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My Dad Has Been Taken Captive

My mother called me last night, with tension in her voice and a long pause after the "hello" that let me know something was amiss. Last night, she told me, while she and my father and the night watchman at our house were driving home from Sunday evening service, they were stopped by four armed men, who took over their vehicle and drove them far, far out into the country. After driving down back roads to disorient everyone, they took my father out of the car and then drove my mother and the night watchman back to a safe place. My dad is still in the hills, being held by gunmen as a hostage. My mother called me with this news last night, asking me to call everyone I knew to prayer.

Our dorm met last night to pray for the situation. I had enough strength in me to tell everyone what the situation was and how to pray for it, and then we all began to pray in tongues, singing Scriptures out loud. My brother came in halfway through and began to cry. It took me longer to feel the weight of what had actually happened. After I did, I got down on my knees and worshiped the Lord with tears. I felt the weight of many hands upon me, praying earnestly for my father's release. Several of the guys shared encouraging words with us. Many more just sat in silence or paced the floor praying out loud.

Our school dean, Ken Malmin, convened a prayer meeting at 10:00 last night to get the entire school in on the situation. By then, I had felt God give me peace about the situation that surprised me. I did not expect to be as confident as I was. The leader of the event asked Gabe and I what specifically needed to be prayed for, and I asked for a quick release with no ransom given, strength and grace for my mother, and the sovereign grace upon my home church. My brother added that we should pray for the salvation of the captors as well.

The next hour was spent earnestly seeking the Lord. Many people shared Scriptures. Dean Malmin related a similar story that had happened to a PBC student while he was a teenager in Trinidad. Muslim radicals had kidnapped him, asking for ransom. He was eventually released with no harm done to him, but he had told Ken how the Lord had opened his eyes to the true nature of the situation he had been in. "I knew all of a sudden that I wasn't really in their hands," the boy said. "I was in the Lord's hands the entire time, and the devil didn't even know it."

The school then split into four groups. One group prayed that my father would be given grace, strength, and wisdom for the situation. A second group prayed a similar prayer for my mother, who is in Haiti, and for my sister, who is in North Carolina. A third group prayed for the kidnappers. A fourth group prayed for our church. I felt the Lord tell me that our church is like a lamb to him that he has carried near his side from its infancy. My father has many more sons to father, and he will be released soon.

God has been so gracious to us! My fellow students have been phoning their home churches, putting our name into their prayer chains, and shouldering this burden as though it were their own. My local church in Haiti has sent men and women to stay the night at my parents' home so my mother doesn't have to worry about it being broken into in her absence. (She is staying with another missionary family, making negotiations.) My mother says that it is obvious how much they love my dad.

One of the things we prayed this morning in class was that God would give my mother wise counsel. Apparently, He has already answered this prayer! An FBI officer who specializes in Iraqi kidnappings has been counseling her over the phone. Other embassy officials in the area have also been assisting my mom.

We need your help as well. Please pray for my dad, who is still a hostage. Pray for his captors, that they would see the light of Christ and be changed. Pray for a ransomless rescue. Payment of any sum to these thugs would only result in furthering the cycle of violence and emboldening others to follow their example. Pray for my mother, who is physically drained and has not had much chance to rest. Pray for the unity of the church -- God's chosen instrument to extend the kingdom and destroy the works of darkness in our country. Pray for Haiti. Oh, please pray for Haiti! Pray that those who have for so longed walked in gross darkness would see the greatest light. Pray that the God of peace would crush Satan under our feet.

Most of all, pray that all of this would be a catalyst to revival in Haiti. This is the plow to which my father has put his hand for the last 23 years. The restoration and healing of Haiti through the cross of Christ has been our ache and our dream for too long. Please pray with us that God's will would be accomplished in Haiti as it is in Heaven. It is time.

posted by John Adams @ 2:42 PM