After Two Sons Killed in Car Accident, Georgia Pastor Says He's Still Moving Forward 'By Faith'
A Newnan, Georgia pastor says his faith is sustaining him after both of his teenage sons were killed as a result of a car accident last week.
"It's difficult for me to process as a father," Pastor Kevin Royston of Newnan's Outreach Church told Atlanta television station WSB about the deaths of his two sons, Kahlil Royston, 17, and Josh Royston,16, near the church on Jan. 20. "If God allowed it, He's going to give me strength to go through it."
Pastor Royston had watched his sons leave the church building that Sunday. They were on their way to get haircuts when the accident occurred, according to the television station.
The Georgia State Patrol said Kahlil Royston went around a curve at a high rate of speed, when he lost control of the car, went airborne and hit two trees. His brother Joshua was sitting in the front seat and was pronounced dead at the scene. Kahlil suffered head trauma and died Jan. 22, according to WXIA-TV.
Even though Royston had prayed for a miracle and asked for prayers for his son, after Kahlil's death he posted a note to the church's Facebook page, writing about another miracle that occurred.
"We would like to thank everyone for all your prayers for Kahlil. Kahlil and Joshua will be missed dearly," he wrote. "God performed a miracle in a different way that we thought but He still performed a miracle. Kahlil's organs will be used to be a blessing for persons in need of them. We have to have faith to change a situation but we also have to have faith to deal with a situation when God doesn't do it the way we thought. Continue to pray for our strength as we move forward."
Classmates of the Royston brothers at Newnan High School were devastated by the news.
"I just loved Josh, I loved Kahlil. I loved both of them," Tiah Lee, a classmate, told WXIA-TV.
She said Joshua loved music and was always trying to cheer up other people.
"You could have a bad day, and you come around him and he'd just have the biggest smile," Lee said. "He just makes you happy. And Kahlil, he was like a big brother to all of us."
Pastor Royston noted in a post on the church's Facebook page, he believes in times of crisis, grief, and despair, God still has a plan for each one of us
"Sometimes life will throw us blows that seem unbearable. But these are the times where we must make ourselves stay connected to the only source of life our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ," he wrote. "We move forward by faith, not by disappointment, grief, or misunderstandings - no 'by faith'."
"That does not mean we don't acknowledge our pain, our disappointment, and our lost (sic) of understanding but we don't move forward from that place. We go to our source and we ask him how to move forward so our life will continue to bring him glory. We have to remember He's God and he has a ram in the bush," Royston continued.
The church has announced a memorial service for Kahlil and Joshua will be held at 11:00 am on Wednesday, Jan. 30 at the St. Smyrna Baptist Church, 68 Heery Road in Newnan. A visitation will be held from 5:00 pm to 8:00 pm on Tuesday, Jan. 29 at Sellers-Smith Funeral Home,168 Greenville Street.
