By His Grace Alone

Since I last written we have all been through a whirlwind of experiences and a rollercoaster of emotions. I will start by saying that EVERYONE is now safe and that I am currently enjoying the company of and the opportunity to share my Cuencan life with MY mommy. Also, I probably won’t be able to write about the truly AMAZING time we had in the Galapagos until later, but know that it was more magical than I could have ever hoped for.

All that said, I thought it was imperative that I explain the events that have taken place here in the past few days, first. I know there are many of you who already know some, and some who don’t know at all of what happened, so I will give the basics first.

A boy from Taylor (not in our biology group) went missing on Sunday night while visiting a mountain park near Cuenca. He was found approximately 24 hours later and treated for only minor dehydration and hypothermia.

…Only by the grace of God…

Ok, now for more details. The Taylor bell choir group (Taylor Ringers) is visiting Ecuador for spring break, playing concerts in a few different cities and doing some mission work as well, this week. They arrived in Cuenca on Easter Sunday morning and met the rest of us Taylor students at the church for breakfast. What a treat it was to see some familiar faces! And of course it was fun to hear and see them play in our Ecuadorian church! Anyways, after church all Taylor people, including parents (like my mom!) who are also visiting this week, and various Ecuadorians went to lunch and then to visit the Cajas National Park (in the Andes Mountains) just north of Cuenca. We were all told to be back at the buses at 4:30. When one student from the Ringers, Luke (NOT our Luke), was the only one not to return at that time, other students and adults almost immediately began to look for him. At approximately 4:00, a number of Ringers students passed Luke on the path everyone had been on which was the only area we were allowed to be. It was presumed that he could not have gotten very far in that half hour because of the severely dangerous terrain and high altitude. One of the bus drivers also claimed that he was positive he had seen Luke going in a certain direction, in which we then drove the buses to a spot that would be more accessible to where he was supposedly last seen. A man with a similar colored shirt was then seen coming towards the path entrance we had just driven to, and Luke was nowhere to be seen. The authorities of the park were then contacted and searches of several paths that he was presumed to have taken began. Dark quickly fell upon the mountains and a heavy fog moved in before 7pm that night. Police and emergency vehicles were brought to the park, all the church members affiliated with Taylor were contacted and asked to come up, and countless, caring members of the church made their way to the site to serve their God and show their love by helping in anyway possible in the search for our lost brother. Around 8pm that night, the buses full of us students, headed back to Cuenca where we could all be home safe, and just pray.

Throughout the evening and the next day, was spent mostly in prayer and for our biology group, just being together for lack of knowing what to do. During that time, extensive searches were continued and furthered in areas surrounding and even areas far from where Luke had last been seen. The park authorities, Ecuadorian police, American Embassy, and many many church volunteers were all involved.

I received an initially scary call at around 10:30 PM Monday night, which ended up being THE answer to our prayers. Luke had been found at the park check point on the opposite side of Cajas where he had apparently walked to, not knowing the direction he was going. Like I said before, Luke was found to be free from injury and treated overnight for only minor dehydration and hypothermia.

It is a blessing that he was returned to us alive even, and it is ONLY by the grace of God he survived. The Ringers left Cuenca Tuesday morning to continue their ministry in Ecuador.

I will continue to fill you in on the effects of what happened in days to come as well as the other much more positive and exciting experiences had in the last couple of weeks. But now I have to go and enjoy the company of my dearly-loved mommy before she leaves on Friday!

By His Grace alone,

Lindsay