So often I think about what may happen or try to plan things out, but today was a really good reminder that God has a plan much bigger and better than anything I have in mind. Sunday, Megan and I decided to go on a walk, because it was nice and sunny in the afternoon. Megan had the idea for us to go visit her host mother, so we called her and then started walking there. We were almost there, when we saw a girl (nineteen years old) running hysterically down the street screaming İayudame! (help me) with her dad running after her. She made it to us and threw her arms around me and held on tight. When the dad got to us he grabbed her and started yanking her, but she had her arms firmly grasped around my waist so I went with them. He was very angry and yelling at her. I asked him if he could just wait a minute and let everyone calm down and he was like you don’t know what is going on here. And I agreed with him but insisted that everyone needed to calm down before she could go with him (she was obviously terrified and kept saying things like he is going to kill me, he is going to hit me). Luckily some men came around and tried to calm down the father as well. The girl just kept looking at me, with so much fear in her eyes and asking me to help her. At one point he was able to get her off of me and she was freaking out and a man was trying to help and I looked at the other men and was like please help, please help and they started gathering around him as well and I was able to pull the girl back out. Eventually the dad calmed down a little and everyone seemed in agreement that they should go to the police station and the girl was like please come with me, please. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I couldn’t leave her, for some reason she clung to me and found comfort in me and so I had to go. So Megan and I went to the police station with the girl and her dad (praying the whole way) and we were there for probably an hour. It turns out the dad was very angry because the girl had spent all day yesterday and all night with a boy and she’s been staying out late and not being responsible. The cop was really good at talking them through all their problems. By the end the dad was much calmer (he had even cried at one point) and seemed willing to work things out. I honestly felt like he wasn’t going to hurt her and he honestly wanted to work things out. He even apologized to me and thanked me. The girl was still a little upset and afraid, but much better. And the officer assured her that if her dad hurt her she should return and the officer would take care of it. I didn’t really get a chance to talk to them personally or pray with them or anything like that, but I definitely feel like God worked through me in that situation. Afterwards, I kept wondering, why me, why did she choose me to latch onto. I never met her before, yet she kept hugging me tight and just crying in my arms. I felt a strong feeling while all this was going on that I just needed to exist, just be there for her (which kept her dad from being able to pull her away) and love and care for her as Jesus would even though I had no idea who she was, what she had done, or if I may ever see her again. I just knew I couldn’t leave her. I felt God telling me that I may not understand what He’s doing, or see many of the results, but that I just needed to be there for her, that my actions would speak loudly. I hope more comes of the situation, I hope she was able to see God through me. All I know is that God definitely worked through me, because I wasn’t really scared, I was trying to reason with the man (in Spanish), and I felt like my actions just flowed and it was definitely all God. It’s just an amazing reminder that God can and will use us I amazing ways and we just need to trust in His plan and be willing to go with it.
"Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins." 1Peter 4:8
