Cassie Bernall


		Cassie's Video
		Cassie's Friends
The killer pointed his gun at Cassie Bernall and asked her the life-or-death question: "Do you believe in God?" She looked at the young man, and answered. "Yes, I believe in God," she said. That was the last thing this 17-year-old Christian would ever say. The gunman asked her "Why?" She had no time to answer before she was shot to death. Cassie Bernall's Christian faith saved her once when her life was in turmoil, and her unwavering trust made her a martyr the instant after she was taunted by the gunmen in Columbine High School's library on Tuesday. "Do you believe in God?'' one of them asked. "Yes, I do believe in God,'' Bernall said. Then he pulled the trigger. Bernall's young friends at the West Bowles Community Church youth group cling to that story like a lifeline. With her last breaths, she affirmed the faith she embraced and it made the shy, quiet Bernall a hero in their eyes. Seth Huoy and Crystal Woodman, who belong to the Bernall's church youth group, were in the library, too. They survived, and one way they make sense of the massacre is to tell about the girl who died because she believed in God. They prayed for invisibility, and in at least one sense, their prayer was answered: Death passed them by. "There were 40 members of our youth group at Columbine that day who made it out,'' said Dave McPherson, the youth group director, "and only one in the group who did not.'' "Cassie talked a lot about how she knew God's purpose - and maybe she knew, you know? That it was her time,'' said Cassandra Chase. "She's with God now,'' said Kevin Koeniger, another youth group member numb with grief. "She deserves to be with Him. It's not a question of where she is. But it's hard to stay strong and rise above it.'' Everyone remembers Cassie Bernall's gorgeous hair, the color of cornsilk, that hung halfway down her back. She planned to cut it short, said her aunt, Kayleen Bernall. "She was going to cut off that beautiful blonde hair and give it to someone who makes wigs for kids who are going through chemo, and stuff like that,'' she said. "That's something, right there, that tells you what kind of girl she was. She told me she wanted it really short. She said, "I want enough hair for two or three kids, as many kids as possible.' "And that's what she was like. She was so amazing. Such a sweetheart. Even when she was going through her teens, she never acted too big or too old to play with her cousins. She was always kind. And she and her brother were so cute together.'' Bernall told her aunt that she wanted to go to medical school, and be a doctor when she graduated. She wanted to go back to England and Scotland. She envisioned becoming better at the nature photographs she loved to take. She was excited about the Bible study class that the church youth group had planned to hold last Tuesday evening. She couldn't wait to share the insights, Bernall told her friends, that came to her when she was going over the assigned passages. [ Cassie Bernall Story 1 ] [ Cassie Bernall Story 2 ] [ Cassie Bernall Story 3 ] [ Cassie Bernall Story #4 ] [ Archives ]

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Thanks for all the submissions! I will keep this book open as long as people keep signing. Look for videos of Cassie soon.

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What an inspiration Cassie was- may your god give you strength and courage to continue on.

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I just got back from YC 99 in Red Deer Alberta. Where Cassie Bernall received a 1 minute standing ovation. Just for her commitment to God. It was awesome!!!

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May God continue to bring people unto Himself thru the events here in Colorado! Thanks for the tribute-site!

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She sounds like a beautiful girl with a beautiful testimony for her Lord. It's just too bad that the 2 "killers" couldn't have listened to why she loved God and maybe more lives would have been spared, including their own. Such a waste. But, such a glowing testimony for the school.

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I just wanted to say I'm so proud of Cassie for replying the way she had. Her faith has really made me think about my life. If I were to die today and someone asked me that, what would I say? I've been a born-again Christian for 5 years now. I think Cassie's Martryr has effected me so much. I pray that God will give her family peace and comfort through this terrible tragedy. It is very sad that Cassie is no longer with us, but we can all rejoice, for she's before the Father, praising Him. My prayers are with all the families of the victims.

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I never had the privilage of getting to meet Cassie..our lives were worlds apart really...but ever since i have gotten to know more about her thru tributes such as this..she has become such an inspiration to me. Cassie loved the Lord so much...she not only died for Him but lived daily for him. She was not ashamed of her commitment to Him and that boldness encourages me to do the same. I hope that when she is looking down on us..that fact may bring a smile to her face. We did not meet here on earth but i know we will meet someday in heaven. Until then..i will carry a little bit of Cassie with me into each and everyday living for the Lord. May you be at peace.

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I've been a Christian for almost a quarter of a century, and I thank the Lord for Cassie's courage of faith. May her testimony encourage us all in the days to come. Thanks Cassie...we will always remember you.

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Curt, The video of cassie is beautiful. It brought me to tears, tears of sadness for such a loss and tears of Joy for what Cassie stood for. You have a beautiful tribute here for her. Tina Packer

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Cassie was so much more then the words here can possibly describe. When she came here to England to visit our family she fell in love with this country. She wanted to come back here and go to University in Cambridge. I know she would have worked hard to achieve that.

I remember one time asking her how it was adjusting to a new school, (Columbine). She said the kids couldn't believe she didn't party and some of them teased her because she carried her bible and was a christian. She didn't care though. I asked her if she sometimes wanted to go to parties just to fit in - just to socialize or hide her bible in her backpack - but she said that wouldn't be right because that just wouldn't be her. She was who she was, and people would have to accept that fact - she didn't care if that meant they wouldn't accept her. She was so brave for a teenager. Most kids would have caved into peer pressure. Her faith and her dreams could not be shaken.

