a true story by Jeanne Gowen Dennis

The four-wheel-drive car skidded to a halt in the middle of the African bush.

"Everybody out," two kidnappers ordered. "Lie facedown on the grass."

Ten-year-old friends Christine and Joanna didn't argue. Neither did Christine's mom or her two friends. You don't give lip to a man with a gun.

The third bandit drove up in a Peugeot, a French compact car. He made the five captives kneel with their backs to him. Suddenly he grabbed Christine's mom and took her away from the group.

"Should we kill them together or one by one?" he asked his companions in Swahili.

What are they doing to Mommy? Christine wondered. Kneeling on the stubbly ground, she cringed and prayed that she wouldn't hear a gunshot.

Stopped Short

Before the kidnapping, Christine and Joanna had been driving back from the beach. They were anxious for their long car ride to be over. They still had several hours until they would reach their destination in Iringa, Tanzania. The girls walked toward the Nissan after taking a walk to stretch their legs.

"I can't wait to see my family," Jo said, "even though I've had fun with yours."

"I wish we lived closer to each other," Christine said, biting into a sandwich. "Salami . . . yuck! I'm already worried about getting carsick."

Suddenly the girls heard yelling and rushed toward the car. Christine's hand clenched her sandwich. Three strange men were hitting her mom and her missionary friends "Uncle" David and "Aunt" Millie. One man carried a big gun! The bandits shoved the three adults into the Nissan. Her mom motioned for Christine and Joanna to run.

Too late. The gunman called over the girls.

"Sit there," he growled, forcing them into the front seat and onto Aunt Millie's lap. He passed the gun to a dark-skinned young man sitting in the back and got behind the wheel.

Christine's mom and Uncle David were wedged between the front and back seats on the floor.

"Lie down," the driver commanded them in Swahili.

The engine roared as the driver wheeled the car around and sped down the road. The third man followed in a Peugeot that had been parked nearby.

Wild Ride

With each curve, Joanna nearly slid off Aunt Millie's lap. She eyed the light-skinned man beside her. Policemen in Tanzania carry large guns. Is he a policeman? she thought. If so, what did Uncle David do wrong?

"What are they going to do to us?" Christine whispered to Aunt Millie. "Where are they taking us?"�

Aunt Millie hugged the girls closer to her. "I don't know."

"We are going to the police," the driver said, veering onto a bumpy dirt road.

Christine felt Aunt Millie's breath in her ear. "He's lying. I memorized the Peugeot's license number," she whispered. "You learn it, too." While trees and golden grasses sped by in a dusty blur, Christine numbly recited the license number in her head and wondered if her mother was OK on the back floor. Suddenly, the Nissan groaned as the driver jerked it off the road into some bushes.

"Get out," he commanded.

The men made everyone lie facedown on the ground while they searched the car. Christine hoped they wouldn't find her silver locket in her mom's cosmetic case.

The dry grass had been burned to encourage new growth, so the ground was covered with ashes. Although the burnt grass scratched their bare arms and legs, the girls were afraid of being shot if they budged.

When the captives were told to return to the car, the men jammed the adults back in, but the younger man was gentler to Joanna and Christine. Jo began to think of him as the "nice guy."

As they rode deeper into the African bush, Christine felt her stomach lunge with every swerve and bump. But she wasn't carsick; she was scared to death!

Within minutes they were forced out of the car again and made to kneel in front of the man from the Peugeot. Christine's stomach lurched as he pulled her mom away. It ached as she heard her say, "Please don't shoot me."

Christine waited to hear his verdict. Will we be killed together or one by one?

A Prayer and a Plan

Uncle David took his wife's hand and started to pray out loud as they knelt. Aunt Millie reached out to Christine. For the first time since lunch, Christine's tense body relaxed. She released her crushed sandwich and slipped her hand into Aunt Millie's

As Joanna held Christine's other hand and prayed, she noticed a small burnt tree. She knew everything would be green again soon. The Tanzanian bush always came back to life after burning...like a resurrection. She began to tremble with gladness. Somehow she knew life would not be taken from her.

The young man interrupted Jo's thoughts. "Are you a padre?" he asked Uncle David. "We're Baptist missionaries here in Tanzania," he replied.

Instantly, everything changed. The kidnappers brought Christine's mom back and had a quick conference. Then they made everyone drink an oragne liquid. Joanna throught it was Fanta, until she tasted the powdery, bitter drink. she wondered what it was.

Christine stared at the glass. She was sure it contained poison. She thought, If I die, at least I'll be in heaven with Mom and one of my best friends. Then nothing wrong or bad will ever happen again. The disgusting drink felt rough against her tongue.

Then the young man had them lie on some cloth he laid on the ground. Christine guessed that he had talked the others out of shooting them. When the kidnappers couldn't hear him, Uncle David explained that the drink was not poison but a drug to make them sleep.

No one dared to move until the bandits sped away in both cars.

"Are they gone?" Uncle David asked.

Joanna peeked and said, "Yeah, they're gone."

Christine's mom was up in a flash. "Quick, make yourselves gag to get rid of the drug," she said.

But everyone was already feelin dizzy and groggy. They staggered toward the raod.

This must be what it's like to be drunk, Joanna thought. She didn't like the feeling.

Hot and sweaty, they found a ditch near a tree and fell to the ground in a drugged sleep.

Waking Up

The kidnappers had left their victims in the Mikumi National Park wildlife reserve. Had the five been awake, they might have heard monkeys and birds chattering in the night or a hungry lion's roar. The kidnappers hadn't killed them, but the sleepers were far from safety.

Back in town, Christine's father was working frantically to rescue them. He had witnesed the hijacking and hid in the bushes until everybody was gone.

After they drove off, he had flagged down a ride to a police station. There he notified friends and called his parents in America to inform them about the kidnapping. Soon thousands of people on both continents were praying for Christine, Joanna and the others.

Rescuers knew they had to find the missionaries and children before the lions did. They searched anxiously until dark.

Early the next morning, a missionary pilot flew over the area. The park was so vast that he knew finding his friends would be impossible without God's help.

"Please show me where they are," he prayed. Just then, he remembered a tiny dirt road he had seen earlier. He turned the plane around and decided to follow the rail, wondering what he would do if he found the armed kidnappers.

Joanna woke groggy, thirsty and covered with thorns and ashes. She looked around and wondered how she and the others would find their way out. Would she ever again see her family? She started to cry. Christine tried to comfort her.

Just then the rumble of an engine sounded overhead.

Looking up, the girls spotted the familiar mission plane. They had been found!

The girls knew that someday they would be with Jesus in heaven. But for now, they were going home!

Powerful Protector

In 1995 Joanna Giddens and Christine Harrington were kidnapped by bandits, along with Christine's mom and missionary pilot David Moreland and his wife, Millie. The travelers were on their way to meet Joanna's dad in the center of Tanzania. The bandits were later caught after being involved in a traffic accident. Joanna and Christine, now 21-year-old college students, will never forget how God saved their lives. "This experience made me believe that God really cares for me," Joanna says. "I realize He has a special plan for my life, because I could have been shot, but He saved me."