Abby nodded, leaning toward the screen as if encouraging the message to materialize. Kate accessed it. Two older people sat on a couch in an American-looking home. Abby started when she saw them. “Nonny and Poppy! Those are my grandparents.”

Her grandfather began to speak. “Our precious Abby. We so wish we could speak these words to you face to face. But that hasn’t been possible since we last came to visit you in Papua New Guinea, when you were just a baby. Even though we weren’t able to return, our hearts have always been with you, and we have prayed for you daily. After your tribe was declared off-limits, we lost communication with your parents, but we trust that at some point Inland Tribes will be able to deliver our message.”

He glanced over at his wife and smiled. “Abby,” her grandmother began, “we have chosen your eighteenth birthday to record this message because, in America, eighteen is when most young people begin to make their own path in life. I guess, if you were here, Poppy and I would be pestering you with all sorts of advice as you become a young woman. But you have certainly not had a typical teenager’s life, and we’re sure your parents have prepared you well.”

She looked at her husband, squeezed his hand, and continued. “So, instead, we’d like to use this message to talk about something else—something quite important. I know this is going to sound a little overwhelming, but we need to talk about the future—yours, ours, and, in fact, our entire country’s.”

She turned to Abby’s grandfather. He appeared more serious as he started speaking again. “Christianity as we once knew it—and hopefully as you still experience it there on the mission field—has practically disappeared in America, Abby. Though it prospers in many parts of the world, the U.S. has followed the path Europe took into secularism. Our faith isn’t outlawed, but the preaching of the gospel is regarded as hate speech and prosecuted. Not that it matters much anymore—few are left who would proclaim it. That’s how bad it’s gotten.

“Things will get even worse before they get better. God has made that clear to us, both in our spirits and lately”—Abby’s grandfather leaned forward on the couch, and his tone changed—“in our dreams. I never thought God would speak to me in dreams, and at first I ignored them. But your grandmother started talking to me about her dreams, and we found that, sometimes, we have the same dream. It has to be from God, Abby. There’s no other explanation.”

He leaned even closer. “We believe God has let the Christian church die here for a reason. Everything God does has a purpose. He has a plan for bringing the faith back.