Rescued!!!

Wow. Where do I even begin? The last two days have been such a testimony to God's guiding hand and protection. As you can tell from the picture to the left, the bottom line is that Mariquita is back with us, and as I speak, she is out splashing in the pool at the Holiday Inn Express.

Let me backtrack a bit. We left Juarez Thursday morning and drove about ten hours into the mountains, still trying to pinpoint exactly where she was in these mountains. Patsy had gotten the names of some larger towns around the place she was supposed to be, but we also had to take into account the fact that (1) sometimes Tarahumara simply refer to the region in which they live, (2) many of these towns are not actually on any map, and (3) every town seems to end in "-chi" and they all sound remarkably alike.

After finding a name that looked like what the Tarahumara were saying on the map, we headed for Creel, which is kind of like a gateway to Barranca del Cobre, and has a very large Tarahumara population. There were ominous storm clouds overhead and it was raining as we drove through the twisty mountain roads, and as we rounded a corner about 30 kilometers from Creel, we saw a car coming from the opposite direction go off the road and dive down a 20-foot cliff at full speed. Knowing full well these roads weren't very populated for long stretches, we pulled over to try to help. As I sat in the minivan with the kids, Brad and Patsy walked back to where the car had gone over, and their first view was very gruesome. Besides several people with obvious head injuries and others throwing beer bottles out of the car, they were met by a very drunk man bringing a little girl about three years old up the embankment. He asked us to take the girl and go get help in a town about 15 kilometers away. Miraculously, this little girl was without a scratch, even though several others in the car probably died. She was in a state of shock, but we got her to the police station and notified them of the accident, and then got back on our way, a bit shaken and even more grateful for God's protection.

We spent the night at a Best Western motel in Creel, and talked to more people in the area, and discovered that the region Mariquita was in was about 100 kilometers away, only accessed by a dirt road. Keep in mind, dirt roads are not well-marked, and we had to stop many times during our four hours driving over this dirt road and even had to turn around a few times. The things we saw along these dirt roads were priceless, I must say. We saw the Tarahumara in their native setting, without any of the tourist sites. It is truly gorgeous, and we couldn't have asked for a more beautiful area to go searching for a lost little girl.

After these four hours on the bumpy dirt road, we got to the region we were more certain of, and we knew the name of the town (more like a village, really) she was supposed to be in (which was a different place than when we set out Thursday). Once again, this village wasn't on any map, and we were starting to wonder if the Tarahumara had a different name for it than anyone else did. As we were nearing the town we knew was close, we happened upon a family sitting under a tree at a fork in the road, and stopped to ask if they were familiar with San Jose Baqueachi, and they were. They told it was 40 kilometers down the road to the left of the fork in the road. I honestly wonder if they were angels God placed there to give us direction.

So, we headed down this new dirt road, and that 40 kilometers (about 25 miles) took us three hours to travel. I would never have believed a minivan could get over these mountain roads with huge rocks and standing water from recent thunderstorms we had to pass through. Respect the van, indeed! Many times, we bottomed out and thought we would get stuck, but somehow God got us through!

When we finally got to this village that wasn't on the map, we asked some women sitting by the side of the road if they were familiar with this lady whom Mariquita was supposed to be with, but no one had heard of her. They told us to drive around the village to the clinic, and ask about her there. We couldn't find the unmarked clinic, but we did find a little store, and went in to ask if anyone there had seen them or knew them.

Brad and I were so discouraged at this point. We had driven ten hours one day and seven hours a second day, and this was the only place we knew to look. If we didn't find her here, we would have to return to Juarez and re-group and think of another way to find her. I can't even describe the sinking feeling in the pit of my stomach. We had been praying every step of the way, and felt like we were at a dead end.

After Patsy and the Tarahumara girls talked to the store owner and described the woman, her name, and where she was from, they offered to drive us up to a ranch that might be the right one. They said it was "just up the hill." "Just up the hill" turned into another 20 minute drive OFF the dirt road and through the rocks. We would never have found this place had it not been for these women leading us there. I am convinced of that. The hurdles getting up to this ranch were even more treacherous, if that was possible.

As we arrived at the ranch, Maria recognized it by the steer's skull hanging on the gate, and we praised God that we had finally found the ranch. We found the woman, but Mariquita wasn't there at the ranch, they had her out herding goats. At first, the woman was very resistant to us taking Mariquita back with us, but through a combination of things - our having her birth certificate with us, the peer pressure of the local women with us, and her speaking with the Tarahumara girls with us, she hesitantly agreed to lead us to where Mariquita was watching the goats. Brad and I did a lot of praying while Patsy was negotiating with this woman and even as we followed the lady to the pasture. We prayed that God would change this woman's heart and grant us favor in her eyes. She had said initially that she didn't want Mariquita to see us, because she would want to go home with us.

We drove back about 10 minutes from the ranch, and then from the top of one of the ridges, we saw this little girl among many goats in the distance. She looked so tiny out on that field. I've never been so happy to see a dirty little girl! When we stopped and got out of the van, she ran to Brad and held on to him with tears in her eyes. I couldn't help crying when I hugged her, and somehow seeing Mariquita's reaction to us softened that woman's heart, and she agreed to let us take her.

Not waiting for her to change her mind, we thanked her profusely and gave her a monetary gift for her trouble, and took Mariquita and headed for the hills. As we drove out the dirt road again for the next three hours, we gave Mariquita food and water (she was pretty ravenous), put her in clean, new clothes, and she slept peacefully in Brad's lap as he drove (this is Mexico...).

As we drove back out through mountains, we came to a little stream, and we felt led to build a little altar out of some rocks and thank God for all He had done. We explained this to the girls and had a prayer of thanksgiving with Mariquita, then got back on our way, praying that God would hold off the thunderstorm until we got back on paved road.

After about nine hours total driving time yesterday, we got back to Chihuahua and found a Holiday Inn Express and got rooms. Mariquita took her first bath in a real bath tub with hot water, and she actually cleans up pretty nice!

It's so nice to hear her giggle again and see a huge smile on her face. I think it's beginning to sink in that she has been rescued, and she slept peacefully last night. Juan has begun construction on a room that will be used for she and Maria as well as two other girls who were left by their family at the ministry center, and when we get back to Juarez, we'll go shopping for beds and dressers and clothes for these little ones. We still desparately need the new facility, but we cannot wait until it is built to start providing a home for these girls. Good intentions won't keep these girls safe. They need security and protection and love now.

During this whole trip, I was reminded of several things by the Lord, but the most prevalent picture that came to my mind was that of the Shepherd leaving the 99 sheep and searching for the one sheep that had been lost. I guess that applies to goats, too, huh? There was a lot of cost involved in this trip to rescue her, but it was worth every cent. She is so precious and loved, and God has given her value that many people have failed to recognize. We love our little goatherder, and are so glad to have her back with us.

Thank you to all of you who prayed unceasingly for us in this expedition. Your prayers were truly felt, and God honored them all. I'm so emotional as I realize that hundreds of people all over the United States were raising up this little girl in prayer. God is good, and He does perform miracles. We witnessed one yesterday.