Today God answered prayer in the most amazing way. It was better than I ever could have imagined. I am exhausted and have a headache, but I have to share this awesome testimony before I go to sleep.
I am not good at keeping up with my cell phone. Recently I wrote about the day I had 22 messages when I left my phone in the car for a few hours. Today I had the phone with me, but somehow I just never checked it.
As I was leaving the vet's office with Jetty, I noticed I missed a message. It was from Fisher. She said Karen, a girl who lives at Fisher's ministry and is deaf and mute, was missing. I called Fisher. She said that the person who runs the ministry had taken Karen to school today. Someone has to ride the bus to and from school every day with Karen because she doen't pay attention to the world around her. Once they tried to let her take the bus by herself and followed the bus in their car (Karen didn't know they were following.) Karen never got off the bus. They had to chase the bus down and get her off it. So, she always has a responsible adult take her to and from school.
Today as Karen was getting off the bus, the caretaker turned to pay the bus fare. When the caretaker got off the bus Karen was gone.
By the time I learned of the situation five hours had already passed.
We decided to gather together and pray for Karen as a church. We talked as people arrived. How could someone be missing for 7 hours? Kidnapping is common in Honduras. I have also heard stories for years of people being sold for their organs. Apparently organ harvesting is quite a lucrative business. Those were the two most common guesses. Personally, I thought someone had been scouting out the bus stop, noticed that handicapped kids get off there to go to the nearby school, and grabbed Karen as an easy target to sexually violate her.
We prayed and prayed. I knew God could solve the problem. I did have total faith. But my heart was breaking for what might be happening in that moment. I prayed hard and sobbed hard - thus the headache.
Afterward I came home and Fany invited me over for dinner. Catrachas! My favorite. Her parents are in town because they are going to the embassy tomorrow. They will ask permission to visit the US and meet their granddaughter for the first time. We prayed for them to be given a visa, and for my wrist and for Karen to be found. Fany's parents believed Karen ran off with a boy. Fany started telling them horror stories about things that have happened to her friends in the city. Then they said they are country folk and in the country missing girls run off with their boyfriends. But they don't know about city girls.
Meanwhile, with help from a friend and advocate for deaf people, the caregiver put posters all over. They went to news stations and asked that she be reported missing on the news. They notified police. The two of them did all of the legwork.
We prayed and asked others to pray. I specifically asked God to bring Karen home, unharmed, and let her sleep peacefully in her bed tonight.
After dinner I walked across the yard and grabbed my phone. The first message I saw was from Fisher's mom. SHE IS FOUND! Then I saw a bunch of missed calls from Fisher.
Here's what I know: While Fisher was cooking dinner, Karen walked by the window, then came in the door. Everyone freaked out and hugged her and showed her how happy they are that she is home.
She can't communicate with them because she barely knows sign language and they know none, but basically she communicated to Fisher that she never got off the bus at her school. The caregiver must have followed a different girl in the yellow school uniform off the bus, thinking it was Karen, but it wasn't. Karen wasn't paying attention and stayed on the bus, then rode it around the city for hours.
It was after dark when she got home. She got lost at 10 a..m. It was a long day for everyone. Fisher called the caregiver to say that Karen is safe and the caregiver was able to return home.
So, Karen is found. Praise God. Karen will sleep in her own bed tonight. No harm came to her. She can sleep peacefully. None of the bad things that, unfortunately are common in Tegucigalpa, happened to her. Not one! We give thanks and praise to the Lord today for bringing Karen home safe. Today could have ended so much differently. This was a better ending than I ever imagined. Thank you Heavenly Father for taking care of Karen in her extensive travels today. Thank you for bringing her home safely.
