Stung (35 page)

“God created you and loved you enough to die for you, but until you receive—”

“I can't believe you don't think I'm a child of God,” Janie said. “And that woman and her baby aren't either? No wonder they call you people narrow-minded.”

“What you believe is that we're all a part of God and that God rewards and punishes people simply by what they do.”

“Yeah, so?”

“God's not like that. He wants to be our friend, but we sinned, and that separates us from God.”

Janie interrupted Conrad several times before he gave up. The girl simply wouldn't listen to the truth.

Judd awoke early Tuesday morning with a pain in his neck. He was sore after sleeping against the wall all night.

Mr. Stein sat beside him. “I brought you a donut and some coffee. You like cream and sugar?”

Judd nodded and rubbed his eyes. The donut was stale and the coffee watery, but they still tasted good. He stretched and leaned back against the cold wall. The airport was quiet. A few baggage workers and flight crews walked the halls. Passengers waited for flights in the terminal. A businessman lugged a suitcase up a flight of stairs.

“So what's up?” Judd said.

Mr. Stein smiled. “The sun, for one. And we are both well. We can be thankful for that.” Mr. Stein leaned against the wall and cradled his cup of coffee. “If you could have known me before, Judd, you would see what a miracle this is. I am the least likely candidate to be a messenger of God, and yet, here I am.”

“But what are we supposed to do?” Judd said.

Mr. Stein closed his eyes. “The psalmist says, ‘Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.'

“I think that is the most difficult task we have as followers. Believe. Wait. Let God work in his own time. It must have been very difficult for my daughter to know the truth and still have to wait for me to understand it and believe it.”

Judd thought of Chaya and how much she had prayed for her father. “I wish your daughter were here now.”

Mr. Stein nodded. “She would be thrilled to see how God has changed my life. Just that I have memorized Scripture would make her laugh with glee.”

Mr. Stein said he had read Scripture throughout the night and kept coming back to another passage in the Psalms: “‘You will keep on guiding me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny.' And at the end of the psalm he says, ‘I will tell everyone about the wonderful things you do.' That is what I want to do more than anything, Judd. Tell people of the wonderful things God can do.”

Judd sipped the coffee. He noticed a man in uniform near the baggage carousel watching them. “We have company.”

Mr. Stein stood. When the man came closer, Judd saw that he was a pilot and had the mark of the believer.

Mr. Stein shook hands. “Good day to you, my brother.”

“Welcome to Mali,” the man said. “I am Immen. Did you fly from Jerusalem?”

“Yes,” Mr. Stein said. “How did you know?”

“Come with me,” Immen said.

“Why?” Judd said.

“God has a job for you,” Immen said, “and he has sent me to take you to it.”

Vicki was cranky the rest of the day. She barked at Charlie for messing up the food pantry. Mark and Conrad weren't back when it got dark, and she wondered if something was wrong. If they hadn't found Janie in the surrounding woods, they may have gone toward town. That meant possible contact with the GC.

She found an e-mail from Judd and shared it with the rest of the group during dinner. He was off with Mr. Stein to some unknown country. Judd wrote that he didn't know when he and Lionel would be back in the States and asked the kids to pray for Sam, a new friend, and for a “situation” he didn't go into.

“What do you think the other thing is?” Shelly said later as she and Vicki did the dishes.

“Knowing Judd, it's probably something dangerous,” Vicki said.

Shelly smiled and looked down at the water.

“What?” Vicki said.

“You and Judd,” Shelly said. “I can tell how you feel about him.”

Vicki rolled her eyes. “Stop.”

Shelly giggled, then put a hand on Vicki's shoulder. “Do you realize how long it's been since any of us has laughed?”

“Just don't make fun of me to get your kicks,” Vicki said. “I don't have a thing for Judd.”

“Sure,” Shelly said.

Outside, a motorcycle revved. Vicki dropped the dishcloth and rushed out. She stared as Mark and an unfamiliar lady stepped off. When the motor died, she heard a baby cry.

Vicki didn't ask questions. Instead, she told Shelly to fix up a room downstairs. Darrion made dinner for their guest. Vicki told Charlie to come up with a crib.

“It's okay,” the woman said, “he can sleep with me.”

“I'll try anyway,” Charlie said.

“Please,” the woman said, “don't go to any trouble. I'm just glad to have a place to stay tonight.”

“Do you have family?” Vicki said.

The woman began to explain but couldn't continue. She clutched the baby and sobbed.

“It's okay,” Vicki said. “We'll get you something to eat and you can rest.”

Mark explained what had happened in town. “We're ahead of Janie and Conrad by a few minutes.”

Vicki nodded. “We have to figure out what to do with Janie.”

31

JUDD
and Mr. Stein followed the pilot through a security door and down a flight of stairs. As they walked onto the runway Judd said, “Where are you taking us?”

