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!?Not really missing?!
Is a person missing, if that person is just late for an hour or a day?
Did I prepare to prevent a bad situation? I should have done more? Focus on what you can do now.
A question comes to mind or is shouted with the name of the missing one.
Where are you? Genesis 3:9
Albanian - Ku je?
Arabic - أَيْنَ أَنْتَ؟ (man speaking to a man)
Bulgarian - Къде си?
Chinese - 你 在 那 裡 。
Danish - Hvor er du?
Dutch - Waar ben je?
French - Où es-tu?
German - Wo bist du?
Greek - Πού είσαι?
Haitian - Kote ou ye?
Hungarian - Hol vagy?
Icelandic - Hvar ertu? Hvar ert þú?
Italian - Dove sei?
Norwegian - Hvor er du?
Portuguese - Onde estás?
Romanian - Unde ewti?
Russian - где ты?
Spanish - ¿Dónde estás?
Swedish - Var är du?
Turkish - Neredesin?
Vietnamese - Ngươi ở đâu?
When there is no answer, should there be an appeal for help?
In that situation pray as you go along. Pray for wisdom. Bargain hard and fairly with God. Decisions. Decisions.
What is it? Really missing? Not really missing? Tell us!
It starts with uncertainty. Every detail is gone over. Sometimes a missing person is found quickly. A brave search may be done with fear. It may be a one-person affair. A thorough search, a thorough phone campaign, a thorough mining of a network give leads. It should never be inconvenient to ask for help from many people. Better a lot of inconvenience and putting key people out. This help is the foundation for needed support systems. And that IS most important in times of need.
Ask questions yourself of people who want to help.
Do you(2+) question me about _______(name of missing person)? - Isaiah 45:11
Veut-on me questioner sur _____(nom du disparu)? - French
Wollt ihr mich wegen _____(Namen des Vermissten) fragen? - German
Mi fate domande circa _____? - Italian
Mandadme acerca de _______(nombre del desaparecido)? - Spanish
If a person goes missing, the first 24 hours are most important. It's important to document. Important to take pictures of what might be clues. Runaways often don't have much money. They take buses or hitchhike. Unattached young people are often approached in bus depots by those who will harm them within 24 hours. Pictures are worth at least a 1000 words. "Amber Alerts" issued by the police involve the public quickly to be on the look-out for victims and any suspects. (electronic highway billboards and all media - TV and print pictures)
In our city, a child was found within 24 hours and was entrusted to safe caregivers. Nowadays there are also quite a few security cameras in public spaces that can snap pictures and act as visual witnesses. Time may be of the essence to secure any footage, since some systems tape over older material. Missing people and any of their perpetrators need to eat, sleep and more and so frequent public spaces in sometimes predictable patterns.
"Make a careful search..." Words from Matthew 2:8
Spanish-Busquen con diligencia...
German-Forscht genau...
Italian-Cercate con ogni cura...
Russian - Тщательно все разузнайте...
"Go and make a careful search..."
Directquote: Words from Matthew 2:8.
Spanish-Vayan y busquen con diligencia...
German-Zieht hin und forscht genau...
Italian-Andate e cercate con ogni cura...
Russian - Идите и тщательно все разузнайте...
When not sure someone is REALLY missing or COULD go missing, set up at least a workable plan to be put into action. Here are excellent action plans that can be adapted.
πορευθεντες ακριβως εξετασατε περι του παιδιου - NT Greek
Go and make a careful/diligent search for the child.
- Matthew 2:8
Find or create personal identification kits for those vulnerable to be missing, such as children and the elderly. Records height, weight, identifying marks (scars, tattoos...) birthmarks, fingerprints, and include a recent photo. Be ready to add a written description and/or pictures of the belongings relevant to the time of going missing. That way, police or others can have quick access to current information.
Write down what the possible "missing" person has said and/or has been told re: street proofing, safe havens, strangers, a family "secret" password, phoning, etc.
Brain storm re: the extent of "missing" person's network and capture all the information. Find address books, yours included. Organize the information for a possible search.
What to do when your child is missing? There were ideas such as talk to your child/teenager's friends at this site. - Your child may come to Covenant House, a shelter for young people.
What to do when someone IS really missing! - In His Hands ideas
Precious Ones - 'Getting Lost' Prevention, Poems, and Memorial List of Names
What to do when someone (of any age) is missing overseas? - Australian Government Brochure ideas
International child abductions-- includes
information written for Canadians, but useful for people from any country, such as:
a) The Hague Convention, Provincial contacts and general information
b) Child Find contacts by province
c) some check lists for ID and management purposes and more.
