Family killed in crash on way to missionary training

This weekend, members and friends of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis will gather for an event nearly unimaginable a week ago: the funeral service for a family of five killed in a car accident on their way to train for missionary service to Japan.

Jamison and Kathryne Pals, both 29, died with their children last Sunday morning when a truck driver rammed into their minivan on a Nebraska highway. The impact killed Jamison, Kathryne, and their children: Ezra, 3; Violet, 23 months; and Calvin, 2½ months old.

Jamison maintained a blog, For the Joy of Japan, chronicling the family’s progress toward missionary service. He explained why they had chosen a country where less than 2 percent of the population is Christian: “It just seems fitting to go to the place where there are the most people without sufficient witness to the gospel and all its awesomeness.”

The family had hoped to arrive on the field in October.

Officials charged truck driver Tony Weekly Jr. with five counts of felony motor vehicle homicide. A Nebraska state trooper said Weekly was “inattentive and distracted by outside influences” when he hit the family’s van “at a high rate of speed.”

The impact propelled the Palses’ van into three more vehicles. Doctors declared Terry Sullivan, the 56-year-old driver of another minivan, legally dead Monday. Sullivan remained on life support earlier this week, pending organ donation.

The Palses, members of Bethlehem Baptist Church, were traveling from their home in Minneapolis for a month of missionary training with WorldVenture in Colorado when they died. The family planned to serve with Christ Bible Institute (CBI) in Nagoya, Japan.

“Jamison and Kathryne were all about the people of Japan being reached for Jesus that they might know the joy of salvation,” officials from WorldVenture said in a statement after their deaths.

Though the family’s official missionary service was about to begin, their journey started years ago. Jamison developed an interest in missions earlier in life, and his passion grew after marrying Kathryne.

In 2009, the couple met Michael Oh, a Korean-American missionary serving at CBI in Nagoya. Oh was in Minneapolis speaking at a Desiring God pastors conference, and the Palses approached him to talk about missions.

Oh was so busy during his brief time in the states, he invited the Palses to talk with him while he shopped at Target for items he needed for his family before his return to Japan. “Honestly, despite me, they developed such an amazing heart for Japan missions,” Oh said.

The couple reached out to Japanese living in Minneapolis, including international students they referred to Oh’s ministry when the students returned to Japan. By 2013, Jamison reached out to CBI to begin the process of learning more about serving long-term overseas.

Meanwhile, Kathryne struggled to imagine herself on the mission field. She longed to be a godly wife and mother, but wasn’t sure how she would fit into missionary life. In June 2013, Jamison wrote her a letter she called his “second proposal,” encouraging her for her many strengths, and asking her to serve with him in Japan:

“Kathryne, I am asking you to go with me. … It may cost us much, but would you have it any other way? Whatever we lose will be worth it if we gain more of Christ. … He will be with us, and He will go before us. Surely, His goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our lives. We will dwell with Him forever, wherever we dwell for this life. You will never be without your God and Savior.”

Kathryne agreed, and the couple began a long process of preparing for service through the sending agency WorldVenture, aiming to work with CBI once they reached Japan. Their initial service would have included learning the language and reaching out to locals for evangelism contacts.

By early this year, the Palses were ready to go, but they delayed their departure because of the impending arrival of their baby boy, Calvin. After a series of setbacks including some health problems and fundraising delays, Jamison wrote, “For the first time, it feels as though something or someone is actively setting itself against us going to Japan. Strangely enough, I find that incredibly encouraging. I take it as a sign we’re headed in the right direction.”

By midsummer, the family packed up their tiny duplex and prepared to set off for their final step before reaching the field. Jamison wrote the family would miss their home, including “mowing Mr. and Mrs. Johnson’s lawn in the summer and shoveling their sidewalk in the winter. … Mostly, we will miss our neighbors.”

After their deaths last week, Oh grieved the tremendous loss and told friends on Facebook, “I couldn’t be more proud of them. And I trust that the Lord will inspire a new generation of missionaries through their story to take their place in Japan and around the world.”

Oh also shared Jamison’s last email to him. Jamison told Oh he hoped to see him in Japan soon, and he quoted lyrics from a song by Shai Linne about a man who served the Lord:

Let me make this plain kids—God is the greatest He never changes—His ways are blameless For His own glory and at different stages He raises up servants to make His name famous.

Behold the grace of God—stand to the side The Spirit exalting the Lamb who has died It can’t be denied—this man we describe Was simply a tool in the hand of His God.

Bethlehem Baptist Church will live stream the funeral at 11:30 a.m. Saturday.

A blog post on the church’s website by Pastor Jason Meyer mourned the family’s sudden loss, but it also anticipated a reunion for those in Christ: “And so, while we grieve, we rise up with resurrection faith as we embrace together our blessed hope that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. And so, we celebrate the fact that the Pals family is not dead, but more alive than ever because of the grace of God that is ours in Jesus Christ.”

CBI director Brett Rayl also the family’s “unwasted lives,” and told his fellow workers, “They have gladly laid down their lives for the Japanese people.”