Does Somebody Somewhere Love Me?

Dennis Edwards

Has God ever showed you He loved you in an unmistakable way? Here’s one time He did with me. 

As a university student in Ohio, I would often go hitch-hiking on a long weekends or during a short holiday period. At 20 years of age I had given up my Christian faith and delved into atheism and existentialism. To me, science was the truth and religion and faith were superstition. And yet, I was resolved to find the truth whatever and wherever it may be. Here’s a true story that happened to me where I knew someone “upstairs” was looking down on me. 

I had decided to go see my friend Bruce who was at school in Omaha, Nebraska for the Thanksgiving Day break. I´m writing this on November 15th it’s -2ºC in Omaha with a humidity of 81%. Omaha, often the fifth coldest major city in the U.S., gets cold in November and it snows for Thanksgiving. But as a young adult, I felt invincable as young people do. 

I was soon on my way with my small backpack containing my sleeping bag, a change of clothes and toletries. I would be travelling a distance of 900 miles or 1448 kilometers. As a “hippie” against the Vietnam War, I had long hair down to my shoulders like Jesus wore, but would keep it hidden in the scull cap I would wear. Most often the American truckers were conservative and very patriotic. As a rebelling young “hippie,” I wanted to keep my idenity out of sight. The war was in full bloom and some Americans considered the hippies as unpatriotic or cowards. 

I had gotten various rides and was making good time across the country, though I didn’t realize at the time how dangerous hitch-hiking could be. One man in Pennsylvania pretended to help hitch-hikers, only to take them home and give them their last meal. Police later found some 25 bodies buried under his house. 

As I travelled across Indiana and Illinois it started getting colder. Crossing Missouri outside of Kansas City, Kansas, the trucker pulled over and out I hopped. He was going west, but I would be travelling north from this point on up to Omaha, still another 185 miles or about 300 kilometers more. The trouble was that it was passing 11:00 pm and it was snowing and the wind was blowing. Already a few inches of snow covered the ground. The motorway was outside of town and I was left in what seemed like complete darkness. I managed to climb the retension fence, that all motorways have to keep animals from walking across, and started walking towards an área that seemed to be lit up. It was very cold and I was beginning to wonder if I would find something open at this time of night, a place to get out of the cold. 

I soon came to a small residencial área. It was all middleclass homes, no shops, or gas station around, just houses. It was getting close to midnight and I was desparate to get out of the cold air. I wasn’t dressed for the snowstorm I was in. I started to see if anyone had left the door of their car unlocked. My father had often left his car unlocked in the driveway of our house as did many others at this time in America. If so, I thought, I could sleep in the car as I had my sleeping bag with me. But, no, every car I tried was locked. I was getting anxious. What would I do? Would I freeze to death? 

Suddenly, I saw a young 11 year old boy running across the street from one house to another. I yelled out to him and he stopped to talk to me. Yes, I could come into his house and sleep in the basement. But I needed to be quiet. His mother and her boyfriend were in bed and he didn’t want to wake them up. He showed me the nice finished basement were I could sleep on a carpetted floor and off he went. As I lay down, though an atheist in my thoughts, I sensed that someone or something somewhere was watching over me and helping me. I didn’t know who or what it was, but I knew “it” was there. The next morning as the sun rose, I quietly snuck out the basement door before anyone could know the difference. 

It would be some years later, that I would find God. I had refused to enter the military as I was obligated to do by the U.S. government and the FBI were looking for me. After my mother warned me by phone, I got down on my knees and called out to “God,” if “He” or “It” was there, to help me. But then I thought, what are you doing praying, you know there’s no God, you’re an atheist? But God heard my heart cry and two weeks later it was I who was stopping to pick up two young hitch-hikers. They also were against the war, and, after a short conversation, they led me in prayer to Jesus. I finally found the truth I had determined to find. And, yes, somebody did love me. His name was Jesus! “Ye shall seek Me and find Me when ye shall search for Me with all your heart.” [1]

Dennis and Maria on their flight back from a humanitarian-mission trip to Angola

[1] Jeremiah 29:13