Hundreds mourn victims of church shooting

Kelson Rehobson had a short message Saturday to the more than 500 family members and friends who came to the Ozark Funeral Home chapel in Anderson to pay their final respects to the three victims of last Sunday's deadly church shooting at the First Congregational Church in downtown Neosho.

"I am going to miss my brother," said Kelson of Senior Pastor Rev. Kernel Rehobson, 43, one of three victims along with Pastor Intenson Rehobson, 44, and Associate Pastor Kuhpes Ikosia, 53. "Kernel was a great man. He was not just a brother to me. He was a best friend. We shared everything."

Charged in the shooting is Eiken Elam Saimon, who is in custody in the Newton County Jail facing nine felony counts. The slayings were the first in more than a decade in the town of 10,500.

A standing-room-only crowd of mostly Micronesian residents attended the Saturday morning service for all three victims. Those who were unable to get inside the chapel or the overflow area stood in the parking lot, wanting to show their support for the grieving families.

A choir, seated in the front rows of the chapel, opened the service with songs in their native language. Many seated and standing throughout the church joined in singing, as music soon filled the chapel.

"We are gathered here today not to mourn death, but to celebrate life," said the Rev. Tom Thorne of the First Congregational Church, the site of last Sunday's shooting. Thorne worked closely with the victims and their families as his building was home to the Micronesian community's service every Sunday afternoon.

"I want to take this time to thank each and every one for coming today to share in our grief and sorrow," Lou Rehobson said during the eulogy for Intenson. "Intenson was a great man of great faith. He loved to sing praises to the Lord with his wife and daughters. We know that our grief and sorrow will get better every living day, and we will give love to our dear heavenly father."

During the eulogy for Ikosia, Nanette Alik said one of Ikosia's goals was to become a pastor like his father.

"He will be missed by everyone," she said. "He will live a wonderful eternal life in God's care."

Thorne said Saturday was a day to grieve, but also a day to celebrate the lives of Kernel, Intenson and Kuhpes.

"We are going to try and make you smile a little bit today," Thorne told the crowd. "Kernel used to make fun of me because I wore pink shirts. So, today, I wore a pink shirt, but I also wore my floral tie."

During his sermon, Thorne spoke of a graduation address given by Winston Churchill. In that address, Churchill had only three words to say.

"We will survive.

"We will survive.

"We will survive."

Thorne said that Kernel, Intenson and Kuhpes would want those mourning Saturday to remember these three phrases.

"If we live, it is for the Lord.

"If we die, we died for the Lord.

"Christ died. Christ lived again."

Thorne then spoke of the deceased.

"They wanted better lives for everyone," he said. "They concentrated on improving the lives of the Micronesian community. They knew they could only achieve these goals through faith in God. They had a self-contentment with their service to the Lord. Their faith was leading them, and they took on this task, and they were making the journey forward. They wanted to make life better for everybody. These men were trying to give others what they had.

"I believe these men would have asked, or even demanded today, you to put up the standard which they have carried. As those are wounded or fall, others will pick up their standards and move on. We know that many people have died before their time on Earth was complete. These men also died before their vision was complete, and we believe these men would want you to be a part of their mission. As part of my challenge today, I want you to ponder in your heart if you will step up and continue the fight that these men begun."

Rick Rogers is publisher of the Neosho Daily News.