One of the women involved in our youth ministry of Las Alitas on the east side of Juarez, Mexico, called us one night in desperation. One of her young male relatives, along with some other youth, was kidnapped by drug traffickers. Sobbing, she begged us to pray for them.
We told her, “Let’s pray and ask God to have mercy on the young men who were kidnapped. We will unite our prayers with yours.” We started to pray to Fr. Rick Thomas asking him to intercede for these youth. “Father Thomas, please go to these boys and help them,” we pleaded.
More often than not in these kidnappings, the victims are killed and their bodies are never found. It is tragically rare that the victims are released alive.
With concern in our hearts, we called the lady the next morning to see if there was any news. She exclaimed excitedly, “At 2 a.m. this morning, the youth were all freed. They were beaten up badly and are in rough shape, but they were released and are alive!”
She went on, “I don’t know what you prayed, but it worked!! Thank you, thank you, thank you for your prayers!”
This is not the first time that we have asked Fr. Thomas to intercede on behalf of kidnapped victims where there has been a quick and miraculous release. We thank God for His mercy for these young men, and we thank Fr. Thomas for interceding on their behalf. Glory to God!
