About the Author:
Russell Stendal grew up in Columbia, South Africa. He moved there with his family at a very young age. God used this young man's curiosity to create a desire to become missionaries in the hearts of his mother and father. It was Russell's child like faith that helped his father see that God is in the prayer answering business even today, and that nothing is too big or too small for God to do.
About the Book
Rescue the Captors is the biogaphy of Russell Stendal, a missionary to Columbia, South America. This book is the account of the four months he spent in the custody of Marxist Colombian Guerrillas in 1983. The rebel band kidnapped Russell, believing that they were helping to drain the wallets of rich, capitalist Americans. Little did they know, that they had grabbed the son of a humble missionary who had little financial assets to drain.Russell attempted to get away on his first day of captivity. Lying to his guard about being armed, he tried to make a break for freedom, wounding one of his guards, but almost losing his life in the process. Fortunately for him, his attempt to escape proved to his captors that he was not a coward. Ironically, his account while in captivity was written primarily for the guard who he had wounded.
"It seemed like the idea of my standing up to their eight machine guns with a little five-shot revolver tickled their sense of humor. It caused them to treat me with respect, almost as an equal. They wanted to know why I had started shooting like that. I told them I was a Christian and that Christians had to stand up for what they believed in, even if it was dangerous. I told them that kidnapping was morally wrong, and that if I had just passively gone along with it, I would have considered myself to be an accomplice to my own kidnapping. If I had 'chickened out' and not used the gun, I would have had a hard time living with myself for the rest of my life. I hadn't fired at them with the shotgun in Carlos' store because I wasn't sure who they were or what they wanted. Once I knew what they were doing, however, I had a moral obligation as a Christian to resist what I knew to be wrong. I pointed out that it had been my initial decision to shoot Manuel in the shoulder instead of the head, which ended up preventing me from escaping. I had valued Manuel's life, not wanting to kill him."
The beginning of Russell Stendal's stay with the Colombian rebels was not as terrifying as it sounds. Although it was no picnic, Russell tried to make the best of his situation and try to understand his guards.
"My discussions with my abductors would be friendly and easy-going until we started discussing politics or world issues. It became quite clear that the guerrillas hated 'capitalists' with a passion. They also hated the United States of America. When I would stick up for the United States our discussions would take a nasty turn, with the guerrillas threatening to shoot me if I said anything else."
"What they are really hating is their own motives and problems that they have transposed on America in their mind's eye. This helped me to understand the guerrillas' reasoning regarding myself. They liked to think of themselves as social Robin Hoods, restoring social justice by force. They were financing their revolution in part by kidnapping wealthy capitalists who they felt had been exploiting the common poor people. However, unlike Robin Hood, they spent the money on weapons and terrorism instead of giving it to the poor."
The Bible says, in Matthew 5: 43-44, "Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you;" Russell's story shows how God can take a difficult circumstance and use it for His good.
I won't tell you how the book ends... You'll have to read it yourself!
I give this book 4 stars.
