Welcome to BridgeCast, an online internet broadcast hosted at PaulThompsonBlog.com. In today's broadcast, Paul may give reviews of books he's been reading, interview friends, explore church history, or consider current events, all with the hope to keep the lamp of Scripture on the narrow path. Listen in as Paul considers today's topic. Hey, welcome to this week's BridgeCast. I'm recording this week's podcast slightly late into the week because I've been invited to speak at a conference happening in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. First time to be in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, by the way, and one who's lived in Idaho for over 20 years. I say, why did it take me this long to come here? This is a beautiful I've actually had the privilege to travel here with Clint Henry, the pastor at Central Valley Baptist Church in Meridian, Idaho. Clint and I are privileged with the invitation to speak at a conference that will happen here at the time of the recording. It will be just within a couple of hours of the time of the recording. The purpose of our speaking is to speak to a group of Southern Baptists who were actually here in Coeur d'Alene with a meeting happening four years ago during this span of time. Four years ago during this span of time, the nine other Americans that I was with in Port-au-Prince had already been arrested and in jail for several days at this point, right at the midway point of our arrested and incarcerated days in Port-au-Prince. Clint Henry, the pastor at Central Valley Baptist Church, was the lead pastor and still is the lead pastor at Central Valley Baptist Church and the lead church in the ministry project that we were engaged in. So Clint and I will be addressing the same fellowship of Southern Baptists. who were here during those days when we were there and going through the things that we were, the whole ordeal in which we were experiencing, both our churches in Idaho as well as what we were experiencing in the jail in Port-au-Prince. This is a group of Southern Baptist executive directors and the Baptist Press. We've been invited to come back here on the four-year anniversary of that of those God-ordained days. Here's how I'm going to handle the podcast today. I'm going to stop the recording here in a moment. Of course, in the real time of the playback, it will appear as though it's happening seamlessly from the introduction here. But in about two hours, I'm going to gather with Clint downstairs in the banquet room, and we'll begin to share that story to those who are here. praying that God would receive glory unto himself and that we would not seek any glory unto ourselves, but only to be reflectors of glory back into the King of glory himself. And so I will have the recorder with me, my digital recorder to record the speaking. We'll see how it will come in. So I'm somewhat hopeful that the recording of our discussion will be recorded here, and you'll be able to hear this in a moment. If not, then I will call an audible in the midst of things, and we'll still have a recording and such. But I wanted to take a moment to introduce the podcast for the day, and then also while I'm going to take a short moment here from the introduction, and then be right back into the continuous play of our being in the banquet. I also want to take a moment to give a quick little podcast shout out to my friends here in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho. Bennett Sanderson and Tom McGee. These guys are co-pastors. Bennett is the lead pastor and Tom is the worship pastor at North Star Fellowship here in Coeur d'Alene, a Southern Baptist work that's been going on for nearly a decade, I believe. Bennett's been here about eight years, Tom's been here about ten years, and so I'm giving a podcast shout out to my buddies in Coeur d'Alene. I enjoyed lunch with you guys today, and I'll put a link to the place that we ate at. At the moment I can't quite bring back the name, but a local place. It's the kind of place that if you're ever in Coeur d'Alene, you need to find yourself at least at one of your dining moments here at this restaurant. I'll put a link to it down on the actual blog post that goes along with the podcast. You'll find it there, but Bennett and Tom were so kind to meet with Clint and I. We spent time together at lunch laughing together and learning how we can pray for each other and getting caught up with each other's families and seeing what God's been doing in their lives. And then had the privilege as well to go and tour the fairly new church buildings. It's been about two years, two and a half years, maybe three years. that they've been in a new building, actually in the town of Hayden, which is right next to and really even considered part of Coeur d'Alene. Bennett and Tom are doing a great job here, and I really appreciate their friendship. I appreciate their long-suffering to stay the course and endure the work of the gospel work here in Coeur d'Alene in northern Idaho. region. So howdy guys from southern Idaho and from across the United States. If you're ever traveling through northern Idaho and find yourself in Coeur d'Alene you make sure to drop in and check in on my friend Bennett Sanderson and my friend Tom McGee. May the Lord bless you guys and bless your families. So this next segment obviously is going to be recorded hopefully live from the banquet room at the Coeur d'Alene Resort that we've gathered here, Clint, Henry and myself have gathered here for the purpose of giving testimony, bearing witness to the good hand of God and the careful hand of God, the provisional hand of God, the afflicting hand of God. And oh, what a glorious thing to be able to reflect and to bear witness of the mercy of God. from those God-ordained days. And so it's my hope that as the event unfolds that you'll be able to hear and participate in the witness and the testimony of those God-ordained days. Thanks for joining me here today. And I appreciate any kind of feedback you want to give back to the glory of God for the purpose of strengthening His church from what you're about to hear. And I believe how the layout is going to work is perhaps like this. Of course, It may or may not happen the way I'm going to tell you, but Clint's going to speak first and kind of lay some framework down. Then I'm going to speak largely just from reading some journal entries from those days, and then Clint's going to come back in and wrap things up, and then it's my understanding that the The Baptist press who will be here will