In 2005 I experienced a personal attack which came by way of sorrow too. It took years to overcome. Each year on that memorable day of May 13, I would expect a breakthrough. The breakthrough did not come easy. It was deep. It was painful. It was a process. The process, though, had not been complete. I could never quite shake the remnants of the experience I so dreadfully went through. My father God of peace kept reassuring me that I would make it. It left me emotionally disabled for a season, but with each step, life became beautiful again and I was able to really sense everything, every single part of the experience would eventually pass into the unseeable part of life.
In February of this year, very shockingly, Denny and I were physically attacked when we arrived home by masked, armed gang members. They had an apparatus to pop the first gate and enter the yard unbeknownst to anyone, even the community guard. We were terrorized for one hour, locked up in the house with 4 men and 4 guns. We were robbed and tied up in the bedroom. So many details that I don't want to rehearse. It was just a horrible event in our lives, however in the chaos of it all, God was present. The police, the Red Cross, our Costa Rican friends, our missionary friends came to our rescue but until anyone of those parties knew of our predicament, God Himself was present.
After the trauma, we were attended to so carefully by AGWM and our area director, we forever give God praise that we are Assemblies of God missionaries. We had never experienced a trauma on the field like this, so we hadn't experienced this kind of care from our organization. Today we are whole because of their intimate care.
I was admitted into the hospital because of my ribs and my throat for a couple of days. The medical team didn't know what actually was on the glove that the attacker had on as he pushed his gloved hand deep down into my throat. I was put on an antibiotic drip and went through numerous scans and tests. This became a very dark time in my life as I had no voice for 8 weeks. Of course the enemy used that time to tell me I would not recover. Through the prayers of so many, the faithfulness of God, I have recovered.
Just 2 weeks ago I preached in my parent's church and my father and I sang a duet. It was the first time that I sang in public since the attack. I give God praise.
During the time that I was in the Costa Rican hospital, Denny was inundated with all of the paperwork and details to reestablish his accounts and his personal papers. He was able to secure his temporary passport, so that we could leave the country.
We were in the states for 7 weeks for trauma counseling and therapy. Our district, Southern New England, took such good care of us. To this day we can't say thank you enough for all they did to house us and to take care of our personal needs that at that time were so many. We were crushed, frightened, nervous, filled with pain, confused as to the hows and whys of the attack, yet through each step God was present.
During the time of therapy, God was so present. In an indirect way, the trauma that I experienced in 2005 and the 2015 attack were psychologically connected. I never had a clue that this attack would bring up the past experience that tried to destroy me and would connect the dots in my personal life. At the time of my 2005 trauma I was threatened to not say a word. I took credence in the threat and was never free to find psychological help, lo and behold, this recent attack put me in a position to not avoid the history. I give God praise, all things work together for good.
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