Answered Prayer

 

 

 

As a mother of a three and a half year old, I was deeply affected when I heard on the news that a three year old boy had been missing for three days. It was believed that boy had been abducted by Randall Hopley, 46, a convicted sex offender from the Sparwood area.

Tears sprang to my eyes as I imagined this person having a child that was not much younger than my own child and I stopped what I was doing and prayed. I prayed and asked God to return the boy to his family safely before any harm was done to him. I appealed to His mercy and goodness.
Before I was done, I felt a sense of calm, peace as if everything was going to be all right. As I stood, I was filled with confidence that I would soon be hearing good news about this little boy.

Three days later my prayer was answered. On Yahoo News, I saw the headline Three-year-old Kienan Hebert found safe, returned by suspect: police and tears of joy filled my eyes and I thanked God. He had saved that little boy. He had returned him to his parents. I read some of the comments following the story and quite a number of people thanked and praised God for answering prayers and called this happy ending to the story a miracle.
“This young boy was returned by an abductor. In 26 years of policing I have never seen this,” said an emotional RCMP Cpl. Dan Moskaluk. “The little guy appears to be in good health. Little guys like this are very resilient. That’s what we’re seeing this morning. To the rest of the world 9-11 means New York. 9-11 to me means Kienan Hebert.”

The boy’s father, Paul Hebert, called his pastor shortly after Kienan was found Sunday morning. Pastor Ron Rutley of the Sparwood Fellowship Baptist Church gave thanks for Kienan’s safe return in his Sunday morning sermon.
We live in a society where we have to be so careful when it comes to the safety of our children. It scares me that this boy was taken from his home undetected and returned the same way. And his abductor Hopley was convicted of sexual assault in the mid-1980s and was given a two-year federal prison sentence.

The little boy had a history of sleepwalking and his family hoped that he had wandered away. They didn’t want to believe that something worst had happened. What a nightmare this must have been for his parents. His father made this heartfelt plea to Kienan’s suspected captor, “We’re just asking, please bring Kienan to a safe place right now, OK? Like a gas station or store parking lot where he is visibly seen and you could just drop him off there okay? Walk away. We just want him safe. Kienan’s only three years old right now and as you know and we know Kienan can’t speak, so he can’t tell us who you are, right? This is your chance right now to get away. All we want is Kienan to come back with us and to be safe in our arms again.”

I am thankful that God spoke to this man’s conscience and Kienan was returned to his parents. My heart goes out to the families who will never see their missing children again or those who have had to bury theirs. I had also appealed to God’s sense of justice and am hoping that Hopley will turn himself in.

I am thankful that God was with Kienan’s parents and that they had the support of their community. This was an ordeal that no parent should ever have to go through—a missing child in the hands of a sex offender and each day he is missing, you fear the worst. You imagine your child scared and wondering where Mommy and Daddy are. My heart breaks at the thought that this little boy was taken from the one place where he should have felt safe. There is a lesson to be learned here. We need to take whatever measures we need to ensure that our homes are secure and that no one can come in or our children cannot get out.

This was another example of God answering my prayer. Listen, God is faithful and loving and if you do not pray amiss He will answer your prayer.

Parents, let us Take Action in protecting our families, especially our children with God’s help and making sure that our doors and windows are locked.

ADELE BUTLER ~ Women of Spirit, 2011