also have opportunity for some question and answer. And so I don't know how that's going to come across on the recording, but we'll do our best to get it all recorded for the sake of the broadcast. Thanks for tuning in today. And it's my prayer that the Lord will bless you and that you'll be strengthened for what you're about to hear. There really is just no easy way to do this. So let me start with January the 29th. We had already been in the Dominican Republic for about a week prior to this. We've been in and then back out of Haiti with failed attempts to do and to accomplish what we had gone to do. It's about a week and a half prior to this that I received a phone call from some members at Pastor Clint's church in Meridian asking if there were men in our church that would be willing to go and So I put the call out to the members of my church and gentlemen by the name of Steve and my son Silas and I and then my brother-in-law, as I already expressed to you, and my cousin, who's from Amarillo, Texas, joined the mission work and the ministry work there with New Life Children's Refuge. So to just skip past a lot of beautiful But hard and complex things. I'll take you to January the 29th, 2010. We've actually just received all 33 of the children from Sharon Jesus Ministries, an orphanage in Port-au-Prince. And so the day goes like this because the night on the street was so unrestful and uncomfortable. We are mostly still awake by 5.30 a.m. The children are awake, hungry and thirsty. Praise be to God, we have nourishment and plenty of water. We have need to finish the paperwork at the Dominican Republic Consulate and Embassy before moving toward the border. Communication has been difficult to say the least. Phones are unreliable and posted operating hours of the government offices are unpredictable. We're waiting to gain access to authorities in the embassy and the consulate offices. We have 33 children on the bus along with 12 adults, the 10 Americans, the translator, and the daughter of the pastor from the orphanage. The bus is crowded and noisy. The day grows long when we continue waiting at one agency to only be told to attempt another office in another location. We have our letter from Pastor Sanville at the orphanage and documents from the Dominican Republic are supposed to be waiting for us at the border. Attempts at Haitian agencies are difficult at best, again, because of the complexities of the earthquake. We have been to child services only to be sent to another office that says that there is no one here they can give answers and the best thing to do is to take the documentation that you have and that should be sufficient at the border. We arrived at the Haitian and Dominican Republic border about 7 p.m. on Friday, January the 29th. We were met by officers because language issues and only one translator, it's hard to know who is for us and who is against us at this time. Time begins to reveal that the higher ranking officers are not in favor of what we're doing. So a long and drawn out process of being shuffled from office to office is in motion until we are ushered eventually into what appears to be the commanding officer's office. Our translator, Isaac, does a good job of pleading our case and our situation, but to no avail. We are told that we must return to Port-au-Prince for additional paperwork that was just developed this day. We've been attempting to secure this document but could not receive it. So we request to stay at the border because it's late in the evening and we have no place to stay in the city. The commanding officer agrees and we're allowed to stay the night at the border. As we begin making arrangements for the children to sleep, the U.S. Coast Guard shows up to make sure that we're okay. We're thankful for their concern and assure them that we are. The women begin to bed down the children while the men begin to prepare the MREs that we have for the night meal. We notice in doing so that the Haitian border guards are sympathetic to the work that we're doing and they begin to help us with the bedding down of the children and the preparations of the meals. As I made my way over to check on the men who were cooking and heating up the MREs, I'm told that a man by the name of Snyder wants to talk to me and that he wants to know what he must do to become a follower of Christ. I later learned that his question came without investigation from us. Clearly, this was a prompting of the Holy Spirit drawing Snyder into himself. We pray together after I finally give in to the Spirit's prompting and quit trying to save him. He already knows that he must be saved. We begin to pray, and it's clear that conviction is upon Snyder as he begins to weep over the sins of his life, turns his life into the hands of the Lord. So after he prays and repents and he calls unto the Lord, we rejoice in the Spirit with all presence, knowing that this is the work of a sovereign and a holy God. We are tired and exhausted, but yet the Lord gave us a moment to lift our both physical and spiritual beings to be encouraged for the saving work of Snyder. This is now January 30th. I'll skip a few things from the end of the 29th and January 30th. It's Saturday. This is the day of our arrest. I woke up about 2 a.m. with stomach cramps and I'm nauseated and have a migraine. I don't know why you need to know that. And I don't know why I wrote that down, but I did. Unknown to us at the time, God has allowed his God has allowed his enemy to change and harden the heart of the border officer. We are now perhaps it's best for you to know this. The night before, the border guard allowed agreed to let us send Laura Sillsby back to Port-au-Prince and we would take the children to a medical mission outpost and we would begin some medical treatment for the children. But as the night unfolded, the border guard's heart was hardened and ordered all of us to return to Port-au-Prince with the children. So we returned to Port-au-Prince Child Protective Services offices, the same place that we had been multiple times the day before and the day before, only to be told that there was no one there who could help us. Finally, after arriving We receive some relief from the nausea and the migraine as we arrive at the child services offices. We get off the bus and walk into the small office area of things that we're still not sure about. Laura and Isaac, and Isaac is our translator, he goes into the office and we remain in the outer office in the hallway with the children. Conditions in the jail or conditions in the