December 10, 2001
IMB missionaries survive
carjacking in Malawi
___LILONGWE, Malawi (BP)--Carjackers abducted Southern Baptist missionary Sam Upton Nov. 28 in Lilongwe, Malawi. He was safely released several hours later, after fellow missionary Tom Patterson jump-started a worldwide prayer network.
___Upton and Patterson were returning home about 9:30 p.m. from a meeting in the city. Pulling into the driveway of Patterson's home, they suddenly found themselves surrounded by four armed men. The men pointed AK47s and Uzis in the two men's facesand demanded they turn over the vehicle.
UPTON
___The men pushed Patterson out, forced Upton into the floorboard of the back seat and took off in the truck and their getaway car. As Upton lay scrunched on the floor, Patterson ran into the house to call the police and gear up an international prayer chain.
PATTERSON
___"I started praying face down in the floorboard," Upton wrote in an e-mail to faithful prayer warriors after he reached safety hours later. "I prayed as a guy sat on me with his knee in my back."
___The armed robbers drove in circles for what seemed like hours and then finally stopped, pulling Upton out of the vehicle. The missionary made out the lights of nearby Lilongwe but was so disoriented he did not know where he was.
___The men forced Upton into the trunk of a car they were driving.
___"It was probably about that time that many of you got the message and started praying," Upton wrote. "And I do so appreciate that, for they put me in the trunk of a getaway car. In there was a gallon of petrol (gas), which sloshed out. The fumes were tremendous, but I had the assurance of God's presence."
___Finally after about 45 minutes of driving around, they let Upton out in a remote part of the Lilongwe business district. The missionary walked to a hotel to call home.
___"Finding out how quickly (supporters) got the news out is humbling," Upton wrote. "We serve a mighty God who is pleased by the prayers of his people. Thank you all."
___"We praise the Lord that Tom and Sam were not hurt," said associate regional leader Mark Hatfield. "This case is very similar to what happened two months ago to Lindy Howard," an IMB missionary in Zambia.
___"No one in our region lives outside the threat of this happening. We desperately need your continued prayers."
___Prayer support is critical to the success in the missionary enterprise, said Gordon Fort, regional leader for IMB work in southern Africa.
___"This is the fourth armed hijacking and abduction in our region in the past two years. We are deeply thankful to God that none have resulted in serious injury to our mission personnel."
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