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On the last day of school in 1974, every kid in America was thinking of the fun they’d have on their Christmas break, including 5th grade Chris Carrier. But Chris’ Christmas holiday would not be filled with joy; instead, it would be rocked with terror.
On the walk home from school that afternoon, Chris was two doors away from his house when a strange man walked up to him and introduced himself as one of his father’s friends. The older man told Chris he was throwing a party for his dad, and asked if he wanted to help prepare the decorations. Chris eagerly agreed, and hopped into the back of the man’s motor home.
While little Chris made himself comfortable, the stranger sped past the Miami city limit sign. Reaching the outskirts of town, the man stopped the truck, pulled out a map, handed it to Chris, and asked him to find a particular road. While Chris busied himself with the search, the man excused himself “to get something.”
Moments later, as Chris leaned over the map, he felt a sharp stabbing pain in his back. He twirled to see the strange man standing over him holding an ice pick. The man grabbed Chris out of the vehicle and proceeded to stab the young boy in the chest several more times.
Through the pain, Chris pled with his abductor; if the man would only stop hurting him, he wouldn’t tell anybody.
The man threw Chris back into the motor home, promising the boy he’d drop him off somewhere. From the floor of the vehicle, Chris asked the man why he was doing this to him. The only answer the older man gave him was that Chris’ dad “had cost him a lot of money.”
Roughly an hour later, the man pulled the vehicle over and led Chris into the Florida Everglades. The man told Chris to wait; his dad was coming to pick him up.
Of course, Chris’ father wasn’t coming. He didn’t even know where his son was.
It would be six terrible days in the wilderness before a hunter would find Chris. The little boy was not only hungry and weak, but had been stabbed several times, and even shot in the head, though he had no memory of it.
The tragedy left Chris blind in his left eye. Miraculously, he suffered no damage to his brain. The worst part of the whole ordeal in Chris’ mind was that his captor was still on the loose.
Police sketch artists put together a few drafts of what the assailant might look like based on Chris’ description of his attacker. Chris’ father and uncle immediately recognized the man in the drawing; David McAllister had been hired by the family to nurse a great-uncle after he suffered a stroke.
Even though a motor home and pistol matching the caliber of Chris’ wound were found at McAllister’s home, forensics were not what they are today, and McAllister was never brought to justice for the crime he committed.
Chris had a rough adolescence. He was acutely aware of his disfigured appearance, and he couldn’t play any of his favorite sports because of the harsh injuries he’d sustained.
But around the age of 13, Chris began to change. He was no longer consumed with animosity, bitterness, revenge, or self-pity. He realized he couldn’t stay angry forever.
22 years would pass between the date of the attack, and a life-changing phone call. A police officer on the other end of the line said McAllister, now blind from glaucoma and bed-ridden in a nursing home, had admitted to being Chris’ captor.
The next day, accompanied by a friend, Chris went to the facility where McAllister was, to meet the man who had changed his life.
Chris’ recollection of that encounter should challenge all of us:
When I first spoke to David, he was rather callous. I suppose he thought I was another police officer. A friend who had accompanied me wisely asked him a few simple questions that led to him admitting that he had abducted me. He then asked, “Did you ever wish you could tell that young boy that you were sorry for what you did?”
David answered empathetically, “I wish I could.”
That was when I introduced myself to him. Unable to see, he clasped my hand and told me he was sorry for what he had done to me. In return, I offered him my forgiveness and friendship.”
Chris meant what he said. He visited McAllister in the nursing home many more times, talking about both of their lives. Finally, one day, Chris got a chance to tell McAllister about the life-saving forgiveness that only Jesus Christ can offer. McAllister – in the presence of the one he’d tried to kill – bowed his heart to Christ.
Three weeks later, the elderly kidnapper and attempted murderer died. Forgiven.
Chris was doing something akin to what Christ did 2,000 years ago. Jesus willingly forgave and befriended those who had scorned Him the most and hurt Him the deepest. He has called every one of His disciples to do the same:
You have heard that it was said, ‘Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I tell you: ‘Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you.’ (Matthew 5:43-44)
Imagine what our lives would look like if we did what He said to do.
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Topics Illustrated Include:
Criminal
Enemy
Forgiveness
Injustice
Kids
Salvation
Suffering
Violence
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
