MEDELLIN, Colombia, June 6, 2002 — A pastor who was kidnapped by Colombian guerrillas and held 12 days for ransom, has been freed in exchange for a Bible.
Members of the rebel National Liberation Army (ELN) snatched Juan Carlos Villegas, the assistant pastor of Family Christian Church in Medellin's Bello Antiochia suburb, on April 28. He had been returning from a baptismal service with 10 other church members, when five machine gun wielding guerrillas forced the vehicle he was driving, to stop.
The rebels ordered the passengers out of the truck. Three armed guerrillas then climbed into the church-owned vehicle, and commanded Villegas to drive to where the road ended, at which point, they abandoned the truck and continued on foot into the mountains.
Congregation told to 'hand over $25,000'
A few days later, Family Christian Church received the guerrilla's demands: hand over $25,000 or Villegas would be killed.
"I was terrified -- really praying, doing spiritual warfare, rebuking all spirits of death," Villegas said.
He read long passages from the Bible to the guerrillas
But Villegas, who had a Bible with him, said the guerrillas were also interested in what he had to say. He spoke to them about his faith. "Sometimes when I was reading the Bible to myself, they would ask me to read aloud so that they could all hear," he said. He read long passages from the Bible to the guerrillas, including many from the four Gospels.
For 12 days his captors forced him to march on the mountains, often in rain, in the same drenched clothing he had worn to the baptism. He was never allowed to bathe. The guerrillas brought him a toothbrush his eighth day in captivity. He ate what the guerrillas ate: "Rice, rice, rice -- the whole time, I ate only rice."
Christians worked and prayed for his freedom
Throughout his captivity, many people were working to secure Villegas' freedom. Christian leaders approached imprisoned ELN leaders in Medellin, asking them to help free the pastor. The guerrillas contacted Cuba, where Fidel Castro is mediating peace talks in Havana between Bogota and the ELN.
Villegas' church spearheaded a city-wide, 24-hour prayer vigil for him.
A meeting was arranged between Andrew Puerta, the head pastor at Family Christian Church, and ELN "Commander Alex", who was holding Villegas. "God did something in his heart," Villegas said. "Also, higher-ups pressured him to free me."
No money exchanged hands
In the end, no money exchanged hands. "There was no need to pay a peso for my freedom," Villegas said. "They ransomed me for a Bible."
Puerta gave a Bible to Commander Alex, who agreed to release Villegas. And before Villegas left the guerrilla camp, he gave his Bible to one of his captors.
Villegas believes there was another reason for his kidnapping: learning reliance on God alone. "God told me, 'Last night you slept in a comfortable bed. Now you don't have anything. You don't have your church; you don't have your family; you don't have comforts. You only have Me.' "
Source: Bible Network News, with files from Maranatha Christian Journal and Compass Direct
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