Crossing our river Pucuro
“The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love.”
Psa. 142:11
My introduction to our new life in the village Pucuro was a “shocker”. My youngest daughters disappearance from my arms in those first moments after arriving on the riverbank caused my entire being to experience sheer terror!
Skipping that one-day would have been the loss of a life-lesson that changed my life!
Missionary Boot Camp training had been deliberate in preparing me for this crisis. My mind was reminded of the reason why we had come and the promise I had claimed two years prior to the moment I was living now! “…Whoever listens to me will live in safety and be at ease without fear of harm.” The verse worked so well when we lived in the states! This verse in Proverbs 1:33 is written by the “wisest” man that ever lived and it had always given me courage to keep on.
Have you ever claimed a promise from God and then panicked when put to the test?
Two men from our mission had contacted these unreached tribal people two years earlier. The Kunas had asked for someone to come and bring them the medicine and help they needed to keep their babies from dying at birth. Some of the mothers were weakened by tuberculosis. There were multiple infections and parasites of every kind…would someone answer that call?
Well…we answered…and they had taken my baby!
My heart sank as I scanned the agitated crowd in the dimness of the dark night. Certainly no electricity here! Pitch black, drenched bodies, dark faces, barking dogs, slushy mud path and no baby. My heart pounding and unaware of my personal discomfort or how I must sound, I stood dripping wet in a downpour, screeching in a foreign tongue…calling into the wind for my lost child.
Completely overwhelmed by my loss I saw someone slip out of the darkness and run in my direction. Stretching over people she placed my tiny girl back into my waiting arms. I now had both babies against my breast and I breathed a sigh of incomprehensible relief, whispering a prayer of gratefulness to my God who keeps His promises!
“He holds victory in store for the upright, He is a shield to those who walk blameless for He guards the course of the just and He protects the way of His faithful ones.” Proverbs 2:7,8
Paul Little in How to Give Away Your Faith, wrote, “The statement that God is in control is either true or it’s not true. But if it is true and we accept God’s revelation of Himself, our faith enables us to enjoy and rest in the certainty of His providence (will).”
I stood up and turned to face my new reality and walked through the door of my brand-new jungle life!
It was good it was too dark to know who had inadvertently brought such distress to my spirit that night…but bless her, that same person had been used to quickly bring me to the throne of Grace for a thorough evaluation of my personal commitment to His “calling”!
Gratefully, as a young mother, I was given the opportunity very early to place my heritage in the hands of an all-knowing God. He had again asked me to “count the cost”. I stopped wanting to “skip” life-lessons and began embracing them. I claimed those powerful promises in the Word that had always been applied to others and now…were all mine!
These are my grandchildren… my heritage…
that came from my two little missionary daughters many years later
…all seven of them!
~Jackie Johnson - I am a former tribal missionary to the Kuna Indians on the Colombian border in Central America. Fluent in several languages, my husband and I currently pastor a Spanish-speaking church in Southern California. My passion is discipling and equipping dedicated young women for life, marriage, motherhood, and beyond. I am the mother of two daughters and the grandmother of three Princesses and four young Knights.
