by Anna Iuppa

Losing a child is every parent’s worst nightmare. Several weeks ago, Beth Holloway spoke at chapel of losing her teenage daughter, Natalee, in May, 2005 when she was kidnapped in Aruba during a senior trip with friends. Speaking to an unusually silent room of captivated Valley Christian High School students and faculty, Beth told how her daughter was last seen on May 30, 2005 at around 1:30 A.M., leaving Carlos n’ Charlie’s club with three young males. She described the nightmare she experienced of receiving a phone call that her daughter had missed her flight. Frantic and worried, she and her husband flew to Aruba to find Natalee, but instead were faced with the corruption and incompetence of the government and police of Aruba.

            Despite an enormous amount of volunteer efforts to help the Holloway family, Natalee’s case is unsolved to this day. Despite this incredible loss, Beth urged that she did not want VCHS students putting their parents through an experience like hers. She emphasized that as soon as a person leaves the United States, there will be insurmountable challenges if faced with a crisis. To prevent another tragedy, she established the Safe Travels Foundations, whose website has travel tips as well as the current infrastructure of many countries around the world. Students must visit this site with their parents before traveling. Among other tips, she urged immediately activating international calling upon arrival, never carrying around your passport (instead, try photo I.D.), and never saying the day you are leaving to people you meet.

            Watching Beth speak with such conviction about traveling and her daughter was truly tragic. Beth was just a mother from Alabama who taught Sunday School and regularly attended church. She never imagined this would happen to her. She maintained that the only reason she survived this tragedy was because she, “…cast [her] burden upon the Lord and He sustained [her].” She admitted to having her emotions feel like a rollercoaster rather than a solid rock, but that her will is strengthened each day. There is still an active investigation taking place, and Beth has filed a civil lawsuit. Despite the horrific tragedy that has taken place, it is clear that her anchor has been the Lord and her belief that her daughter’s strong relationship with Him means she is at home with the Lord. Please keep Natalee and her family in your prayers. (Visit: safetravelsfoundation.org for necessary international travel information)

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