The early 1980s were a troubled time in Central America as the United States and its allies in the region battled the spread of communism. This true story tells of the author's childhood in an idyllic mountain village in Western Honduras. Despite the ongoing civil war just across the border in El Salvador, young José felt safe in his hometown of Tambla. He was sure his papa was the biggest and strongest man in the world, and even if the fighting spilled into his homeland, surely the US-backed Honduran army would protect them.

But when José's papa vanished at the hands of a notorious rogue military unit, his world and his sense of security were shattered. For decades, José lived with gnawing questions about his papa's fate and an aching desire for a father's love. His quest continued even after he made a dangerous journey north in search of a better life in the United States, cheating death repeatedly along the way.

But even the excitement of life in a new country couldn't heal the ache in José's heart. Despite financial success, his emptiness and dissatisfaction drove him to search for meaning and purpose. Only when he came to know God as his Father did José's fragmented world at last begin to heal. And when he answered the call to return to his homeland as a missionary, his long quest for the truth about his father's fate at last reached a dramatic conclusion.