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Ray Rising, a Summer Institute of Linguistics (SIL) radio technician and missionary abducted in Puerto Llernas, Colombia, on March 31, 1994, was released unharmed June 17.

Rising, 54, appeared in good health and good spirits upon his release. His kidnappers, Armed Revolutionary Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrillas, had demanded a ransom, but SIL paid none.

"I am very grateful for the assistance, good wishes, and prayers of so many people in Colombia and around the world," Rising said upon his arrival in the United States June 19. Rising said he had been "treated with respect" during his captivity. He said meditating on 1 Peter 5:10 helped him endure the ordeal.

Rising, originally from Baudette, Minnesota, arrived in Colombia with his wife, Doris, in 1966, a year after he joined SIL. He had been abducted while on a motorcycle ride near the SIL linguistics center in Lomalinda.

SIL closed the linguistics center in February due to increased threats of abductions and bombings, causing 140 missionaries and their relatives to relocate to other parts of Colombia. SIL had been in major negotiations with the abductors since then.

Three New Tribes Mission workers abducted in January 1993 in Colombia remain in captivity. Two New Tribes missionaries who had been taken hostage in Colombia by FARC rebels in 1994 were killed in June 1995.

Copyright © 1996 Christianity Today, Inc./CHRISTIANITY TODAY Magazine

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July 15 1996, Vol. 40, No. 8