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

"Renee and Ben as a couple were very dynamic," said the student center’s pastor, Eric Bostrom, who said that among their duties, the two led a Coffee and Faith Questions session for students on Sunday nights. He recalled Ben as a talented guitarist and singer with a sharp theological mind and "a wonderful way of communicating the Gospel."

FULL story and photo at link.

[unabelladonna]

1. there have been some amazing stories

about truly amazing people. i never realized there were so many missionaries and volunteers in haiti. there is such a purity to people who spend time in such a difficult place.