Faith in higher power helps heal relatives who lost 10 family members in crash

By Scott Reynolds - bio | email
Posted by Mike Dever - email

MARROWBONE, KY (WAVE) - We will always remember that horrific crash on I-65 near Munfordville on March 26, because it's the most deadly in Kentucky since the Carrolton bush crash in 1988. We also remember because it took the lives of 10 devout Mennonites, mostly members of the Esh family from Marrowbone, Kentucky.

But what impressed so many of us was how the family handled the tragedy. When I visited the Eshes in Marrowbone, two months after the March 26 crossover crash involving a speeding semi, I found their faith, church and community keeping their spirits up.

Son Amos Esh, now 24, has taken over his father's business of building storage sheds right next to the family home. Amos had written a song in 2006 for a brother who died in an accident on a mission trip, a song called "Home," which envisions the time that the family will reunite in heaven.

Now Amos says he feels like he wrote that song for the other six immediate family members lost in the crash. He credits the entire community of Marrowbone for helping them pull through the tragedy, saying that their faith and church needed that outpouring of love from everyone. I learned that just two months before the crash, the Esh family home burned down, and their mother nearly died in the fire.

Amos says he believes that fire, which burned everything they owned, helped prepare them for going to heaven since it basically wiped out all their worldly possessions. The Mennonite community came from all over the region and built a new home in just five weeks. Amos and his wife, Mary, and son, Adrial, now live there. Amos says he plans to follow his father's wishes to keep the family business small and give away all the proceeds after providing for their basic necessities.

The toughest day so far for the family came at their church of about 100 members on Mother's Day, when children spoke glowingly of their moms. Many tears were shed over the loss of Sadie Esh. Amos had 11 brothers and sisters, but now only six are alive, and he's lost his parents as well. He says he still sometimes wonders why God let this happen, but believes that, someday, he will understand.

With the loss of so many of his siblings, the successful singing group "The Eshes" no longer exists. But their inspirational music lives on through CD sales - over 5,000 have been sold since the funeral. They are available at www.eshfamily.org, with all proceeds going to mission work.

And the Eshes give many thanks to the hundreds of people who have sent cards and flowers to their home in Marrow Bone.

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