Maggie Lee Henson died Sunday, August 2, from injuries suffered in the recent Meridian, Miss., bus crash.
JACKSON, Miss. – Maggie Lee Henson died Sunday, August 2, from injuries suffered in the recent Meridian, Miss., bus crash.
“At 6:30 pm tonight, our precious Maggie Lee was carried into the arms of her Lord and Savior Jesus Christ,” her parents said, according to a post on the Caring Bridge blog. “For these last three weeks, she fought for her life courageously, with the skillful help of the medical staff at Batson Children’s Hospital here in Jackson.
“She was blessed to have thousands of people praying and pulling for her,” the post continued. “We celebrate her eternal life in the presence of her Creator tonight.”
In the weeks since the accident, churches and individuals have shown support for Henson and the students, with churches in Louisiana and the surrounding states banding together to help First Baptist Church of Shreveport in any way they can.
Gene Hendrix, Minister of Christian Formation and Administration at First Shreveport, said volunteers in the church have been formed into care groups. The groups have been helping individuals and families involved in the accident with various needs, such as providing food and transportation.
“It’s helped that we’ve had lots of support outside the church,” he said.
When First Shreveport had their Vacation Bible School, the Boomerang Express, July 20-24, many churches donated decorations, props and teaching material. Normally VBS teachers would prepare their own material for the week, but with the donation of pre-made lessons the teachers could focus on other details in the rush to set up for the week.
One of the biggest supporters for VBS was FBC of Slidell. Kristy Lafollette heard about the crash during their VBS. When she began to read about the church and the crash on the Internet, she noticed that they were about to start their own VBS.
“My first thought was “How can we help them?” Lafollette said. “I figured their minds would be on VBS.”
Lafollette then went to the pastor and suggested taking the more complex decorations from the auditorium, and any other pieces they could, to Shreveport.
The Friday before First Shreveport’s VBS began, Lafollette’s husband Gary and another church member took a truck up with many of the larger decorations from their auditorium. They unloaded and proceeded to help set up the decorations.
First Shreveport had 210 children enrolled for the week.
Representatives of the Alabama National Guard’s 2101st Transportation Company, the unit that assisted in the crash, will be in first Shreveport’s worship service Sunday, Aug. 9, so the church can show their appreciation for all that the unit did, Hendrix said.