Christian Peacemakers Freed without a Shot Fired
Multiple reports today detail the rescue of James Loney, Harmeet Sooden, and Norman Kember. Here is one detailed article, more details will be posted as they become available.
Thank God they're safe!
We're relieved by reports that no shots were fired, and we give thanks to everyone who endures sacrifice to serve others.Doug Pritchard of Christian Peacemaker Teams writes:
We rejoice in the return of Harmeet Sooden. He has been willing to put his life on the line to promote justice in Iraq and Palestine as a young man newly committed to active peacemaking.
We rejoice in the return of Jim Loney. He has cared for the marginalized and oppressed since childhood, and his gentle, passionate spirit has been an inspiration to people near and far.
We rejoice in the return of Norman Kember. He is a faithful man, an elder and mentor to many in his 50 years of peacemaking, a man prepared to pay the cost.
We remember with tears Tom Fox, whose body was found in Baghdad on March 9, 2006, after three months of captivity with his fellow peacemakers. We had longed for the day when all four men would be released together. Our gladness today is made bittersweet by the fact that Tom is not alive to join in the celebration. However, we are confident that his spirit is very much present in each reunion. [...]
Today, in the face of this joyful news, our faith compels us to love our enemies even when they have committed acts which caused great hardship to our friends and sorrow to their families. In the spirit of the prophetic nonviolence that motivated Jim, Norman, Harmeet and Tom to go to Iraq, we refuse to yield to a spirit of vengeance. We give thanks for the compassionate God who granted our friends courage and who sustained their spirits over the past months. We pray for strength and courage for ourselves so that, together, we can continue the nonviolent struggle for justice and peace.
posted by john @ 10:31 AM
6 Comments:
What beautiful news this morning! The trials of Iraq are far from over, but today is a happy one.
Thoughts and prayers go out to the friends and family of Tom Fox.
Huh-zah to the shopkeep!
Sad to see that this organization couldn't muster the decency to express appreciation to the British (and other) troops who risked their lives to save these ingrates.
Glad the folks were returned!
And God Bless the Special Force teams that when in to get them without firing a shot.
May they continue God's Work in freeing the Iraqi people from decades of repression so they can enjoy God's Freedoms meant for all.
Yes, God bless the Special Forces and the rest of the brave men and women of the coalition who have set millions of captives free in Afghanistan and Iraq.
And God bless the peacemakers and the Peacemakers. Although I'm a Christian who supports the Iraq War, I appreciate diversity of opinion and reminders of the importance of peace.
I was so pleased to hear the news of the 3 hostages' release yesterday, although sad that there were not 4, and even better that no violence was necessary. I'm not sure why people are making so much fuss about the perceived lack of gratitude yesterday. I can't help suspecting they just want to find something negative to say for some reason best known to themselves.
Well, karin, to some of us the CPT statement came across as a lack of basic honesty about explaining how the hostages were freed, and a lack of elementary courtesy to say thanks for efforts that may well have saved the lives of the CPT folks, even if they weren't asking for the help.
Simple honesty and courtesy should not be too much to expect. Perhaps you or someone else could explain how that information and thanks got left out of the initial statement. Or perhaps that is due to some reason best known to CPTers.
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