offices are filthy. The bathrooms were already filthy before we arrived and the offices looked as though they were rarely even used. They're dusty and few supplies in any of the rooms where we are. In a short snapshot picture, let me attempt to share with you how the arrest developed. In a land where you're guilty until you prove your innocence, this is essentially the moment where we are first arrested is now back at Child Protective Services offices. And the first prosecuting judge that we face, we didn't know it at the moment, but it was certain that there was a spiritual complexity of the matters that were before us. And the discovery before we are formally arrested that The first prosecuting judge that we face also serves as a voodoo priest in the nearby village. So my prayer that night was this. Dear God, protect us tonight. We are without everything but You. You and You alone do we have. So praise be unto God. February or January 31st, 2010. It's about six o'clock in the morning. I wake early by the first light coming through the slat here near the ceiling of the jail. We awake knowing that we most likely will be here at least until Monday. In several hours from now, our churches will begin to gather. We are confident that they will be praying Most likely, even many of them just beginning to hear that we've been arrested. We gather to pray for them. We begin to pray that they may stand strong with us. We are aware that there are false reports about us, but our prayer is that they would remain faithful and supportive of us while we wait. Worship of God this day is fresh. It's unusual. We worship in song and prayer. We meditate upon Scripture and we fellowship with each other. It was not usual for me to be this affectionate in my worship. Sometimes we worship with the inmates and sometimes with just the men. sometimes with the women in an adjacent cell. This has been an amazing day. I gather the men together and we read 2 Corinthians 4, verses 1 and following. It says, therefore, since we have this ministry, as we have received mercy, we do not give up. So instead, we have renounced shameful secrets, things, Not walking in deceit or distorting God's message, but in God's sight, we we commend ourselves to every person's conscience. By an open display of the truth. But if, in fact, our gospel is veiled, it is veiled to those who are perishing. Regarding them, the God of this age has blinded the minds of the unbelievers. So they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ who is in the image of God. For we are not proclaiming ourselves, but Jesus Christ is Lord and ourselves as your slaves because of Jesus. For God, who said light shall shine forth out of darkness, he has shown in our hearts to give the light, the knowledge of God's glory in the face of Jesus Christ. Now we have this treasure in clay jars so that this extraordinary power may be from God and not from us. We are pressured in every way, but we're not crushed. We are perplexed, but we are not in despair. We are persecuted, but not abandoned. We are struck down, but not destroyed. We always carry the death of Jesus in our bodies so that the life of Jesus may also be revealed in our body. We all acknowledge together that our concern for our families and for our churches, what must they be thinking? What must they be experiencing today as they gather? We pray for them often. We gather with the other Haitian men often today as well and we read Scripture and we sing together the praises of God. Two days later, Tuesday, February the 2nd, after a long night in spiritual war, it is clear that this day will be filled much like the day before. We know that there will be victories and there will be failures, joy and sorrow. The promise of a 9 a.m. meeting with the prosecuting judge proves to mean more like noon or later. Today, more meetings are scheduled with the judge that we first met on Saturday, the voodoo priest. We pray. Prolonged waiting gives time for more singing, prayer and scripture reading. The Haitian church continues to bless us. It came with fresh fruit and crackers today. See, in a Haitian jail, you don't eat unless your family brings food. And bless the Lord, we have family in Haiti. It's Thursday, February 11th, today, four years ago. It's Thursday then. This is a day of waiting. Every day was a day of waiting, I think. We hear all day long of encouraging news followed by discouraging news. The confident news by all is that the judge has recommended our innocence to the prosecutor. The discouraging news is only about when we are to be released. As 5 p.m. approaches, the discouragement begins to climb upon us again and begins its suffocating work. I find myself back in the Psalms again, reading of the prayers and the songs and the complaints that David makes to God. God, help guard my mind against discouragement fix my eyes upon you, and I shall surely not be disappointed." This day reminded me of how selfish my outer man still is. And unless the Spirit gives me relief, this outer man will crush me. I find that if direction is not given to my feelings, And I began to feel like a blind. It begins to feel like a blinding fog on top of everything. The only place I could be alone was in the bathroom area for any length of time. Even then, not left alone alone for long. I walked through the damp sheets that separate the hallway from the bathroom and immediately began to splash through the poorly drained floors that must be filled with everything here that doesn't drain. I splash my way to the stall and begin to weep, with my face to the wall, and I ponder, why do I have to hide my emotions from the others, dear God? Why can't I keep discouragement from latching itself upon me like a leech and draining me of all my hope? Oh God, why did I ask Silas to come with me? Why this fear? Can I endure a conviction of guilt? What has happened to my name back home? So will anyone, will I ever be able to reclaim a name of good reputation? Can I rest Can I live the rest of my life separated from my bride? Why does the proof of our innocence have to go through such agony, God? I find myself complaining to God, thus proving my completely selfish nature that plagues me all the days of my life. I cannot believe that I'm complaining again to you, God. You've graciously provided You are not unjust to give us such a place. You have chosen to receive glory from us this day. And look at me. All I want to do is complain. I'm suffocating in my selfishness. Then the Psalms would once again lodge themselves in my mind. And I