Please pray

One of our boys has gone missing. We haven't heard from him in over a week. This is unlike him. He has always been responsible and faithfully going to school even when the others would skip from time to time. He lived in a dormitory with three other of our boys but they don't know where he is. He left one evening and never returned. We are worried and helpless. In Hungary you can't report an adult missing person until the person has been missing for three months. This boy is just over 18. He has mentioned before that he had a foster father while he was living in Nigeria and that J. was on his way to Germany where this foster father lives, when he got caught at the Hungarian Austrian border. We only think and hope that his father finally found him and came to get him and that this man is a safe person for J to be with. It's all pretty disheartening. This loss has affected the other kids. They have grown so close and to loose J. like this has really shaken the group. This week we will speak about loss. It is a reality they must face - their refugee claims can be rejected (and have been) and there is the possiblity that they would be sent home.

Tomorrow is Richard's hearing. Even my stomach is in knots because I realize that he is completely vulnerable to the whim of the system. But our faith is in God who is Lord of the system too. Not because I know Richard, but objectively - I think his claim is just. He is from Congo Brazaville, his father was a high ranking official for the president at the time. The government changed - and his father found himself at risk. A group of rebels made of ousted officials formed and wanted Richard's father to joing them. Since he had become a Christian at this time, his father refused and that is why he fled. After he fled, Richard's mother was shot and Richard lived with his grandmother until these rebels came and took him. He spent 8 months in captivity and was let out to live with his grandmother to get his father to come back. His father came back and was killed. Richard was hiding under the bed at the time and that is how he escaped. An uncle quickly arranged for him to leave the country and he ended up in Hungary. He fears his life if he goes back. The rebels know his name and will eliminate him. He is a textbook case, convention refugee. I hope tomorrow the authorities will feel the same.

He sent me a text message on my phone last night asking for prayer. I replied by telling him that I would and that people in Canada were praying also. He replied by writing "Thanks! May God bless and reward you! And them that are praying for me! Thanks!"

So please pray for Richard. I am also afraid of the outcome. But our God is the God of the judicial system as well and it is subject to His authority and will. May Richard be given asylum status!!

Peace!