The phone rang late on New Year’s Eve, relaying the worst news. The Smiths* had not returned from their trip to Kotzebue. Edna and Jose, Arctic Mission workers, sprang into action. As members of the Selawik search and rescue team, they knew that they would be working against the clock. Temperatures would continue to drop into the negatives on the tundra, and even the most experienced snow machine drivers can get turned around on the vast wasteland.
Villagers from Selawik often travel the 73 miles to Kotzebue on snow machines to replenish supplies or visit family and friends. But this night, the Smiths were late in returning. The search and rescue team gathered to devise a plan to find the missing couple. Three teams of two people would snowmobile to different points along the known route between Selawik and Kotzebue. Before the groups departed, Edna asked if they would join her in prayer. She prayed for the safety of the teams, for the Smiths and that God would be glorified.
All through the night, Edna prayed before the teams went out, but they returned with no success. The search was getting more difficult as the wind whipped up the falling snow. Visibility decreased, and the temperature dropped well below zero. It was 3 a.m. when the last search team came back to warm themselves and report that there was no trace of the couple’s snow machine tracks.
Edna’s heart sank. “Dear God,” she prayed with tears in her eyes, “You know where this couple is, please direct our search to find them before it is too late.”
Suddenly, Edna felt impressed to send a team back to the original location where the search began. She told the group this and asked if everyone would pray once more, asking God to lead the team to the couple. As they held hands in prayer, Edna again begged God to save the lost couple and direct the search team. With that, the searchers returned into the night while the rest waited.
An hour later, in walked the couple and their rescuers! A cry of joy erupted as everyone began talking at once. When things quieted down, the team leader recounted what happened. The search party returned to the initial search area. As they traversed the area, they suddenly spotted the Smiths crawling towards them, with something indistinguishable behind them. As they moved closer, what the rescuers saw made the hair on their necks stand up. Wolves. With each movement the couple made, the wolves came in closer, almost at their heels. They were waiting for the couple to give up and succumb to the cold.
Once home and warming by the fire, the Smith’s explained that their snow machine had broken down as they were returning to Selawik and the only thing they could do was try to reach the village on foot. Unbeknownst to the rescuers, a herd of caribou had gone across the trail of the couple, wiping away their tracks. Word spread quickly throughout the village that the God of the Seventh-day Adventists answered the prayers of Edna and Jose. While there was immense joy through a miracle on the tundra, God was glorified throughout the village as He honored the faithful prayer of the AMA workers by leading the team to the lost couple.
Please continue to pray for our AMA workers who are the spiritual lifelines in their village this holiday season.
*Names have been changed for privacy.