would begin to preach to myself a non-disappointing hope in Christ. And the answers of my questions began to be answered with satisfaction. Where does my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth. I surely deserve hell, and God has given me Life eternal. Do I have any reason to complain? I deserve hell, and God has allowed me to use my shoes and my Bible as a pillow at night. I deserve eternal separation from God, and God has fed me every single day that we've been here. So I must lift my eyes off of this wall of filth and look to the Lord, the King of glory. If conviction is lowered upon us and it will be within the pleasure of God for his name's sake, then he will not be unfair to do so. I will be in need of you, dear God, to help me point the nations to you. Show them from where my hope truly does come from. God, what does hoping You look like in a dark jail cell? How have You carried countless others through much worse than this? Will I be able to say, My help comes from You, the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth, with or without freedom? I lift my eyes toward the mountains. Where will my help come from? My help comes from the Lord, the maker of heaven and earth. He will not allow your foot to slip. Your protector will not slumber. Indeed, the protector of Israel does not slumber or sleep. The Lord protects you. The Lord is the shelter right by your side. The sun will not strike you by day and the moon by night. The Lord will protect you from all harm. He will protect your life. The Lord will protect your coming and your going. Both now and forever, Psalm 121. It's Sunday, February 14th, 2010. It's a third day in a row. Now that we're waking to the sound of singing in the distance. This morning, in the midst of the Creole language, comes the familiar tune of a song that I have sung probably a hundred times. It's as clear as a Sunday morning worship service in my own native English tongue that they begin to sing, O soul, are you weary and troubled? No light in the darkness, you see. There's light for a look at the Savior and life more abundant and free. Through death into life everlasting, He passed and we followed Him there. Or a sin no more hath dominion, for more than conquerors we are. His word shall not fail you, He promised. Believe Him and all will be well. then go to the world that is dying His perfect salvation to tell. Turn your eyes on Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face and the things of earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and His grace. It's Wednesday, February 17, 2010. Alex came by again today. He's the brother from the church. Came by every day. Alex came by today with a note saying that he is sure we'll go home soon. He also told us that every day. He seems to think even today for most of us, maybe, We hear that the prosecutor has indeed recommended our innocence. The day unfolds very slowly, slower than any day prior. Even lunch came later than usual. Usually it comes in no later than two, but today it came in around three. The fact that it came at all begins to establish that disappointing beast that I'm at war with. It's close to 4.15. The lawyers begin to show up and gather in the hallway. Then I notice Alex. I don't know how he does this. I don't know how he knows these things before they happen. with him is another brother by the name of Junior. Alex looked at me and gives me this patented smile and hard blinks of his eyes that we notice when he shows up. And he gives me a thumbs up. I know this must be good news. Alex just walked into the jailer's office and up to those barred windows that we've spoken through countless times and says, today, Your freedom has come." He's then immediately ushered out by the policemen who grab him by the arm and wonder how he got past them. But not without several glances back to make sure that we've heard him. Then in the hallway, there's Junior with a grin from ear to ear. He points to heaven and mouths the words, Praise be to God. Praise be to God. Finally, let me read an excerpt from the grueling trip home. I discovered last night that we are not all going to be traveling back to Idaho together. I'm not sure at all why this is, so I'm actually quite disappointed. with this, but I discover why, until I can discover why the men are flying to Topeka, Kansas before we go to Idaho. As we step off the elevator at the airport in Miami, we're in the hotel room from where we were met with the media immediately, waiting for us as if they knew that we were coming out. So while waiting to board the plane to Topeka, a man walks up to me and sits next to me, and he asked me if I was one of the Americans returning from Haiti. I answered with reserve, but I did say yes, and he told me that his church and his family had been praying for us, and that he was glad to have had a moment to speak to us. As our planes arrived, we gathered to pray for the women. As the passengers deplaned, I noticed two familiar faces. It was my dear friend, Clint Henry, and a fellow pastor, Dan Robinson, from Idaho. I immediately embraced and blessed the Lord for them. I knew that they were coming But I actually didn't think we would get to see them. They're here to debrief and to escort the women from Central Valley Baptist Church back home. I'm thankful to you, Lord, for these two men. This is a blessing that I did not expect. Dan has been a mentor to me for years. Ever since moving to Idaho, Dan has been kind toward me and patiently helping me through many things. Clint has been model of a global engaging pastor. I'm thankful to the Lord for his consistent witness to the nations. I wonder, dear God, how has he fared during these days? This time must have been hard for him. My hope is built on nothing less than Jesus Christ, my righteousness. I dare not trust the sweetest frame, but wholly lean on Jesus' name. When darkness veils His lonely face, I rest on His unchanging grace. In every high and stormy gale, my anchor holds within the veil. His oath, His covenant, His blood support me in the overwhelming flood. When all around my soul gives way, He then in all my hope He then is all my hope and stay. When he shall come with trumpet sound, oh may I then in him be found. In him my righteousness alone, faultless to stand before the throne. Oh Christ, the solid rock I stand on. All other ground is sinking sand. All other ground is sinking sand. I cannot quit speaking these words. I cannot quit preaching what my soul has been longing to hear. All of the ground is sinking sand, but on