Birthday gift of faith

Josiah already knew too much. We had interrupted his birthday dinner in town after receiving a frightful message from Uwezo, our gardener. His two-year old daughter was missing.

The sun was setting, and Uwezo, like ¾’s of the population here, lives on a rocky hillside, surrounded by cliffs that become even more dangerous in the night. There are no phone lines, no water pipes, and most critically, no electricity to illuminate the countless paths that traverse the rocky landscape. The neighborhood had been searching for two hours in daylight with no success.

On the way to drop the family off at home, Josiah peppered us with questions that we could not answer. But, finally relenting from his questions, our young theologian instead began offering his words of hope from the back seat:

“God can see Teresia. We can’t see God, but he can see all of us. He will take care of her.”

Charity’s heart and mine sank even lower. We both wanted to cry—while we affirmed everything Josiah said—“he is taking care of her.”—we feared and were preparing for the worst. And how would we explain this to our four-year old?

Thankfully, when I was on my way to try to help, Uwezo called me with the good news we had been praying for. Teresia was found, a couple miles from home. I drove to find Uwezo’s father, to share the good news, Then I returned home to catch the end of the ad-libbed birthday meal—hot dogs, carrots, and brownies—and share the good news with everyone, especially Josiah.

Josiah will learn—as we all have—that things do not always turn out so well. But we also need to learn—in spite of past hurts and hardships—that God is watching, and listening to our every prayer.

A child saved, a child’s faith preserved. Childlike faith rediscovered again.


Another unrelated theological observation from Josiah: God keeps scabs in a drawer. All sizes. He looks to see what size you need, then he gets one out, and gives it to Jesus to put on.