Same International child abductions Information--in French
Today there are many missing children who are abducted by a parent. We need the wisdom of Solomon to tell who is telling the truth and who makes the better custodial parent. There are webpages that refer to a picture of an abductor.
If the suspect is a man abductor, the search picture can be accompanied by the question from John 7:11
Where is that man?
Arabic - أَيْنَ ذَاكَ الرَّجُلُ؟
Chinese - 他 在 那 裡 。
Italian - Dov'è quel tale?
Spanish - ¿Dónde se habrá metido?
Russian - Где этот человек?
There will be questions about parenting rights and skills.
The following question can be asked sincerely or flippantly.
Do you(2+) question me about my children? - Isaiah 45:11
Veut-on me questioner sur mes enfants? - French
Wollt ihr mich wegen meiner Kinder fragen? - German
Mi fate domande circa i miei figli? - Italian
Mandadme acerca de mis hijos? - Spanish
You need wisdom to know what answers to this question really mean.
Mr. Sommerfeldt, Alberta, recommends that loved ones or parents concentrate on keeping healthy and to include a wide support system of family and friends.
"Their No. 1 task is keeping themselves healthy."
This is very true when the search has been long.
Then there is practically always a missing person poster made.
If the search is multilingual because potential witnesses speak other languages, the following wording can be used with the search picture from 1 Corinthians 1:20 and/or Isaiah 33:18 where it is found 3x each in any language needed. (Sorry don't know how to add many languages such as East Indian languages due to font problems. But...if you need those wordings, you can look them up!)
Where is ____(a name or aliases)?
Arabic - ؟ (Arabic and/or aka names) وَأَيْنَ
Bulgarian - Где е ____?
Czech - Kde jste ____?
French - Où est ____?
Italian - Dov'è ____?
Romanian - Unde este ____?
Spanish - ¿Dónde está ____?
Swahili - Yuko wapi ____?
Swedish - Var äro ____?
Tagalog (Filipino) - Nasaan ang _____?
Amy Bradley is missing since 1998.
Here is her Internet profile for this internationally missing adult.
Please pray about her situation as well as similar ones.
TeamAmy is searching for her in other languages too:
So far using Spanish, French and Dutch
The "Updates" link shows extensive media coverage.
Would Amy still be called Amy now, especially if she is in another country?
Here is another profile of a missing girl from France. For a long time, the menu HAD links to the same information for about 15 languages. For as long a time since, the information seems only available in French:
Estelle Mouzin is missing since Jan 2003
- an international search for a young girl
The language list was not user-friendly for the various language speakers, since it gave the language names only in French. So the English information was found under "Anglais". A barrier to communication.
Please pray for Estelle's situation and similar ones.
Cecilia Zhang also known as Zhang, Dong-Yue was missing from her home in Toronto. Her missing publicity was in Chinese and English. Cecilia was murdered by a person who had visited the family home only briefly. Her memorial internet tribute was bilingual.
Here is a media report in a third language, French, from the time of the search.
Disparue - Cecilia Zhang de Toronto
Please pray for Cecilia's parents, those that help them and similar cases.
Remember that international missing people may have many names. Formal ones in each language, usual ones, shortened ones, nicknames, altered spelling names, etc.
Here is another international search that involved many methods and languages.
Found: Sharbat Gula was missing for 17 years
Sharbat Gula lived in a refugee camp as a young girl. Her picture became famous. Curious of what became of her, it took the photographer 17 years to track her down through former tenting neighbours. The search was a sensitive one. In 2 countries, in a war area, among people who may be very reticent to identify anyone. There were language difficulties, old photos, false leads, impersonation, and verification of ID by scientific means. The search involved perseverance, risk, many people and long trips. The search was successful in spite of differences in languages, cultures, religions and gender.
There was something the people involved are getting out of helping and being found. There may be more benefits in the future.
In early 2008, a hundred-year-MISSING-mystery was solved by scientists with DNA methods and confirming material, such as dental records. In the meantime, in the last century, several people had claimed to be Crown Prince Alexei or Princess Anastasia of the Tsar's family--taking advantage of the uncertainty. The bodies of almost the whole family were found in 1991. They were murdered in 1918. The bodies of the boy and the girl were only found in 2007. They had not escaped early death. The truth was eventually found out.
Older mysteries, such as the relationships between Pharaohs and their relatives, are being put to the test too. Experience in this kind of sleuthing is bound to be of benefit in modern MISSING cases.
Please pray for missing people featured in various media and those that are not featured at all. Pray about official and unofficial sites.