Christ, the solid rock, I stand. I think it was the 16th of January when I returned with all my staff from a two-week retreat and discovered that five ladies from our church had planned a very bold and interesting mission trip down to Port-au-Prince, Haiti. You remember the earthquake, 7.0 on the Richter scale, over 200,000 people lost their lives, a million people lost their homes and everything they had. We met with the ladies and we talked with them. We prayed about what they wanted to do. Nothing was going to deter them from going down to do what God had laid on their heart to do. And Paul, I've got to thank you because if you hadn't gone, I would have been in your place. Because when I came back at that time and it was just the women going, all our staff said, that can't be. And we were talking and praying about who was going to go with them when their connections worked out and we heard that you guys were going. And so we prayed over our team and we sent them off with our blessing and our concern. You mentioned January the 30th, so that's where I'm going to pick up the story at this point. On that particular day, I had been helping my son-in-law move some furniture in his apartment, and after finishing that, had gone back to the church. As I walked into the church that Saturday morning, the phone rang, and I picked up the telephone, and I said, Central Valley, Clint speaking. Much to my surprise, on the other end of the telephone was a news reporter who identified himself as being with Al Jazeera, an international news agency headquartered in Qatar on the Arabian Peninsula. He was the one that told me that all ten of our loved ones had been arrested in Haiti and charged with child trafficking. And as the next couple of days unfolded, we discovered that these charges meant that our ten loved ones were facing a possible sentence of 99 years in prison. Now, as you heard Paul talking about some of the things that he was struggling with, remember this, because this was in the back of their minds the entire time. Those comments changed your world. It also changed my world and the life of our church for at least six months, although the more I think about it, I realize it's changed our church even to this day. It wasn't long before all kinds of false allegations and very hurtful things were being printed in the media and spread around the coffee tables in the valley where we live. I think one of the kindest things that was said about the group is that they were just a bunch of dumb Baptists. And that was hard to hear. Both our congregations had been very missions-minded. Our church, at that particular time, had been on mission trips to more than 30 different nations around the world. Many of those numerous times. The worst thing that ever had happened to us is the same thing many of you have experienced when your legacy doesn't show up with everything you need, particularly your sermons and things like that. One time one of our teams had actually been held up at gunpoint and lost their passports and all their money and that was a an incredible ordeal that they went through, but never in our wildest dreams had we ever even thought about members of our church on mission in another country being arrested and being in prison. And I do say, as I looked at your program, I'm excited about something that you have later in the day tomorrow. And I am so thrilled to see that David is going to be sharing some things with you guys. I think he's already blessed you during your time that you're here. Now, as I looked at everything, and as our world was kind of coming apart there, and we were trying to figure out what we were going to do, our immediate and greatest challenge was trying to get a hold of anybody who could help us. When we discovered that it was our responsibility to provide the food and water, you can imagine that this seemed like an impossible thing for us to try to do. And as I listened to you share, Paul, I realized that all the while we were trying to figure out how to make this happen, the God of the universe had it all figured out. That is an incredible blessing. One of the humorous things that happened is we began to make contacts to try to find someone that could help us out. Our expectations of our own embassy proved to be nowhere near what they were willing to do. They said they would check on our people, but that was it. What are we going to do? How are we going to get food and water to them, take care of the meals? God provided some help in that area. What amazed us, and I guess it shouldn't have surprised us knowing the kind of people that we had sent down there, is when we would get food to them and get water to them, they gave it all away to the prisoners who were there with them, because they didn't have families that were taking care of them. The next morning, one of the first things I would find out is what had happened. So we'd have to start the whole process all over again trying to figure out how to get anything to them. But I do want to take you back to that day on Saturday when I found out what had happened that Sunday morning. And it doesn't take very many hours for news agencies from everywhere to descend upon your church when something like this happens. And the next thing we knew, our parking lot was filling up with all of these large trucks and satellites and everything. I mean, we just found ourselves in a situation that felt like an international press conference or something. And I want you to know that in God's sovereign plan, that particular Sunday morning happened to be at Fifth Sunday. And in our church, on a Fifth Sunday, I always preach the gospel. Now, I preach the gospel many other times during the year or two, and we always give an invitation for people to trust the Lord as their Savior. But on Fifth Sundays, the people that come to my church know, Pastor Quinn's going to preach the gospel. If I bring a friend today, it's not going to be a message on tithing. It's going to be the gospel. And so that happened to be a fifth Sunday. And I want you to know that everything in me wanted to change the sermon for that Sunday because our church was now in a state of shock. The things that were immediately being said were so hurtful and painful and our people did not know what to think or what to do. And I thought about changing my message until I began thinking about all of these reporters from all over the planet who had descended upon our church. And I concluded at that time that God must have wanted some of them to hear the gospel at least once in