Sarena Dawn Moore - UCC massacre victim

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

GRANTS PASS, Ore. -- A church community in Grants Pass is sharing their thoughts about the life of one of the victims in the deadly Umpqua Community College Shooting in Roseburg.

Sarena Dawn Moore, 44, was a long-time member of the Grants Pass Seventh Day Adventist Church. Pastor Christian Martin said that the community, and her family, are finding comfort in knowing Moore was committed to her faith.

“She was a firm believer in prayer and she was quick to give God all the credit,” Pastor Martin said.

He believes Moore hung on to her faith as she found herself in the middle of terror on the UCC campus last Thursday. She's one of nine people who the gunman shot to death inside of a classroom. 

“I was just heartbroken, devastated…The gunman was in sensitive, senseless, and had no heart really,” Pastor Martin explained.

Moore became a member of the church in 2008. 

“When the possibility for her to enroll as a student at UCC, she asked for a lot of prayer and God opened up the doors for her,” Pastor Martin said.

Moore stayed in touch with her Grants Pass church community after she moved to the Roseburg area in 2013 to study business. 

“She looked at the positive perspectives even in difficult challenging circumstances,” Pastor Martin said.

Moore had recently started using a wheelchair to get around. Pastor Martin said she was sitting in it when she was shot.
 
“She even had her dog with her in the classroom,” Pastor Martin explained about Moore’s service dog that, in a strange twist of irony, is named Bullet. 

Pastor Martin said the dog was not hurt in the massacre and is reunited with Moore’s family.  

Moore’s affection for animals extended beyond her dog to horses, and critters of all kinds. She was also a mother to three adult sons. 

Pastor Martin says the pain of losing her is lessened by believing what his church teaches: “It's not goodbye forever. It's goodbye until then."

Two memorial services are planned for Moore. One in Myrtle Creek and one in Grants Pass. Her family has asked through Pastor Martin that the details of those are kept private. Pastor Martin said anyone who needs those details should  call the office at the Grants Pass Seventh Day Adventist Church.

http://www.katu.com/news/local/Church-pastor-remembers-UCC-shooting-victim-Sarena-Moore-330985982.html

[Gail]

Horrible