Attempts are being made to list missing persons by country and for searches according to gender etc.:
See an International Missing Person Site - Check out the menu
for: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Costa Rica, Ireland, Italy, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, United Kingdom, United States
Missing Children in India
Sometimes a ransom is offered. It may seem a lot, and yet any money offered will never be enough.
Ransom for a life(to buy back the life of another) Psalm 49:8
racheter la vie d'un autre - French
das Leben eines anderen ab(zu)kaufen - German
Only Jesus can pay the most important "ransom" for anyone.There are "Search and Rescue" country organizations:
Canadian example:
Government of Canada SAR page
To find established "Search and Rescue" teams, the police has information.
King County Example
For your area, you can try to enter combinations of: "Search and Rescue", SAR, volunteer and key geographical words of counties, states, provinces, governorates, regions, cities, villages, towns, municipalities into internet search engines to see what comes up.
If someone has really gone missing, people WILL ask:
A) "What can I do for YOU?" or
B) "What do YOU want me to do for you?"
A) Joshua 15:18; Judges 1:14; 2Kings 2:9 B) 2 Samuel 21:4; Matt 20:32; Mar 10:36;51; Luke 18:41
If you are a friend, an acquaintance or a new volunteer and someone informs YOU about a missing person...and you ask that question...
Offer the help that makes sense to YOU, uses YOUR talents, doesn't interfere with the "Master" plan established...
Your help will cost you and will reward you.
But...
Always check things out as you go along to believe a story.
Con artists may be eyeing your money.
An appeal may be legit.
A mistake could have been made.
Information was omitted.
An innocent remark balloons.
A new victim may be sought.
Only parts of a story could be true.
A mischievious person may write a story where everything is made up.
The seeker has something else to gain from your sympathy.
You missed the update that the person was found.
True stories stand all tests including the test of time.
If you are the "missing" person's significant responsible searcher or someone like it and someone asks you this question, also ask yourself about the motivation of the questioner. Don't be naive. The best and the worst in people comes out at this time of need.
Here is a statement by Brad Bradley regarding basic limitations of searches.
The expenses of searching for my sister are overwhelming. Although the F.B.I is involved in the search for my sister, our country does not have the available resources to do this search on their own. My family must provide funds for private investigators, trips, phone calls, printing, and many other expenses. My family has been taken advantage of by many people who prey on our vulnerability during this difficult time. I thank you for considering our Amy when making your choices of charitable contributions.
Update AND thank people who helped along the way. The phone, the Internet and e-mail are wonderful tools. Have a plan for those people who may be trouble. The free volunteers, who may be prepetrators, can be restricted to information and can be sent on errands that will NOT do damage. Any people asking for money can be asked for success stories, a story why they failed somewhere and references. If you want to use services offered, bargain hard and fairly. Much of that can be checked out thoroughly with many little ongoing "tests".Keep praying. Thank God for everything...even the most annoying pests. (Be encouraged by Corrie ten Boom who related a great story about her trouble to thank God for bedbugs in a German concentration camp!)
You wouldn't want false information to circulate.
Click here for a story even YOU may still think is true.
Is this falsehood still circulating? A "missing child" urban legend!
What do you think went wrong here?
Certainly a main "official" webpage would prevent such a story getting out of hand, since that one can be updated quickly for the good news to get out, that the person is no longer missing.
If your search was successful, then rejoice and ask others to rejoice with you.
If not yet -- Why are you crying?
Put it into words, make an appropriate action plan and do it.
Ecclesiastes states:
There is a Time for Everything -- a time to search and a time to give up.
(to search or to loose something, including what was searched for)
– Ecclesiates 3:1 + (6)
Il y a un temps pour tout -- un temps pour chercher, et un temps pour perdre. - French
Für alles gibt es eine [bestimmte] Stunde -- Zeit fürs Suchen und Zeit fürs Verlieren. - German
Per ogni cosa c'è il suo momento -- un tempo per cercare e un tempo per perdere. – Italian
Todo tiene su momento oportuno -- tiempo de buscar, y tiempo de perder. – Spanish
Info on 2 Detailed Northern Ontario air and ground searches called off - Family and Friends doing what they canIf you give up your particular search for a while because of "nothing new" happening or for good, you may want to help people in similar circumstances when you are ready. You may want to join a support group.
For those whose children who were murdered, here is an organization that works re: prevention and support.
National (USA)Organization of Parents of Murdered Children, Inc.
Lord Jesus, help us to love you.
Help us to know exactly what to do efficiently in our situations.
Help us to define a daytime, day, week, month, year, season, decade and life plan.
Help us to make today's action plan, to work it, to delegate safely, to deal with any sadness.
Help us create something beautiful for God.
Amen.
(English in French is "Anglais")
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