Tommy Parke

The following letter is from the Broward/Miami-Dade County Director for First Priority of South Florida, Fred Revell, concerning the events that took place on November 12 at Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, FL. For more information on this event, visit:

10th grader fatally shot at Broward high school

“Dear Board Members, Founders Fellowship and friends of First Priority,

Many of us were struck by the tragedy of the shooting on a public school campus in Broward County last week as a 15 year old girl lost her life. Our hearts were saddened as we learned some of the details of a life cut short because another female student, confused with gender identification issues, believed it appropriate to gun down young Amanda Collette for not responding to her advances over the course of several days. Our team struggled with the reality, as we have in the past; that we face insurmountable odds as we equip and encourage student missionaries to pray for and strive to be the catalyst for spiritual awakening on these campuses. As the details of Amanda’s story continued to unfold over the following days our staff and Campus Coaches were guided by the Holy Spirit to renew our fervor and encourage First Priority students to do all they can to fulfill the Great Commission by being salt and light at their schools…even if it means offering the ultimate sacrifice.

So the media had its day as some of the facts concerning what happened to Amanda and why had come to light…as some other details may never be made known. But God has blessed us with some information that we wanted you and your family to be aware of, and it is because of our relationship that I am excited to pass along to you the following:

Dillard High School in Fort Lauderdale, where this tragedy occurred, has a First Priority club which meets each Monday after school. But the First Priority club students also gather each Wednesday morning before classes at the flag pole to pray for their school. Word had come to us just a few days ago from David Geyer our Area Advisor that our Campus Coach at Dillard High, Rev. Crunch the Student Minister at Mount Olive Baptist Church, had told him young Amanda Collette had attended, for the first time, the prayer event that very day her life was taken. Rev. Crunch went on to share that rumor had it that Amanda had even made a decision for Jesus that morning, but this had yet to be verified. Then on Thursday, November 20th, Sarah Hadjuk, who is our Area Advisor to Northwest Broward, was an invited guest speaker at our Coral Glades High club. She was sharing the story of Amanda and that we were informed of her attendance at the pole prayer the morning of her death, but that we were unsure of her spiritual condition. Sarah went on to challenge the students to take every measure to know the spiritual status of their friends and be willing to lead unsaved friends to salvation. As Sarah was speaking Matt Boone, Campus Coach for the club and Student Minister at Church by the Glades, caught Sarah’s attention and stated, “we know what happened to Amanda that morning”! He continued and shared that one of Amanda’s close friends at Dillard High attends Matt’s student ministry and how he has been helping this young girl work through the pain of losing someone so dear. Matt has had conversations with this student and her mom and he has learned from them that not only had Amanda received Jesus for salvation just hours before she entered eternity but the gospel was preached at her funeral and more than 50 persons responded to an invitation to receive Christ!

Dear friend, if ever you wonder why God has called us together to function as a team to reach this generation with the Gospel on the public school campus by uniting the church may Amanda’s story be burned into our hearts that if only for her sake the 10 years of service and sacrifice made by so many is truly worth it all. For Amanda alone we can be grateful for God’s mercies and blessings this Thanksgiving season!”

With life we have various ways we can live.

Recklessness. Conformity. 

Wherever you find yourself, living life is up to you. I see life more often than not in three ways: Past, Present, Future. With this in mind, I will explain why I live the way I do right now using several people that have greatly impacted me to this day.

Past – I seem to refer to certain people in my life more dominantly than others, but it comes from the familiarity and intimacy I have with them. For example, my dad. Tom Parke is one of the greatest people to ever walk the earth. The more I grow up I see how amazing he was as I was growing up under his direct care. He loved me in the most tangible ways and because of my present understanding how love was, I see clearly how the past has brought me to this point today. He sacrificed so much for my family that I don’t mind sacrificing certain things if it will do more good. I am not what he has been to me, but I hope to be that way in the future more and more everyday.

Present – This writing comes from a helpful hint from a great guy, Scott. He encouraged me to “Stop and Smell the Roses” occasionally from the pace of life I lead. Scott in himself is a story of how awesome God’s love can change a person. When I moved down to Miami last year, he was seeking God in a intellectual way, but now I continue to see him seek God in personal ways. Through serving in church to being genuine in his relationships with his girlfriend and friends, his present day change is a hope I have for students and people that I work with on a daily basis.

Future – Some of you may know that I had a friend that I grew up with back home recently commit suicide. We were not the greatest friends, but we knew each other from church and school. His mom was always so encouraging to me whenever I was back home from college and the fact that because her son had lost hope in life has been ripping me apart lately. I do not know the state of his heart with God at the time that he took his life, but the thing that disturbs me in my sleep and keeps me from sleeping well is that in the book of Revelation in the 20th chapter John writes that at the culmination of God’s wrath, those whose names are not found in the Lamb’s Book of Life will be “tormented day and night forever and ever.” I am so scared for the future that awaits people who do not know the truth about Jesus and if people lose hope in life by not following Jesus then that is what will happen at the end. 

To end, for those who follow Jesus, remember His words when it comes to the way He lived His life. Think about who you hang out with a majority of the time. Jesus came to people who didn’t know Him. Do we do that? Are we reaching out to them, or at the very least training up people to do it? Jesus had a mission and it was for a certain group of people, the sick. “”Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick. I came not to call the righteous but sinners.” – Mark 2:17