At the same time, it was the lunch break at school. It seemed like just another normal day at school for Luchia, Hanon, Rina, and their other friends. They were sitting in the cafeteria, chatting among themselves when there was a sudden announcement over the school's PA system.
"Luchia Nanami, please report to the office front desk immediately. Luchia Nanami, please report to the office front desk."
"Oooooooooooh!" In the typically sophomoric fashion, all eyes in the cafeteria turned on an embarrassed Luchia. She then peaked her head inside the door.
"Come in, Miss Nanami. You're not in trouble, but there's somebody on the phone looking to talk to you." While the secretary's words relieved Luchia, what she heard next from Pastor Josh on the phone put an end to that relief.
"…H-He's gone missing?!"
"Yes, Luchia. Pastor Max went out fishing this morning and has vanished. My boat was found with the gear inside, next to what was apparently a stolen boat, but no sign of him in that area. We believe he was kidnapped, and his current whereabouts are unknown." At this point, Luchia dropped the phone and broke down into tears at this news. For all she knew, I could be dead or horrifically harmed. A school counselor gave Luchia a hug.
"Luchia, if this is impacting you strongly, you may be dismissed for the day." Luchia knew that she wouldn't be able to continue with this in mind. As she walked home, she stopped by the beach where we have hung out. Only now, there were a bunch of police cars and a news van in the area. Luchia ran up to Pastor Josh and frantically grabbed onto him as she saw him speaking with an officer.
"Pastor Josh!"
"L-Luchia!"
"Please tell me this isn't happening! Please tell me this isn't happening, Pastor! Please tell me that Pastor Max is ok!" All of Luchia's emotions came out of the floodgates.
"Luchia!" Pastor Joshua then took a deep breath. "I'm sorry this is happening. I don't know at the moment, but they're investigating. I've been praying for him and his family, and I hope that you and everyone are doing the same." Luchia felt so deflated at this news.
"Oh, and we'll still be meeting up this Wednesday night. In the time being, I will be leading our group. Please pass that on to your friends." Luchia nodded, then slowly walked back home, stopping at one point to sit under a tree and hide her distraught face where she sobbed." When she arrived at the Pearl Pier Hotel 2 hours later, she noticed that Hanon and Rina were sitting on a bench looking dejected. Luchia went and sat next to them.
"So, I guess you two got the news as well, right?" Hanon and Rina silently nodded. Hanon then pulled up her phone and opened CBN News, showing a blazing headline: America's Pastor has gone missing in Hawaii.
"A good portion of the school body went into straight up shock. A lot of people look up to Pastor Max's teachings and feel inspired to examine their relationship with God." As Rina gave an account of how everyone reacted, Luchia told them about being called to the office.
"I got a phone call from Pastor Joshua about this. I even broke down into tears upon hearing the news. For all we know, anything could've happened to Pastor Max. Oh, I also wanted to say that Pastor Josh will be taking over Wednesday nights until Pastor Max is found." Luchia then thought about the other mermaids. "How are Karen, Noel, and Coco taking this?"
"Not well, Luchia. Especially Karen, considering it's like Noel all over again. I hate to say it, but she's pretty much emotionally regressed back to where she was before." Hanon had been texting those three and knew they didn't take well to this news.
"Maybe we should try looking for him. I think I know what happened, and it probably involves a few certain water demons. Don't worry, we will defeat them and rescue our Pastor! Nothing we can't face!" Luchia remained confident that they could come and find me.
Meanwhile, back at home in Indiana, all my family and friends had come to my home to see the news. None of them could believe the news that I had gone missing.
"How can this be? He always kept in touch with me!" Being my best friend of many years, Jesse was pacing across the room. He could not believe that things had gone so awry. My father (Michael Church) was equally worried, even while sitting with his face in his hands.
"I can't believe my own son was kidnapped!" The most worried were my Mother (Mary Church), Shauna, and little William.
"Mom, will Dad be ok?" William looked up with his puppy eyes, seeing the worry in my wife and mother.
"We don't know yet, William." Both were nearly on the verge of tears as even they could not answer where their husband/son was. My father decided to bring everyone together.
"Come in, everyone. We should pray for Max in this tough situation. It's what he's done for us numerous times before." Everyone then gathered around my Dad as they began to pray.
"Dear Heavenly Father, we thank you for being with us and bestowing your grace upon us during this difficult time. Lord, we just want to pray for our son. We thank you for making him into such a strong and faithful servant of yours, and pray that wherever he is, he may continue to proclaim the truth of your Word. We pray for his safety in the midst of this terrible situation and pray that you may deliver him to safety. We also pray for his captors, that you may forgive them and allow the Holy Spirit to work into their hearts, so then they may turn away from sin and rejoice in you alone. Lord, we thank you for all that you do and pray this in your holy name. Amen."
At the same time, it wasn't just my family that was praying for me. All of the folks I met here were praying for me, as well as tens of millions across America and millions internationally upon hearing this news. Just before they headed out to look for me, Luchia, Hanon, Rina, Karen, Noel, Coco, and Sara all fought away tears and weakness as they prayed for their Pastor. It's astonishing that these folks, some of who didn't even know I existed a few weeks ago, were so terrified of the prospect of me no longer being a part of their lives.