Last Sunday, a friend related how he assisted a Search and Rescue team in a neighboring state to find a man missing in the aftermath of Hurricane Irene. Wading through flooded streets and hazardous terrain, the team pressed on, undaunted, to fulfill their assigned mission. Happily, they were successful. Sadly, the missing person was dead, one of 44 confirmed casualties of this storm.
I was impressed with the correlation efforts of the search team and their individual and collective preparedness. These people were volunteers. They were diligent, focused and relentless in overcoming any obstacle which threatened their success. They knew that the missing person’s family and loved ones were counting on them. They were determined not to stop until he was found.
What about our missing people, I thought as this story unfolded. What about the individuals who are lost or missing from our family tree? Without a Search and Rescue team, they — like the hurricane victim — will not be found.
My friend’s team partnered with local civic and police authorities in planning and executing their mission. They were in constant communication and received unwavering support, both physical and emotional, until their quest was completed. They had the best assistance possible.
So it is with us. We, too, can be part of a Search and Rescue team, but instead of partnering with civic authorities, we partner with the Lord. As we seek, He rescues. As we identify, He sanctifies.
Our personal and collective preparedness is enhanced by today’s technology and online resources. We can learn any skill or obtain any resource needed for success. Through face-to-face and online collaboration, we can correlate with others. Through the Spirit, our diligence, desire and focus are continuously nurtured, and we receive the spiritual nourishment to sustain us until our quest is completed.
Four years ago, I was impressed to find a missing member of our family, Kosta Kolocotas. Mom had always called him “uncle,” but she and others had no idea how he was related to our family. There was something about Uncle Kosta that touched my heart. Maybe it was the funny stories Mom told about him. Maybe it was the fact that he and his wife were never able to have children. Maybe it was just the mystery of who he was.
Inexplicably determined to “find” him, I searched relentlessly, combing online websites, going to the National Archives and researching records at Ellis Island. I was thrilled to handle his naturalization papers at the National Archives in New York City, and I was able to piece together much information about him — except his relationship to me. Nevertheless, I added his name to our online website and to our Ancestry.com family tree.
To my delight and amazement, I received an email this week from a woman in Australia who shares the Kolocotas surname. She was “surfing around,” and just happened to “find” Kosta’s name on our Ancestry.com tree. As we corresponded, we learned that we share many personal commonalities, and we are excited to begin exploring the relationship between her family and mine. We are both thrilled that we “found” each other, as well!
Search and Rescue – partnering with others, with the Spirit and with the Lord. There is no better team to join. Will you volunteer to join us?
Carol Kostakos Petranek is one of the Directors of the Washington DC Family History Center and a Volunteer at the National Archives in Washington, D.C.