Joyce, one of the longest serving ladies who works for us, has had a really terrible time since Friday. I only found out about her troubles this afternoon. Her story is a sharp reminder of how frequently life can turn Thomas Hardyesque out here.
On Friday a number of the pupils from our school took part in an area sports day, (this being the season for school sports – netball and football in this case). Six of our pupils were selected to represent our area at the next inter-area fixtures and came home in triumphant mood. The venue for the sports on Friday was too far to walk so they went in our Landrover.
Unknown to Joyce her son also decided to attend the sports and set off on foot. He does not attend our school so the journey to the sports must have taken him some time. I’m assuming he had a good time watching the matches. Unfortunately he did not come home after them. He hasn’t been seen since the games finished on Friday afternoon. Joyce was, as you can imagine, very upset and worried. Her son also suffers from epilepsy, adding to her burden.
After church today Duncan, (our farm manager), explained that Joyce wanted to have an announcement read out on the local radio station about the problem. The going rate for this service is ten shillings per word. Armed with enough money to have a good message read out three times Joyce set off for Kosele. We prayed with all the children tonight for the boy’s safe return.
Ten minutes after our prayers Mary, (our manager), came to see me and said that she had some good news. Joyce had just received a phone call to say that her son had been found in a village some distance away from Kosele. We can only assume that he set off in the wrong direction after the sports had finished and just kept walking. He had no money with him so probably hasn’t eaten since Friday and will, I’m sure, be in a sorry state when he gets home. Mary reckons it’s about a three hour drive to his current location and has just persuaded a taxi driver to go and pick the lad up. I know that children can just as easily get lost in the west. The main difference is the scale of response. In England the case would have made headline news by three days and a major search would have been started. Over here I shudder to think what might have happened had Joyce been unable to make her radio appeal for help due to lack of funds.
I’m really pleased that Joyce has seen the result that we prayed for. I know that she will have been praying too. Whether you think it is just coincidence or believe that a higher power is at work tonight’s events have helped to draw us together and strengthened our faith.
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