their life. And so that morning I preached the gospel with all the enthusiasm I could muster, when at the same time I was fighting back emotions that I didn't know if I could keep under control as I preached. I thought about what the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 1, verse 12, where he wrote to the church and he said, Brethren, I want you to know that my circumstances have turned out for the greater progress of the gospel. And so three times that Sunday morning to a packed house, standing room only, I preached the Word of God and shared that message. And I hope someday to see some of those people in heaven who were there. I can still think of a young lady who was reported to one of our major networks that we were able to have conversations with even after that morning. And we were able to share things that were deep on our heart. And I still pray and hope that she's made a decision to give her life to Jesus Christ. Of all the things that I have in front of me that I could share, I think I want to skip over some of those things and come to a statement that I would imagine many of you have said yourself. I know that there have been times when I have made this statement without really thinking a whole lot about it. And the statement is this one, that the safest place to be is in the center of God's will. And I think when that statement is said, you've probably heard it in your churches, people have said it. I don't really think they've thought much about that statement. Because there's a subtle belief behind that statement that if you follow Jesus Christ, everything's going to work out real good for you. And I know that the Apostle Paul said in Philippians 3, verse 10, that his goal was to know him and the power of his resurrection. And then there's that third piece that American Christians like to leave out, the fellowship of his suffering. And it occurred to me that this statement I've heard so often doesn't come from the Bible. Now, the best place to be is in the center of God's will, but it doesn't mean it's going to be the safest place. And that's okay. Much of what our church and the team endured was slanderous, you know that. We were accused of things that we did not do. We were persecuted for things that we attempted to do, all by the instruction of the Haitian officials. Of course, in Revelation 12, verse 10, it says that Satan is the accuser of the brothers, and he accuses us before God night and day. Whenever you and I find ourselves or our churches being slandered, you can be sure that Satan has something to do with that. False accusations appeared in the newspapers every day. Sometimes it didn't seem to matter what I said to the press. Not all press, but much of the press would say whatever they wanted to say anyway. To quote things out of context, threats of violence and retaliation changed the way we conducted our church services. During many of those days, I had to be escorted to my car every day because of the kind of things that were being threatened against us in our church. Our life was drastically changed. during this period of time. My greatest disappointment, I think, is when I found out that Christians were just as quick to judge as those who are not. And some of the most hurtful things that were communicated to us came from people who claimed to be Christians, who assumed that everything they heard was true, followed up to the church in Ephesus and said, don't let any unwholesome words come out of your mouth. And let words come out of your mouth that are the kind of words that can build people up and pour God's sustaining, amazing grace on them. And I know we needed those kind of words more than we've ever needed them before. So you have to remember that words have the power to give life and blessings. And they have a life of their own because words can be played over and over and over in the mind. And we constantly pray that you guys could dwell on things that are true and right. The darkest day of my life came during those first two weeks that my brother, my best friends were behind those Haitian cells. I had to revisit a conviction that I have shared numerous times with other young men in ministry. I told them, if you don't have a call from God to serve where you're at, you're never going to stay when things get difficult. And I want you to know that everything in me wanted to run away at that time, but it was God's call that kept me at this church that I'm at, that really kept me in the ministry at that time. Romans 11, 29 says that the gifts and callings of God are irrevocable, so at some point or other we have to come to that place where we decide if God's not going to change His mind, then neither should I. So I'm so grateful that all of those days are behind us. Eight of the ten spent a total of 19 days in a Haitian jail. One more spent another 15 days. And the final person from my church, who was the one that originally planned the trip, she spent a total of 108 days behind bars in the midst of a custody battle for a five-year-old daughter. And she lost custody of her daughter because of this. She paid the greatest price of any of the ten. Her name was slurred in the media and around coffee tables in our valley, but I want you to know this about her. I have never, ever heard her say one negative thing about that trip. And if anybody could have, she could have with the things that she went through. There were three things that I shared with my church at some point during this process. And I just briefly want to share those with you. Number one, focus on the master, not the messenger. Because as long as we look at ourselves and our circumstances, our faith may not live up to the challenge. And you said it, you heard the song, you know, turn your eyes upon Jesus, look full of His wonderful face, and the things of this earth will grow strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. We had to keep our focus on Jesus. Number two, focus on the result, not the process. Sooner or later the heat is going to be turned up in all of our lives. And it is this refining fire that makes us like Jesus Christ. Unfortunately, it's not very pleasant when you experience it, but it is worth the price. And finally, focus on the Word, not on the world. The world is always going to lead us astray, but God's Word never will. And during this entire crisis, we kept the Bible open on the counter at our church. And every day in the morning after about an hour and a half of sleep, we would come back into church and we would read these words again. They're found from Job chapter 5, verses 8 through 16. If I were you, I would appeal to God and would present my case to him. He does great and unsearchable things, wonders without number. He gives rain to the earth and sends water to the fields. He sets the lowly on high and mourners are lifted to safety. He frustrates the schemes of the crafty so that they achieve no success. He traps the wise in their craftiness so that the plans of the deceptive are quickly brought to an end. They encounter darkness by day and they grow up at noon as if it were night. But God saves the needy from the sharp words and from the clutches of the powerful so the poor have hope and injustice shuts its mouth. And you can imagine the shouts of praise when we also got the news of their freedom. I can't imagine the difficulty that Paul and others had in leaving one behind. 