I had a wonderful night’s sleep in my OWN BED!. The day began like any other Sunday- rising early to wash and dress for church, some breakfast, and the ordeal of air-drying hair. As I bent upside down to brush my hair to catch the breeze, I heard footsteps. I looked up and saw Sylvain and Dorcas approaching the veranda.
“Odd” I thought to myself. “They’re not dressed for church and it’s too early anyway…”
We exchanged greetings and I invited them into the sitting room. Both Sylvain and Dorcas were interested in the work we had accomplished the day before, however Sylvain left the room to wake Franck and ask him to join us. Sylvain abruptly changed the subject and began talking about the necessary trip to Kinshasa in order to begin the process of getting a new passport and visa- the flight for at least two people, lodging, meals, cost of the paperwork, etc. I argued with him that the Church Conference office had to realize that because of all that had happened in the past 3 months that I couldn’t possibly afford such a venture at this time. I also did not understand the rush, because officials in Kasenga had assured me that with a letter I could travel easily within the DRC for a long period of time.
“Imagine what such a trip would cost”, Sylvain said. “I have some good news” he continued as he dug deeply into his pocket and pulled out my PASSPORT and my immunization card that had been stolen and missing since December 29! I hugged him and began to cry, thanking God over and over again.
“Where did you find it?” I asked in disbelief through the tears. Sylvain then told me that he had been praying that morning and as part of his prayers had asked God to help him find my missing passport. He felt a strong leading that he should go to my room. (Even though I hadn’t slept there the night before, I had left several suitcases that needed to be moved to Nuru Ya Mapendo.) As he walked through the doorway, he proceeded to a suitcase that was unzipped and laying down on the floor. He thought perhaps the passport had been filed in a folder containing my important papers.
“No”, I argued, “I always keep my passport in the same black travel wallet in the same clear pocket. That way I always know where it is, and it’s how I knew right away that it was missing. The thief left the wallet empty.”
Sylvain went on to explain that as he reached down to open the important folder, God directed his eyes to the large mesh pocket in the lid of the suitcase- and there right in front of him was my passport with the immunization card still tucked inside!
The story would not have been remarkable, except that all along we had been led to believe that the thief had jettisoned the passport on the ground near the property where he emptied the wallet. Many had searched without success. What happened instead was that the thief discarded the passport in my room while looking for money in the wallet- and when he dropped it, it fell into the mesh pocket in my suitcase that was upright and unzipped at the time. Because the suitcase was used infrequently (and we were sure the passport had been thrown outside), I did not even search my suitcases for the missing passport!
What IS remarkable is the night before I had been praying for my passport. “Lord, you are the one who knows where my passport is”, I pleaded. “Please show someone- ANYONE- where the passport is so it can be recovered!”
Do you believe that God answers your prayers? Sylvain and I testify that He does…Thank you Lord, for your love and grace that reach out to us when we call upon your name.