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1977197819791980198119821983198419851986198719881989

GOD GUIDES CODY AGAIN
September 11, 1986


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PIX #1 - Pictured above is the Cull family. Left to right are Ange, their biological daughter; Cody, the father; Joyce, the mother, holding Sara, an adopted Korean child; Amy and her brother David. The photo was taken when Amy arrived in America.

PIX #2 - This photo was taken in Thailiand. From left to right are Cody and the elderly Cambodian couple, with whom Amina (Amy) had been living. Amina is pictured as she appeared at time Cody found her.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: This is the second in a series of hear-rending articles about two Cambodian children who were adopted by a Ft. Wayne, Ind., family...how Cody Cull, the father left no stones unturned to find them (brother and sister) and bring them to America for adoption. Only through God's help was the task accomplished.

About a year after Pow's (now David) arrival, Cody and Joyce Cull were making preparations to attend the Crossroads Disciplesship Training School in Hawaii.

David had often spoken to them about his friend Paul whom he's met in Thailiand camp and who had been the first person to share the Christian message with him.

When he knew they were going to Hawaii, David got excited, "Maybe I'll meet my friend Paul", he said.

Cody tried to explain Hawaii was a big place and David's chances of meeting his friend Paul weren't very great.

DAVID'S FRIEND, PAUL KNOWN BY THE CULLS TOO

One day, Cody was talking on the telephone to Paul Hawkins, director of the International Christian School in Hawaii. As he put the phone down Joyce asked, "Who were you talking to?" "Paul Hawkins, regarding the kids' education", Cody replied.

Without saying a word, David jumped up from his seat, ran upstairs and brought back a crumpled piece of paper, "Dad, you say Paul Hawkins", "Yes" David, I've just finished talking to him. That's that my friend Paul, he said.

And sure enough there on the piece of paper was Paul Hawkins name. It's perhaps not without coincidence that Paul later became David's eighth grade teacher.

At first David didn't talk a lot about his family and especially his sister, Amina, from whom he had been separated while fleeting for safety. He'd seen the Communists ravage their home and remove every item of value, watched his father, a commercial fisherman and young brother, whom he loved dearly, die of starvation and had been there as the communists had savagely attacked and killed his mother.

Earlier, her fingers had been brutally cut off after she'd been found salvaging rice from the field. But as far as he knew, Amina was still alive. However, all official attempts to locate her in the camp had been in vain.

Now as David found new hop and forgiveness in his Christian faith, his desires to be reunited with his sister intensified.

About a year after the family had been with Youth With A Mission in Hawaii, the family prayed and received clear direction from the Lord that David was to join Kings Kids International for their outreach to Spain in the summer of 1982.

Just before he left, David shared with Joyce a dream he'd had the night before.

DAVID'S DREAM REVEALED SISTER WOULD BE FOUND

"Mom, I had a dream about Amina, I dreamed that she was hiding but she was safe, that she did have food and God told me that my sister was going to be found. I don't know how or when, but I know it will happen because God has told me".

While in California enroute to Spain, David in one of his first public times of sharing, expressed this hope before a congregation of 5,000. A phophecy came forth confirming that Amina would be found.

Unknown to David, at that very moment, Cody was in Tahiliand looking for her. He had gone there on a five day research project as part of the field outreach for an upcoming Health Care School that Pacific and Asis Univeristy in Hawaii was planning on conducting.

While there, Cody felt he should take the opportunity to make some inquiries regarding Amina. It was an almost impossible task, literally like looking for a needle in a haystack.

Another difficulty was Cody's financial situation. As he made his way to the American Embassy in Bangkok, he didn't even have the 15 cents for the bus ride.

It had been two and a half years since David had seen Amina. It was known from the records that she'd arrived in Khai I Dang but they didn't know if she was still there.

She'd gone under four different names. Also at that time many were returning daily across the border to Cambodia. Amina could well be among them. In that case, she would be lost forever.

NO STONE LEFT UNTURNED TO FIND SISTER AMINA

A faithful YWAM worker, Dorothy, searched through 40,000 names on the camp records.

Cody and the other YWAM workers did everything within their power to locate Amina. The postmen went hut to hut in the camp searching for her. Daily announcements were made over the camp's lour speaker system. A notice was published half in Cambodian and English with David's picture and a description of Amina and her different aliases. They looked in the schools and orphanages.

Cody even visited and talked with the Moslem church leaders who even though they knew Cody was a Christian, were very open and sympathetic to his cause. But every effort came to naught.

After six days of intensive search and two false leads, Cody came to the end of himself. Cody found himself in the same position he had been with David. He could do no more. So, standing alone in the kitchen in YWAM house, he lifted her up to the Lord, "Lord, there is nothing more I can do. She is in your hands. If you want us to find her, you lead us to her".

Putting his search for Amina to one side, he got on with what he had come to Thailiand to do...research for the Health Care School.

The next morning he left Khao I Dang for another border camp 30 miles away. He had been there only a few hours when an emergency call came through. Amina had been located.

Could he return immediately? Jumping into a truck, Cody dashed back to Khao I Dang.

"YES, IT LOOKS LIKE WE'VE FOUND HER...BUT"

On his arrival at Khao I Dang, Cody was greeted by YWAM worker, John Padden, who had been assisting Cody in the search, "Yes it looks like we've found her", John told Cody. "But there are two problems".

The first problem was that Amina was with an elderly Buddhist couple for whom she had been caring and, afraid of losing her, they'd gone into hiding. The other problem was, that the very next day this couple together with Amina, were scheduled to return to Cambodia.

Cody went to speak with a Buddhist leader who had been one of the ones to locate her. Although it was a work day, the Buddhist leader just happened to be at home.

"Would you like to see her?", he asked Cody.

In the almost anticlimax of the moment, Cody replied, "That would be nice".

But when they arrived at the makeshift refugee hut, no one was there. After a 45-second wait, a small figure, dressed in yellow shirt, wrapped in a sarong and wearing flip flops appeared at the door.

She bowed and Cody, speaking through the Buddhist leader and a Christian interpreter who Cod had taken with him, showed her David's picture. Joy flooded her face in spontaneous recognition. Any doubt of her identity was removed. After two and a half years, and through God's grace alone, David's sister Amina had been found.

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