A Louisiana pastor and his church community are mourning the loss of two family members after a devastating crash claimed the lives of his daughter-in-law and 13-year-old son as they returned home from a Pentecostal youth camp.
Members of Lifeway Apostolic Church in Kentwood, Louisiana, have rallied around Pastor Tim Brady and his family following Saturday’s fatal accident, which also left several others hospitalized.
The South Central Region Youth Ministry of the Worldwide Pentecostal Fellowship announced the tragedy in a Facebook statement Saturday, asking supporters to pray for the Brady family and their congregation.
“Please help us lift up the Tim Brady Family, Lifeway Apostolic Church (Kentwood, LA), and the others who were traveling home from Camp Apex today,” the group said. “This precious family and church were involved in a fatal wreck today. Three people remain in the hospital, and the entire family and church need our fervent and sincere prayers, love, and support right now.”
The youth ministry is also raising money to help the pastor’s family with funeral arrangements.
According to KTBS, Tim Brady’s daughter-in-law, Katie Barber Brady, 22, and his youngest child, 13-year-old Benson Brady, were killed in the accident. His oldest son and Katie’s husband, Jay Brady, who wed just six months ago, was driving. Jay Brady was treated and released from the hospital, but two other children remain admitted as of Monday.
Family members told the news outlet that the young Christians were traveling home from a weeklong Pentecostal youth conference in Magnolia, Arkansas, called Camp Apex, when they crashed on state Highway 9 near Athens at about 11:30 a.m. Officials said a 2022 Ram pickup truck left the roadway and struck a tree.
Investigators said neither drugs nor alcohol was a suspected factor in the crash. Pastor Brady told KTBS that he believes his son might have been tired when the crash happened.
“If you’ve never lost a child, you don’t know the pain,” he told the news outlet.
He said his daughter-in-law was active in the youth ministry and had spent a lot of time praying with young girls at the camp before the crash.
“We don’t understand why it happened. We don’t understand God’s ways,” he said. “The Bible says that He’ll give you peace.”
As his family grapples with the tragedy, Pastor Brady said they are just leaning on their faith.
“I take comfort in knowing He’s with us and walking with my son and my church family. I take comfort in knowing he’s with Jesus,” he said.
Many members of the faith community who know the Brady family, like Pastor Jonathan Alvear of Conyers Apostolic Church in Conyers, Georgia, expressed public support for the family and encouraged Christians to pray for them.
“I had the privilege of preaching in Kentwood, LA, last year for Bro. Tim Brady and his assembly. And now he and his family have suffered an unspeakable tragedy this past Saturday, June 20th, an automobile accident on their way home from a family church camp, which resulted in the passing of his beautiful daughter-in-law and charming younger son,” Alvear wrote. “I cannot imagine the level of grief they are experiencing. I know many are already, but please join me in praying for these wonderful people in their time of immense sorrow.”
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