NIAGARA FALLS — If you notice things getting a little better here in Niagara Falls over the next few years, you might want to offer a prayer of thanks to a small, but powerful group of young ladies and gentlemen who are seriously praying for the salvation of our often beleaguered city.

Some of you may recall an incident last year when a church group of about 20 youth and their chaperones who were visiting here from North Carolina were the victims of a vehicle break-in.

It’s a crime that happens all too often here as in other tourist destinations when weary travelers, laden with laptops, GPS systems, cameras, mp3 players and all sorts of easy to steal and sell gadgets leave their valuables in their vehicles, often in plain sight making easy pickins’ for the evil intentioned.

Bad idea!

Unfortunately for those who fail to heed warnings not to do it, and for those few who do take precaution, there are nasty thieves who will prey upon them, given the slightest opportunity to do so. The rascals make it their business to look for and snatch whatever they can get their hands on quickly and then sell easily for whatever they can get, usually drugs.

The dastardly deeds can happen in an instant in plain sight, in broad daylight in otherwise safe and secure parking areas especially during the busiest season, even when there are crowds around; even with the police nearby.

It is amazing!

It happened to me once, just once. I was a hard-working, hard-studying student living far away from home in Buffalo. I had parked my car in a ramp near the Main Place Mall. I was inside a store for less than 10 minutes, but when I got back to my car’s my front passenger window was broken, and my brand new eight-track tape player, including my James Brown tape was gone.

I was devastated when the police told me that there was almost no chance that the criminals would ever be caught and brought to justice and that there was even less of a chance that I’d ever get my property back.

That hurt, but I learned an important lesson, or so I thought.

Actually, the lesson came decades later, a few days ago when a reader brought this most recent case to my attention.

Remember the 20 or so young ladies and gentlemen who lost their worldly possessions when some heartless thief broke into their van last year?

Well, they came back to the scene of the crime, not to seek vengeance against the bandit who stole their property, but to pray for the thief, and for the entire City of Niagara Falls, believing, as one of them said, and most of the rest agreed, “for the salvation of the most godless city” they have ever visited.

Huh?

Ok, they are young, and have not likely visited many places, so I forgive them for that assessment but I get their point.

Theses youngsters are part of a Summer Bible Study vacation group sponsored by a church in North Carolina. They were visiting here last year, in part to spread the word, and in part to see the mighty majesty of Gods incredible creation, Niagara Falls.

While they were here, somebody broke into the van and made off with some of their most precious possessions.

Can you imagine what it feels like to have your stuff ripped off, your cell phone, your camera, your music?

Ouch! Ouch! Ouch!

That’s bad enough, but imagine what it must feel like to loose your bible; not just any bible, but one that your father had passed down to you ...  a bible loaded with important notes,  your father’s fingerprints, his scent, his legacy?

Not good, not good at all.

For the young man who lost his father’s bible to a thief, it was almost too much to bear, he took it hard, really hard, and he was not alone. For all of those young students, the loss of their gadgets was one thing, but the theft of their bibles, well that was something else all together.

But as they soon learned, fortunately for everyone, except for their bibles, the rest of their losses were losses of stuff, all of it replaceable, and eventually, after many tears, and a little anger, they got over it.

When I met them last week at the Calvary Baptist Church on Hyde Park Blvd., they were way past it, but they were determined to pray for, and to try to save the soul of the city, especially the soul of the person or persons who stole their stuff.

Thanks to that thoughtful reader who brought their story to my attention, I had an opportunity to meet some pretty amazing people who have spent a part of their summer vacation traveling back to the city that taught them a tough lesson in humility and forgiveness, and in the process they taught me a lesson too.

We traded stories about our experiences and we agreed that they should continue to pray for the lost souls who stole from them, that some divine intervention from above might be necessary and appropriate.

And we also agreed that, as unlikely as it might be, it is possible that whoever stole their stuff might just find themselves alone and in need of help from above, and with that hot bible, they might have a chance to read a verse or two, and get something out of it, perhaps even enough to turn his or her life completely around.

It could happen!

I learned my lesson; I have decided to stop looking for my eight track player and my James Brown tape, and I have forgiven the thief who stole it.

And we agreed that most of the people here in the beautiful city of Niagara Falls, New York would never steal anything from anybody, but that the Vacation Bible Study group from North Carolina should keep coming back and praying for us all anyway.

Contact Bill at bill.bradberry@yahoo.com.