Immen stopped. “Are you not the two God has called?”

“We are,” Mr. Stein said.

“Good, follow me.”

The plane was small. Judd and Mr. Stein had very little room. When they were buckled, the pilot quickly went through the preflight procedure and was cleared by the tower.

The plane shook on takeoff, and Judd held on until his knuckles turned white. As they gained altitude, Immen put the plane on autopilot.

“I fly with one of the smaller airlines,” Immen said. “I use this to travel home when the roads are impassable.”

“How did you know we would be at the airport?” Mr. Stein said.

Immen smiled. “First, you must tell me why it is so urgent that you travel into such a dangerous area.”

Mr. Stein shrugged. “We don't know where we're going, my brother. Or what we'll do when we get there. But God has called us.” Mr. Stein told Immen about his dream and what he had seen.

Immen shook his head. “God is amazing. I had a dream as well last night. It was during a long flight. My first officer said I was talking in my sleep, but since he's not a believer, I didn't dare tell him what I saw.”

“What was the dream?” Judd said.

“I was walking through a remote area, and I came over a sand dune and saw hundreds and thousands of people. I have seen them before from the airplane. They are nomads; they move about the country with their flocks and herds.

“In the dream, these people tried to speak with me. They looked frightened and excited. I was frustrated because I couldn't talk with them or understand them.”

“What happened then?” Mr. Stein said.

“I was at the airport. I saw an older man with a beard and a younger man. ‘Find them,' a voice said to me. I awoke from my dream sweating. It seemed so real.”

“We are glad you followed instructions,” Mr. Stein said.

The pilot followed a river through the parched land. Judd wondered how the freezing temperatures had affected the desert. A few hours later they landed on a private airstrip, where a friend of Immen's waited. The man greeted Judd and Mr. Stein. He spoke in an African language to Immen, then opened the doors to his home.

“We'll rest here a few hours until sunset,” Immen said.

Judd fell into bed and was asleep immediately. When he awoke, Immen's friend had prepared a meal. When they were finished, the man led them outside to his Land Rover.

“Take,” the man said.

Mr. Stein hugged the man, and they were off. As they made their way across the rough roads and places where there were no roads, Immen explained. “Many people died from the effects of the cold. My friend told me where he thinks the tribe is staying.”

“Do you know their dialect?” Judd said.

“A few words,” Immen said. “No one knows their language completely. They have kept to themselves. A few years ago I heard that some of them left the tribe. A few even became Christians. But most remain isolated.”

“How did you become a believer?” Judd said.

Immen smiled. “By listening to and reading Tsion Ben-Judah.”

Immen drove the Land Rover into the night. Sometime after midnight, they bounced along a dry creek bed, then rose straight up over a sand dune. Immen stopped and pointed. “Down there.”

Judd gasped. In the moonlight he saw hundreds of campfires. Tents filled the valley, and thousands of dark-skinned people lay sleeping. Goats and camels were tied up at the edge of the camp.

Someone blew a horn, and people shouted and rushed out of their tents. They ran to the center of the village, then headed toward the vehicle. Some carried long, pointed sticks and waved them over their heads.

Judd panicked. “Are we in trouble?”

Immen gunned the engine and raced toward the people. “Not if this is where God wants you to be.”

Vicki finally got the woman and baby settled in a room. The baby slept peacefully on a crudely constructed crib Charlie had made from pieces of wood and a few blankets.

As Vicki went for another blanket, Conrad returned with Janie. “I didn't do anything wrong,” Janie said when she walked into the kitchen.

Vicki pulled her into the pantry and told her to keep quiet. Vicki shook from anger but tried to control herself. “I can't believe you'd do this to us!”

“This isn't about you,” Janie said. “I needed to get away—what's so bad about that?”

Vicki shook her head. “You don't get it, do you?”

“I know the GC could have picked me up, but I wouldn't rat you guys out.”

“You have no idea what they can do to you.”

Janie stared at Vicki. “Yes I do, but I don't expect you to care about it.” She opened the pantry door and slammed it behind her. Vicki sighed and walked into the kitchen.

“I tried to talk with her on the way back. She wouldn't listen,” Conrad said.

“I shouldn't have yelled at her like that, but it's so frustrating!”

Vicki took the woman another blanket and a pillow. “My name is Lenore Barker,” the woman said quietly. She looked at the sleeping child. “This is Tolan.”

Vicki introduced herself and asked if the woman needed anything else.

“No, and I told those two boys that I'm willing to work for any food that I eat.”

Vicki smiled. “You'll be safe here tonight.”

“Just tonight?” Lenore said. “My husband is gone now and …” Lenore put a hand to her mouth and wept.

Vicki patted her shoulder and waited.