Miracles Grow

I will repay you for the years the locusts have eaten...You will have plenty to eat, until you are full, and you will praise the name of the Lord your God who has worked wonders for you; never again will my people be shamed. Joel 2:25,26

Long ago, I was going through a terrible time in my life. I felt defeated and worthless. I pretty much felt like locust-ravaged ground.

Then God brought Delmy into my life. She barely spoke English, and I spoke hardly any Spanish. She came to clean my house, but instead she brightened my life.

Soon after she started, she told me her sister was traveling from their home country in Central America to bring Delmy's daughter, Brenda, to live with Delmy and her husband. Delmy was overjoyed to have her family come live with her, but she was worried about the dangers of travel.

One day, Delmy arrived, distraught. Brenda and her aunt had made it all the way to California, only to be abandoned by coyotes in the desert. Brenda and her aunt were picked up by U.S. Immigration, and they were in custody. They were scheduled to be deported that evening. According to Delmy, guerrilla gunmen were shooting down returning deportees as they disembarked from their planes in their native country. Delmy had seen it on TV.

Delmy said we only had about four hours to rescue Brenda and her aunt before it was too late.


I started calling international mission organizations, diplomats, lawyers, Immigration employees, officials, every person I could think of or was referred to. As I called, most had responses along the lines of, "I can't really help you. You know, I shouldn't even tell you this, but..." and then the person would tell me the next step to take, or person to try calling.

Finally, I ended up with a local Immigration official, who told me flatly that Brenda and her aunt were not protected by refugee status. There could be no intervention. He offered no help, period.

In desperation, I finally tried the number of an immigration lawyer, who offered to "shoot down the plane" if necessary, to stop the proceedings, for a fee. My then-husband rushed him this fee right away. We never found out if he contacted Immigration. The last report from him was that the plane left on time, and he had no idea if Brenda was on it. Every member of our family went to bed that night, assuming the worst, sick at heart.

We didn't know what to feel as we saw Delmy approach our door the next day, but when she arrived, she was jubilant!

Brenda and her aunt had indeed been seated on the plane, waiting to take off. Then someone from Immigration had come to them, and told them they could get off. They were set free on bail within days. None of us will ever understand all the details, but somehow, some way, God had removed that little girl and her aunt from the plane, and intervened to save their lives.

Ten years later, my family and I went to Brenda's high school graduation ceremony.

Delmy still writes to me, though now we live far apart. "I will never forget," she says. I never will, either.

When I think about high points of seeing God act in my life, this is at the top.
God not only restored the years the locusts had eaten, he worked wonders for all of us.