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Praise God – Some Good News For A Change!

God 'led me directly' to girl lost in swamp, Florida rescuer says
By the CNN Wire Staff
April 14, 2010 10:38 a.m. EDT
http://www.cnn.com/2010/US/04/14/florida.girl.rescued/index.html?hpt=T1
New York (CNN) -- The man who rescued an 11-year-old girl lost in a
dense Florida swamp said Wednesday that God led him directly to her, and
that finding her was no surprise.
James King said he set out on his own to look for Nadia Bloom on
Tuesday, trusting that he was going in the right direction even when
that meant through water or dense brush.
"I was expecting to hear her voice," King told CNN. "So I'm yelling,
'Nadia!' and at one point, I yell, 'Nadia!' and I hear 'What?' And I
said that way -- right there."
King said he was surprised by the good shape Nadia was in. She had been
missing since Friday, and though shoeless and covered in insect bites,
she was in otherwise good condition, he said she was not panicked. She
looked like she had been sitting there, waiting on me," he said.
The two of them then stayed in the swamp, near Lake Jesup in central
Florida, while King called authorities. When he got hold of a 911
dispatcher, he put Nadia on the phone.
"Hi. This is Nadia. I'm the girl who got lost," came the little girl's
voice.
King said it took him "two hours of rough time" trekking through the
swamp to find Nadia. He said he figures it took her just as long to
reach the same spot.
She told King that she had gone on a "nature walk" and simply got lost.
The swamp was so dense, King said, that the rescuers who carried Nadia
out on a black cloth stretcher Tuesday had to use machetes to cut
through the brush, bushes and trees.
"I see it as an answer to a lot of people's prayer," King told CNN. "I'm
just very thankful, I'm thankful that God used me as a part of it to be
able to find her. It's definitely a miracle.
"I didn't know where she was. The only person who knew where she was was
God, and I asked him, and he led me directly to her, straight -- well,
as straight as you can go through the swamp."
King said he prayed the whole time he was searching, even when it seemed
like he was going in the wrong direction. In one case, he said, there
was water all around and he didn't know where to go.
"He said, 'Go that way.' And I'm looking at water. I said, 'Lord, are
you sure?' He said. 'I got ya.' And as soon as I start walking, the
ground under the water is solid. It's only about a foot and a half deep.
He took care of me all the way there."
The disappearance of Nadia, who is described as mildly autistic, had
sparked an Amber Alert that was canceled when King found her.
King and Nadia's family at one time attended Metro Church in Winter
Springs, Florida, but they didn't know one another, though King said
Nadia did seem to register him as a friendly face when she was found.
The church held an open-air thanksgiving service to celebrate Nadia's
return Tuesday evening.
"Give the glory to God," Nadia's father, Jeff Bloom, told reporters
after seeing his daughter Tuesday.
King had brought trail mix and drinks to give to Nadia if he found her,
but he also brought another important item: toilet paper.
The swamp vegetation was so thick that the helicopter that came to
retrieve Nadia and King couldn't see them on the ground. King said he
heard the chopper overhead and tried to give the dispatcher directions
for the pilot, but it still didn't work.
"I had brought toilet paper for signaling, and so I covered the top of a
couple of bushes that were in more of an open area than I was in," King
told CNN. "They still had a hard time finding me, but I used that on the
top [of the bushes], and they finally were able to locate it."
Authorities questioned King after they got to safety, something King
said was "unexpected" but understandable, especially given his ability
to find Nadia so quickly.
"They also have a job to do," he said. "They have a responsibility to
the community to make sure there is no foul play. And so I understand
that, I understood it completely."
Coming out of the swamp was a blur with lots of hugs and praise, King said.
He said that he hopes he'll be able to see the Bloom family again, and
that Nadia even hinted he'd be welcome: "She said she might invite me to
her pizza party."