107 days after this ordeal had begun for the team, I was very, very weary. My son-in-law have kept asking me, saying, Dad, you need to get away for a while. And so finally, on that 107th day, I said, OK. And I agreed to go fishing down the Oahe River and had agreed to camp out overnight, try to take my mind off everything. Before nightfall came, we drove up out of the canyon so I could make a cell phone call back home to see if there was any news about the final member of our church. And that's when I found out she was going to come home. I realize today I should have taken a vacation on the very first day of this whole thing. And so let me just share that with you. Don't wait to get away. You never know what God might do when you do that. You know, the best thing that we learned through this entire ordeal is that you can count on God to do for you things that you cannot do for yourself. And one thing I will say about my church, you know, it's a great thing when you can come back from a two week trip and find out that your people are planning a mission trip on their own. It's exciting. One of my fears was that through this horrible ordeal that we went through, is that my church's desire for missions might have been diminished. And I can stand before you today and say it isn't. Do they still want to go? Are we a little more cautious than we were before? As much as you can be, but we always remember the best place to be is where God wants you to be, not necessarily the safest place to be. We have a little bit of time here if any of you would like to ask a question of either of them or both of them. That gentleman there. And if you're comatose, there might be a little dessert left. Any questions for Clint or Paul? I'll give my, while you're thinking, my one grace out of all of us. I had no where the media that Brother Clint had contacting them. But we knew sooner or later they would figure out Utah, Idaho, Southern Baptist. And we did. I had one national media person that left me a message that was polite. And like I told you, if they were polite, I returned those responses. So there wasn't many I had to return from media around the world, including some interesting ones from London, I remember. But this one gentleman. called me and had our talking points that we had worked through that I shared with him. And when the interview was done, I asked him if he had ever been to Haiti. And he had just come back. And I said, that must have been a horrible experience. He goes, yes, it was hard. I said, I bet you you had some smells. And when I said that, whew. I had the chance to share the gospel with him and keep a relationship with him through the process of this. Because that opened the door for me to get in the chair and listen and give him some debriefing. He was really struggling with what he saw in Haiti when he was down there. I saw a hand over here. Go ahead and say it. Paul, how did the experience impact Silas? Do I have to do something to this? The question was, how did this impact Silas? Silas was 19 at the time. He's now married and hoping to someday adopt from Haiti. Our church now runs a girls' home with 20 girls and four parents. Silas and his wife, Bianca, travel there frequently. I make no apologies to him today for taking him from the days of struggle were hard on me then, and I'm so grateful. As a father, to be able to send your son with the banner of the gospel to go to the unknown is a great pleasure, even though it comes with a great unknown as well. So I bless the Lord for his strength. In one of my journal entries, before we actually make it into Haiti, one of my prayers, I pray for him. I pray that God would let him see God's glory. Well, if you have something personally you want to ask him, please feel free to do that. Let's just have a look. You know, you know, What we went through is really hard, but it doesn't even come close to what another family from our valley is going through. And I would just encourage all of you to pray for Pastor Syed Abedini every day. Our team, 15 days, a few more days beyond that, 108 days, but that's not 18 months. And I would hope, before you retire tonight, that you would pray for Pastor Sy. Let's do that. Oh, yeah, go ahead. I want to know if any of the network reporters have ever been back since the release? So the question is, have any of the reporters been back since the release? No, they're on to them. At least for me, they're on to the next greatest story. Nobody wants to know the truth. No, except for Baptist Press. And I'm not just saying that. Baptist Press is the only media outlet that actually printed my story shortly after Laura's release. I really do want to thank you for the chance to be able to share some of the things that are in my heart because this is only the second time I've ever been asked to speak about this. One of, well, one of the young ladies who went to church, who wound up going to school in Oklahoma, has spoken about this all over the state of Oklahoma. And it's been very healing for her. So I appreciate it. She's still the positive person that I mentioned to you. Her life's forever different. Thousands of people where we live think differently of her than before all this. But like I say, she still goes on mission trips. Nothing seems to keep her from the counterpart. She's the daughter of a missionary, so she's been raised to want to live this way. Her life is difficult, but she carries the joy of the Lord with her. Oh, I'm sorry. I was just wondering, who did you appeal to? besides what avenues could you have taken, or did you, and I shouldn't say could you have taken, because I know I'm bad, but like, Richard Land, this doesn't fall under something