U.S. Christian missionaries & 3 kids killed in car crash; Family were preparing for mission in Japan

A family of five planning to move to Japan for their missionary work died in a multi-car crash accident on Interstate 80 in Nebraska last week.

The tragic accident crushed the plans of Minneapolis couple Jamison and Kathryne Pals, both 29, who planned to move their family of five to Nagoya, Japan as missionaries. The couple traveled together with their three young children, three-year-old Ezra, one-year-old Violet and two-month-old Calvin, from Minnesota to Colorado for the final training of a five-week session on language to prepare for their deployment to the eastern Asian country.

According to Omaha World Herald, Keith County Court charged on Tuesday semitrailer truck driver Tony Weekly Jr. of five counts of felony for vehicular homicide and one count of reckless driving.

Nebraska State Patrol trooper reported in their arrest affidavit that the 53-year-old truck driver charged at the Pals' minivan "at a high rate of speed" and that Weekly was "inattentive and distracted by outside influences."

The collision also crushed into the Plymouth minivan driven by 56-year-old Terry Sullivan, the sixth person who died on Monday from the accident.

Andy Carr, vice president of the Christian nonprofit organization Feed My Starving Children, described the couple as "the most humble and selfless people that you could ever meet."

"In today's world where it's so much about me, me, me, it was never about them. It was always about others," he said.

Carr added that Jamison brought in more than $1 million when the latter worked for more than three years as a grant writer for the organization. The money provided food for the malnourished children across the world. Jamison also became the go-to person for small organizations that needed guidance.

"He would gladly assist them, and his impact went far beyond Feed My Starving Children," said Carr.

Ministry organization WorldVenture said the Pals' supervisors noted that the couple "were all about the people of Japan being reached for Jesus that they might know the joy of salvation."

WorldVenture also announced that the memorial service for the couple, who shared the good news of Jesus since their college days, and their children would be held at their local church, Bethlehem Baptist Church of Minneapolis, on Saturday.