Tragedy struck the young married life of Christian couple Austin Wesson and Rebekah Bouma on Saturday when they were both killed in a car accident just 24 hours after their wedding ceremony. The pair, who met through Christian mission trips, had been married on Friday. Then, on Saturday, the pickup they travelling in struck a tree near Clearwater, Kansas. Wesson was killed instantly. Bekah was rushed to hospital, where she later died on Monday.
Austin Wesson and Rebekah Bouma didn’t expect to meet their soulmates while performing missionary work in South Africa, but their romance blossomed soon after meeting in Wesson’s home country.
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Within a few months, Wesson had asked Bouma’s father via Face Time for permission to date her and the two were quickly in love and ready for marriage. It wasn’t long before they announced their engagement and made plans for a small, civil ceremony to seal their love. While it all happened quickly, both parents believed their relationship was the “real thing” and thus gave the marriage their blessing.
This past Friday, they made it official, marrying at a local U.S. courthouse with plans for a larger ceremony with friends and family later in the year. Photos of the day show them giddy, showing off their wedding rings and clearly excited to begin their lives together.
Less than 24 hours after the happy ceremony, both Wesson and Bouma were dead, after a horrific car crash took both of their lives. On Saturday evening, they lost control of the truck they were driving, hitting a tree that killed Wesson instantly and took Bouma’s life hours later at the hospital.
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Now, Wesson’s family is flying in from South Africa to lay him to rest. A GoFundMe has been established to help his family with the cost of travel to the United States.
Bouma’s family is also grieving, but thankfully they have found hope in peace in the fact that their beloved daughter is now with the Lord she so faithfully served here on earth. In a Facebook post, her mother wrote:
‘It is with an unbearably shattered heart that we inform you that our darling daughter, Rebekah Christina, went peacefully into the arms of her loving Savior… She is with the Lord that she loved so deeply and so joyfully and she is with her husband of just one day, Austin Wesson, whom she loved with all her heart.
‘We thank God that they are together while grieving their loss so very deeply.’
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Though Wesson and Bouma’s story ends in tragedy, it’s beautiful to know that they are spending eternity together in heaven after so recently pledging their lives together as one before the Lord.