Held Hostage

Yesterday, Angel Alert Network came to do security training with us. They work with a lot of NGOs, churches, and missions organizations to prepare them for everything from a robber in their home/street crimes, armed assaults, traveling, to sexual assault, car jacking, and abduction/kidnappings. So it's intense. They do a lot of demonstrations to put you in the moment to help you feel what the pressure is like in order to encourage you to have a plan. Their motto is "Be alert, be aware, have a plan". They also like to play the "what if?" game. Like "What if you're at home with your family and you hear someone downstairs? Do you go after him, or do you protect your family by staying closer to them?" "What if you're driving and find a poisonous snake at your feet?" "What if you (a young woman) are in an elevator and two guys get on?" It gets you thinking about what you would do.

Things got real when "shots" were "fired". We all instinctively hit the ground at the sound (we were later applauded for our quick reaction time). In walked our trainer, dressed as a terrorist. He started giving us orders, telling us to sit up, give him our wallets, asking questions of us. He ended up abducting myself, one girl, and one guy, a Malaysian. To show some of the things terrorists do, he asked about who would pay ransom for us, etc. Then he pried about Eddie's (Malaysian dude) religion and found out he was a Christian, even though most Malaysians are Muslim. So he asked Eddie to deny his faith. He kept prodding him to deny Christ, asking him to make a tape for his Malaysian brothers. When Eddie wouldn't do it, JoJo (trainer) put the "gun" to my head, and said, "Deny Christ or she's dead" Even though it was a totally fake scenario, it felt very real. A man with a gun to your head. In that moment all I could think of was Jesus. Literally, that was it. I remember praying for Eddie to love Christ and not life, not even to be the protector, as he was inclined to do. He looked at me and asked if I was ready to die, if I were right with God. Although they called the exercise off at that point, Eddie said his next move was going to be to attempt to disarm JoJo (if I said yes). This way, even if we both died, he died fighting, and we both knew we were going to heaven. Boys. But he said if I'd said no, he'd deny Christ. Interesting the decisions you make when life is on the line. What if it had been a child? A spouse? This is real hard stuff.

I am so thankful for the opportunity to experience and think about these things. JoJo says that he hopes we never have to use anything he tells us, but he wants us to be ready to if we do. It is far more likely for me to be struck by lightning than abducted, but it is good to have the awareness. Being aware minimizes the risk, and also allows you to take steps to be less vulnerable.

And, some of the stuff was super practical - especially for a young single gal about to graduate college and live on her own, most likely! And the traveling abroad things...I've been abroad, and I definitely was not as prepared as I could have been.

I highly recommend the training that we had. Angel Alert Network in case you forgot.