Colombia: New Tribes Mission Loses More Workers in Abduction

Twenty armed Colombian guerrillas abducted two 41-year-old Americans living at a rural New Tribes Mission (NTM) compound near the town of Villavicencio on January 16.

Eighty other personnel, including 60 children of missionaries, watched as the guerrillas kidnapped Tim Van Dyke of Towanda, Pennsylvania, and Steve Welsh of North Platte, Nebraska. The helpless onlookers included the wives of the two men and Van Dyke’s four children. The mission station and school have been evacuated, with most of the NTM personnel moving to Villavicencio.

NTM spokesman George Davison says that during the Sunday morning takeover the guerrillas demanded initially to see mission pilots, who had already flown away. The rebels then looted missionary homes and left with Van Dyke, assistant principal of the school for missionary children, and Welsh, who was in charge of base maintenance. Van Dyke has been with NTM for five years and Welsh for eight years.

The captors contacted NTM for the first time February 8, sending taped messages to the families from the pair. No threats or demands were made.

Trio still missing

Meanwhile, the Sanford, Florida-based NTM continues to cope with the loss of three missionaries from Panama who have been missing for more than a year (CT, Nov. 8, 1993, p. 58). Mark Rich, Rick Teneoff, and David Mankins were abducted by Colombian guerrillas January 31, 1993, from the Kuna Indian tribe village of Pucuro near the Panama-Colombia border. Davison says the two incidents are unrelated.

NTM officials were encouraged to receive an audiotape on December 15 that contained Christmas greetings from the three men to their families.

The cassette is the first proof since April that the missionaries were still alive.

“People were beginning to wonder whether these men were still alive,” Davison says. While reassured, NTM is no closer to resolving the crisis. “They’re still demanding $5 million for the return of all three men.”

The 15 NTM workers who had been in the Pucuro region have all relocated to other Panama areas. The missionary agency recently informed village officials they have no plans to return.

“Many of the Kuna leaders openly wept when they heard this, but they admitted that it is just too dangerous to have missionaries there,” Davison says. “Our hearts are very heavy in making this decision. We had missionaries in Pucuro for over 20 years, and we leave behind a little group of struggling believers.”

Colombia was the site of NTM’s first kidnapping ordeal, in October 1985. Three missionaries and a pilot were abducted by the Revolutionary Armed Force of Colombia. The pilot escaped and flew to safety, and the missionaries were released unharmed after 30 days when ransom demands were not met.

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