An acquaintance of mine from chess club, Anarae Schunk of Burnsville, MN, is missing. She was last seen with a man suspected of murdering someone at a bar on Saturday, Sept. 21, 2013. That suspect is in custody but “is not being cooperative” in helping police find Anarae, according to various news reports which you can look up and verify for yourself.
This blog has seen a large spike in readership these past few days due to a review I wrote last week about Substance Church. Therefore it would seem there is an opportunity here to call on dozens more people — maybe even hundreds more — from among Substance churchgoers, other Christians, and believers of all doctrines and traditions who believe in intercessional prayer to pray for the safe return of Anarae Schunk.
We have been told time and again that mass prayer is a powerful force. Therefore let’s pray — not to put God to the test — not with expectation — but with humility and love in our hearts.
And let’s all – believers and non-believers — back it up with action by expanding the search. Please share the image you see below on Facebook and Twitter. Use hashtag #anarae and/or #FindAnarae. And if you see Anarae, call the Burnsville police.
Thanks.
The Cynic Testifies 
May God protect her. Ameen. She and her family will be in my prayers today.
Thank you, Christina.
By the way, Christina, it always warms my heart when I see your profile pic of you in your hijab, interacting online in Christian circles. You are an agent of peace, placing yourself in ideologically foreign lands, where the residents can sometimes be hostile and often just confused and filled with dreadful uncertainty. That you do so makes me want to champion and protect the distinctiveness of your chosen path. We take on the forms and shapes that God causes us to take on — when we heed his call, that is — and that is holy holy holy. Your prayers, therefore, I acknowledge as I acknowledge the prayers of Christians. Let none underestimate the power of supernatural love, in all its expressions. And here’s the kicker: The woman we are praying for is, to my knowledge, not a believer in any immediately identifiable institution in the way some of us are. Yet I feel, as I might correctly estimate you and Holly here feel, and many others reading this feel, that Anarae Schunk, though not all of us know her, though she is not a believer in the traditional sense, is a holy child of God, whatever she or we might perceive him to be.
Hi, Will. I apologize for the late response! Thank you so much for your sincere and heartfelt comment; I was so deeply touched. And I also thank you for welcoming into your space and allowing me also to share in your faith. You know recently I had this sort of… awakening, where I realized that the reason I was put on this Earth is to be exactly as you said, “an agent of peace.”
It does not matter what path we walk, but we are all trying to find our way back to God. And even though this particular young woman may not adhere to any traditional religious institution, she is still a child of God and our sister in humanity.
We should never underestimate the power of mass prayer. Insha Allah (God willing), she will return safe and sound.
Sadly, my friend didn’t make it. Just wanted to update you since you were so supportive. I wrote the following on Facebook and will share it here for you and Holly as well as for anyone else who might be following this post:
“Mainly my heart just goes out to the people I know that knew Anarae Schunk far better than I did. Yes, I hung out with her a few times, and I am shocked about her untimely demise at such a young age, but I’m not the one in extreme agony. She was a human being, you know? One that I’ve spoken with, played chess with, had some laughs with. An acquaintance, you see? I thought well of her.
“And then the search was on, and everyone I know who knew her was looking for her and putting the word out, and I helped that process along as much as I could, because that’s what you do. You stand with your tribe. You back each other. What affects you affects me. We humans are a continuum, see? We’re like threads in a giant piece of fabric. Some threads are closer to us than others, and when one thread is cut, that weakens the neighboring threads. We’re all an extension of each other. So we rally ’round the broken places and we heal each other.
“We go through life pretending we don’t affect each other, but that ain’t how our souls see it. I look into your eyes, I see someone I care about. You’re a human being too. And Anarae? I care about her too. I’m not going to stand here and pretend she was my best friend, as that would be disrespectful to her real best friends, not to mention to her memory, but I care, you know? I’m surprised how much I care now that all this happened.
“I appreciate the offerings of sympathy many of you have offered me. I just want you to know exactly what you’re offering sympathy for. And you know what? I thank you for that sympathy. I accept it on behalf of those threads in the fabric that are a little farther from you than they are from me. I take that sympathy and I pass it down until it gets where it’s needed most. I choose to let this healing wave of energy flow on to wherever it needs to go, and may it grow in intensity as it goes along.
“To you who have been affected by the death of Anarae, to whatever degree, I offer you my sympathy, multiplied by the sympathy and caring that has been offered to me. And to her family, I’m just so sorry this happened to your Anarae.
“For whatever this is worth, to whoever is listening, whatever my word means to you: All I can offer now is God. I don’t expect everyone will understand why I say that, but for you who do need to hear it, you for whom this holds meaning, just know that I mean it: She’s with God. She’s alright now. Anarae is okay.”
I am praying.
Thank you, Holly.