If you don't believe the adage, "There are no coincidences in a Christian's life," just chat with JoAnna Hurst for a while. Since a spiritual awakening two years ago, life just hasn't been the same for her. One dramatic example is the terrifying day last fall when JoAnna's only grandson, 15-month-old LaMont, was inadvertently kidnapped by a carjacker.
JoAnna had just arrived at her thrift store job at The Salvation Army Adult Rehabilitation Center (ARC) in Des Moines, Iowa, when she got a heart-stopping phone call from her mom, LaMont's great-grandmother.
JoAnna's daughter-in-law, Ashlynn—an honor-roll student attending Iowa State University on a full scholarship—had stopped for gas early that morning in Des Moines on her way back to school about 40 miles away. Distracted and in a hurry, Ashlynn dashed inside to pay and left her car keys in the ignition. In those few seconds, someone jumped into her Ford Explorer and took off—with LaMont still strapped in his car seat in the back. Ashlynn was horrified.
The police were called, and the alarm went out ... and up. Prayer began almost immediately, not just by the family but also by the entire ARC. Captains John and Julie Aren, the administrators, had been conducting a staff meeting when JoAnna received the devastating news, which spread like wildfire throughout the building.
"Everyone at the ARC knew and loved LaMont," JoAnna says. She added the worst part of the ordeal was the not knowing. "You hear news stories all the time about children being dumped out of stolen vehicles or who are never found."
At about the same time prayer began, the carjacker realized he had an unexpected passenger and abandoned the vehicle on a side street. Simultaneously, a police officer patrolling in a squad car received a strong "impression" that he should go down that same side street, about 10 blocks from the abduction site. The officer found the vehicle and flung open the back door to find LaMont, normally shy with strangers, eagerly holding out both arms toward the officer.
When JoAnna and Ashlynn arrived on the scene, they found LaMont eating a banana and happily ensconced in the officer's arms. Police scent dogs were brought in to find the carjacker, but the trail soon went cold. He was never caught.
Although LaMont had been missing for only 20 minutes, it had seemed like an eternity to his mom. Ashlynn, deeply relieved, was also deeply embarrassed. A highly responsible, hard-working girl majoring in biology with plans to become a pediatrician, she was badly shaken by the experience. For her part, JoAnna fiercely came to Ashlynn's defense when other family members began chiding her daughter-in-law about the kidnapping.
"We all make mistakes, but with the help of God, people can change," she says. JoAnna says Ashlynn is a good mother who reads to LaMont and has been teaching him his letters and numbers. "Now Ashlynn's even more in tune with parenting and is almost overly protective!"
JoAnn knows about God's forgiveness for mistakes because she came through the ARC herself.
"The Salvation Army has taken my life on a whole other journey," JoAnna says. "I'm experiencing God on a deeper level, learning about prayer, being ministered to by Captains John and Julie Aren, and enjoying the Christian unity at the ARC," JoAnna says.
For JoAnna and the people of the ARC, LaMont's story is another of the miracles they see happening every day.
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