Editorial | God Likes to Yell, "Boo!"

By Rebecca Foltz

June 3, 2018

In the shadow of the Santa Anna volcano in El Salvador, sitting on the edge of Lake Coatepeque (itself a once bubbling volcano), is a campground, home of King's Castle Ministries. This was my home for nearly three years when my parents became missionary associates under Don and Terri Triplett. "It's one of the most beautiful places on the earth —I believe— especially where we lived by the lake," my mom, Michelle Foltz, said. The locals gave the area a nickname: Paradise. My mom smiled as she remembered what it was like to live there. "The earth was constantly shaking. They call it the Land of the Swinging Hammocks. I actually kind of missed it when we came back [to the United States]. It was kind of like being on a boat for a long time and when you get back on land you still feel yourself moving."

All the buildings on the campground were made to look like castles. This was our home for nearly three years. Photo Credit: Rebecca Foltz

About 40 miles away from the camp is San Salvador, El Salvador's capital. The city competes against San Pedro Sula, Honduras (another place I have lived) for the ranking of number one murder capital in the world. The gang wars, drug trafficking, and corrupt police force make it a place lost in darkness.

I was too young to be able remember much from my family's stay in King's Castle. I do, however, remember the big things such as the volcano eruption, hurricane, earthquakes, and playing with the church teams who came down on mission trips. My parents, however, have many stories to tell, especially regarding the power of God and how He has continued to protect us. "God doesn't do miracles just to do miracles,” my dad, Brad Foltz, said at the dinner table one night. He performs miracles to protect people and to grow their faith.

Behind our house in El Salvador was a large building used to store tools and equipment. My parents are construction missionaries; without these tools, they would not have been able to do their job. My dad set up a homemade security system using two flood lights, a motion sensor, and an old school bell. Whenever the sensor detected movement, the bell would sound for a minute or two and then stop ringing. “It was real good except for when the wind would blow,” he said. “The wind would cause it to go off for no reason.”

One night, a strong wind came through and kept setting off the alarm. Deciding that sleep was more important, my dad flipped the switch and turned off the alarm.

A house in a neighboring town. Photo Credit: Rebecca Foltz

The next day my mom claimed to have heard the bell ring around 7:30 in the morning. “I told her she was crazy ‘cause I had the switch off, but to keep her quiet and to keep her from nagging I’d go over and look,” dad recalled. He went over to the building and looked inside. Someone “had knocked cinder blocks out of the wall to climb in —up towards the roof. When I walked in I found a backpack that they had started putting tools in, a pair of sandals, and a couple dollars.” He immediately looked over at the light switch used to turn the alarm on and off. Sure enough, the switch was pointing towards the floor, off. He flipped the switch up to the on position and the school bell sounded. “God made the bell ring and scared them [the burglars] away.” My dad laughed as he told me the ending. “Not only did God keep them from stealing our tools, but I got a pair of sandals and a backpack.”

God protected my family that morning. Those burglars could have easily gotten away with hundreds of dollars of tools, but He made the alarm go off. It was as if God yelled, “Boo!” It even scared them enough that they jumped out of their shoes!

The opinions expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Infuse Student Media or Southwest Baptist University.