that he could help with, or did you ask him, or how does that work? That's probably the most difficult of all questions. Okay. She was asking, you know, who did we try to reach out to for assistance and help? Basically, your question. You can imagine the places I started. You know, the Brothers in Christ, the organization that finally came to our aid was not who we expected would do that. That's the best way I'll know how to answer it. I did some in trying with some of the elected officials in Idaho, talked with aides of several of them, and I will say one of the folks was helpful to me and was trying to do stuff with the State Department and shared some things with me. I had a number of discussions with the North American Mission Board about concerned, but also the challenge that faced with them. We were trying to also work with DR going on down there. That's tough. Clint and I have talked. Six months afterwards, we had a really good visit where he's learned a lot that he shared with me and he shared it at our convention about how to help churches have a risk management plan in place because it will happen. the things that we hear in media these days. I don't know that I can add any more to that either. It really is an important question that probably all of our churches and we need to be probing our churches to prepare themselves. And prepare yourself to do everything that you think you ought to do, getting in touch with our government, pleading with them and asking them, but don't grow, don't let the disappointment suffocate you when they don't do anything. We had expectations that the embassy would be right there assisting us and helping us and getting assistance for us. They didn't do it because we were Baptists, they just won't do that. And we really need, if you're sending churches out anywhere, even across the country of the United States, we really have to be better prepared to go for not expecting who we think will come to our rescue. And the US government is not that agency that's going to come to our rescue. Sitting in jail, my expectations were the most powerful government in the world. and surely get us out of this pit of a nightmare. My second greatest hope was the strongest Protestant denomination, evangelical denomination in the United States. Surely they can do something to get us out. Surely somebody can do this work for us. Those were just expectations to be disappointed in. The hope was when we lift our eyes up, That's the only hope that Pastor Saeed Abedini has. Our government, strongest in the world perhaps, more Christian than the United States, maybe anywhere else on the planet, maybe. His only hope is Jesus Christ. That's a better hope, with a better promise, with a greater expectation. And just to be clear, my comments didn't have anything to do with the government, even though I had a lot of disappointments. I know that what causes a lot of trouble for us is what we expect they can do is different than what they really can do. So we learned a valuable lesson that we've mentioned. Our denomination is challenging all of our churches to adopt unreached people groups. and go and plant your lives and be on mission all over the world. Do not do that without a crisis management team in your church. Any other questions? Now it's been a long evening and we've kind of ended on a heavy note, but let's stand up and let's have a word of prayer and I don't know if you would be able to lead that one for Saeed. Father, we humble ourselves in your presence tonight to acknowledge first of all that we are dependent upon you for our very breath. Forgive us for the times when we have forgotten that you are our deliverer and for the times when we have tried to accomplish that work ourself. And God, I thank you for the times when you bring us to a place where we realize that we are nothing without you. Help us to stay focused on the task at hand, the work of the Great Commission. Help us to go fearlessly into every people group on this planet. And God, I pray that you would help us to go with the willingness to sacrifice whatever that means to get that task accomplished. We lift up Said Abedini tonight, one of the pastors at Calvary Chapel Boise. And God, you know that he was just doing your work when another government who gave him permission to come there and do that work turned on him. And God, we're convinced, even though it's been very difficult for him and for his family, that even as we mentioned here tonight, that even that circumstance is turning out for the further advancement of your gospel. And so we pray that you would continue to strengthen him so that he can continue to bear witness faithfully to you. We ask, Lord, that you would protect him from what the enemy would try to do to destroy his witness in that place. God, we still pray that you bring him home this year. We still pray, God, that his deliverance would come at a time when at least one member of the government there has mentioned clemency. We pray that it wouldn't be another one of those tactics of the enemy to raise hopes only to dash it again. May God help us to stand up for him now, raise our voices, help our representatives, and thank you that our presidents finally said something. God, I pray that all of these words would come to bear and bring some type of political pressure on that nation who might realize, Father, that it would be better to send him home than to allow him to have this witness there behind those bars. We pray for Nog May and the children as they continue to to do the best that they can with the strength that only you can give. And thank you that she is a fearless fighter for her husband. Thank you for a church that has surrounded them with incredible love. God, I especially pray, keep her going. Help those kids who don't understand everything that's happened, but they miss their dad. And God, I pray, don't let their hope be taken away by the enemy. And God, help us. to be faithful to the scripture, to mourn with those who mourn, and rejoice with those who rejoice, and to remember those that are behind bars for the cause of Jesus Christ. Bless Said. Help him to know even now he's being prayed for. Thank you for this group of people here. Bless their continued meeting and the work of Southern Baptist and all these conventions we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Thanks for listening today. Feel free to write Paul with questions or comments related to today's topics. Helpful links can be found at the blog link related to this broadcast at paulthompsonblog.com.