Book Details Spiritual Journey of Captive in Colombia

Source: CBN (used with permission)

A hostage of Colombia’s notorious FARC guerrillas for nearly six years, Marc Gonsalves considers his abduction a second chance to live for Christ. In early 2003, Gonsalves, along with Tom Howes and Keith Stansell, were captured by rebels after their plane’s engine problems forced them to land in the jungles of Colombia. A Christian already, Gonsalves’ faith had become cold, however.

“I wasn’t praying anymore,” he said. “I wasn’t going to church and I still believed in God . . . but I was still lost and this brought me back to Him immediately.” The ordeal of the three hostages is chronicled in a new book, Out of Captivity. Gonsalves had given up on surviving until he felt God’s presence in the midst of his suffering.

Locked in a 6x6 box, he heard Colombian military jets dropping bombs on the camp. “I was just shaking, physically shaking, and I just called out to God to protect us,” he said. “The next morning I woke up and I felt different. I felt like He saved me again--saved my physical life, and that’s when I believed that we were going to live through that.”

With a new desire for God’s Word, Gonsalves received a Bible from another hostage. He often discussed the Bible and his faith with fellow hostage Ingrid Betancourt--a French-Colombian politician kidnapped by the FARC while running for president of Colombia in 2002. Gonsalves said he saw in her a woman of faith who was generous and humane.

Gonsalves and 14 other hostages, including Howes, Stansell and Bentancourt were rescued on July 2, 2008. Their FARC captors had been tricked into handing them over to Colombian commandos posing as aid workers. They made it home safely.

=

If you have not already heard Ray Rising tell of his 810 days of captivitity in the jungles of Colombia, here are three audio files. They aired as one complete program on HCJB-Australia in 2004 or so. Ray was held captive in the mid 1990s. Each segment runs several minutes.

=

Includes a dramatic re-creation of Ray listening to a Luis Palau Crusade broadcast in camp, a regular morning occurrence during his captivity. Please press Play for Segment A.

"Most of them (captors) were between the ages of 14 and 20, so I got to be kind of a father to them." - Ray. Please press Play below for Segment B.

"Well, Ray is on a special assignment for awhile." -Doris. Please press Play for Segment C.