She lit up every place we went. Complete strangers would stop and talk with her at great length. She just had a light and a kindness that drew people to her. I can only describe it as feeling like you were in the presence of a warm smiling angel.

She had boundless energy. The first thing off the plane we drove to Saulsbury and saw Stonehenge. She didn't want to rest becuase she didn't want to miss a minute of anything. We had to stop the car what seemed like every five miles while she took pictures of the sheep. She loved photography. (My most cherished possesion is a picture she took for me in Bibury in the Cotswalds.)

Cassie was always special to me and it was hard to move away a few years ago only seeing her and family occasionally during visits. I am greatful for the time we had with her on her Spring Break last year, and the fact we came home and saw her just a few days before the shooting. I had tried on her beloved but well worn Doc Martins so I could figure out her shoe size. We still had the same size feet, so that was easy. She assured me though, that I did not need to buy her new shoes, because she was going to find a way to come back out here again. I looked forward to seeing her this summer.

I could go on and on. I have so many stories. I want the world to know that she was more then a symbol. She was so loved. So special.

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We wish to express our deepest appreciation to those who have made this website tribute to Cassie possible. We have read every message...close to 160 pages. We have printed each page so that we can bind them into a permanent memorial to Cassie. It is our hope that the outpouring of love from people around the world can be shared with future generations of the family.

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Back when this tragedy first happened, I posted a message here to you. I said that surely there was no worse pain than losing a child. Well, now I know that pain. On the morning of Saturday, May 22nd, my darling eighteen year old daughter, Lora Beth, was killed in a head-on automobile collision. A driver in the other lane fell asleep at the wheel, drifting into her lane. The car ahead of her swerved and missed him--she got the brunt of the crash. Another girl in the car she was driving died at the scene, Lora died 5 hours later. Like Cassie, she was on fire for Jesus, scheduled to travel with a music ministry this summer witnessing for Him.

You should know that Lora sent me several emails about Cassie--once she said, "Mom, it's just so cool, here Cassie is affecting people all over the world, and she didn't realize she would." I told her that I was sure she was aware from her new home on high.

My Lora and your Cassie must be having a blast together--two of a kind, from what I can tell.

Her funeral is this Thursday--her youth pastor is preaching a salvation message, so please lift us up in prayer that many will come to know her Lord as Cassie and Lora did.

I will be praying much more effectively now that we are fellow-sufferers at this time.

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We wish to express our deepest appreciation to those who have made this website tribute to Cassie possible. We have read every message...close to 160 pages. We have printed each page and will continue to print any future pages so that we can bind them into a permanent memorial to Cassie. It is our hope that the outpouring of love from people around the world can be shared with future generations of the family.

Your prayers and loving comments have been of great comfort to us and other members of the family. God Bless each and everyone of you.

We miss Cassie so very much. She was a ray of sunlight. We will always cherish the memories we have of her. We would like to share with you an excerpt from an article that appeared in the Weekly Standard written by Matt Labash on May 10th.

The day after Cassie died, her brother found a poem on her dresser. Cassie wrote: Now I have given up on everything else-- I have found it to be the only way to really know Christ and to experience the mighty power that brought him back to life again, and to find out what it really means to suffer and to die with him.

Just days after she wrote the poem, that's precisely what she did. And as police officer Wayne Depew walked through the library carnage, himself having almost lost a son in the massacre, he saw Cassie lying on her back under a table. Depew didn't even notice the bullet hole in her temple. Instead, he says, her hands were clutched to her chest, as if in prayer. "She had a real soft look on her face with a slight smile," he says. "This is just my opinion, but she looked as if she had accepted God's will, that she was going to die for what she believed in."

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after reading all the stories about Cassie it give me alot of inspiration and courage. I just wish i would of known her. please e-mail me

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Thanks be to God for people like Cassie and the many who have come to know Christ from her testimony.

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I'm watching the video about that was put together, I assume, by West Bowles Community Church. I'm finding it difficult not to cry--again--as I'm learning more and more about my hero every day. I want to be like Cassie. I wrote a song to remind me to be like her. Maybe it can remind you to be like her, too. You can find it at http://www.slip.net/~holtonj/poems/lunchtime.htm

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Cassie is truly a martyr. Her story reminds me of the Gospel when St. Peter denied that he knew Christ three times. How many of us would have said yes, we believe in God and are Christians? One of my daughters asked: "Would you rather have me alive, or a martyr who died because I said I believed in God? How can you answer a question like that?

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The day of Cassie's funeral I was sitting at home feeling sorry for myself. As I was flicking the channels looking for something to 'feed' my self pity, I came across the end of Cassie's funeral on an all news channel. It was near the end and the video tribute had just started. I sat in the floor listening to the song and her friends, crying. I don't believe I have ever wept that hard or that much in my life. But ya know, I wasn't weeping because Cassie was gone, for she is in a MUCH better place with her Savior. I was crying because I knew that I had failed in my walk with Christ. The fact that Cassie was willing to LIVE to the fullest for Christ and then die for Him was a challenge and an inspiration. She will ALWAYS be in my heart even though I did not know her personally. But we are ALL brothers and sisters in Christ and I know someday SOON I will meet her and the One we both claim. From this day on, I pray that God give me strength and wisdom to surrender ALL to Him. I 'hold nothing back' from Him. Whatever His will, may it be done through me. Thank-you Cassie. And thank-you Jesus.

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In a way she was a seed that died to give birth to so much new life in Christ. We'll always know her by her stand and faith.

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