Cassie Bernall

On Tuesday, April 20, 1999, gun shots rang out all over Columbine High School, in Littleton, Colorado. Twelve students were killed, as well as a teacher. Many others were injured. One of the people killed was seventeen year-old Cassie Bernall. She was asked a question that ended her life. Two teen boys had guns, and one pointed his at Cassie, and asked her, “Do you believe in God?” Cassie said “Yes.” With one word, her life was gone. My hero is Cassie Bernall, because she stood up for Jesus.

Just two years earlier, Cassie Bernall was not much different than those two boys. She drank, swore, cut herself, and wrote letters to her friend Mona about killing her parents and committing suicide. While her mom was looking for something in Cassie’s room, she came across the letters. When she showed them to her husband, they immediately put Cassie in a private Christian school, and banned her from seeing any of her old friends. Later in the year, they talked to the youth pastor in their church; he invited Cassie to their youth group, and she hated the idea. But a little later, she went to a youth conference. Cassie’s heart was opened, she found Jesus, and He changed her life. When her parents were fully convinced that her faith would not grow cold, they let her go back to public school so she couldbe a witness to other people. Cassie continued to grow in Christ, until the day she was killed.

Cassie wasn’t a perfect Christian. She got mad at her parents, had bad attitudes, and complained. Even through that, she still strived to follow God. When it mattered, she stood up for her faith. I admire her so much, because I know that if I had to choose between life and death, I would want to pick life. But if I denied God, I would be shamed forever. If I were faced with the question that she was, I know that I would say yes, even if it cost me my life. Would you?