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2008-11-04 issue:

Geisers offer more details about rescue

Associated Press reports several people killed during incident

by Anna Groff with reports from the Associated Press

Print Article

Al Geiser's plan to install the biggest turbine locally manufactured for rural Afghanistan was interrupted in August when he was captured by armed men and held for 56 days.

Forty-seven of those days he spent blindfolded, lying among the rocks high in the mountains.

Gladys and Al Geiser. Photo by Anna Groff.











Al and Gladys Geiser of Kidron, Ohio, had worked in Afghanistan since 2000—Al developing grass-roots hydroelectric projects and Gladys teaching in a Kabul school.

On Oct. 26, the Geisers shared their faith stories during the worship service at their home congregation, Kidron Mennonite Church.

"That day in August, all that we had done was put on hold," Gladys said to the congregation.

On Aug. 20, Al and his business partner, Shukur, were returning to Kabul from a funeral in a nearby village when they were captured by armed men.

Gladys said she guessed Al was somewhere hidden in the mountains. "But I knew God was there with him," she added.

Al was rescued on Oct. 14.

The Associated Press reported Oct. 22 that "U.S. Special Forces soldiers freed a kidnapped American … during a nighttime mission last week—a rare hostage rescue in a country where ransom abductions have become increasingly common."  The rescue mission killed several insurgents, U.S. officials said.

The Mennonite confirmed through several sources that Al Geiser was the unnamed hostage in the Associated Press report.


















Terry Shue, right, pastor of Kidron Mennonite Church, leads a healing service for the Geisers, on left, on Oct. 26. Photo by Anna Groff.

Al said the men stopped them on Aug. 20 and asked for papers—nothing unusual for his life in Afghanistan. But this time, it wasn't just papers that were required. That night, Al, Shukur and their captors spent hours walking and climbing into the nearby mountains.

"These men definitely fit the category of 'lovers of darkness' rather than light," he said.

On the sixth day, the captors performed a "last rite," and Al feared for his life, but nothing happened. Another cold night, he complained of the cold, but a guard reassured him that the next night he would be "in a place of immense warmth," meaning the end of his life.

"I faced death, and that's OK," Al said. "It's the unknown and waiting that's hard."

The captors set a price for Shukur. He was released after payment was made, one week after their capture.

But for the next 47 days, Al lay hidden among the rocks in the mountains. The guards forced him to lie down all day and all night on a plot of earth the size of his torso while his feet extended over a pile of rocks. He was blindfolded except for eating and trips to relieve himself.

When Al felt stress, he recited the Lord’s Prayer with his prayer beads. The guards learned when the beads were out that he was praying, and they left him alone.

Once a guard asked him, "Why do you pray so much? Your fate is not in God’s hands; it's in mine."

Al said on Oct.26, "My thought was, It's true, but whose hand is your fate in?"

Although his captors told him no one knew or cared where he was, Al found hope in several things: his health that did not require medication, he had not been harmed physically, he had the ability to sleep three to four hours each night and his diet of bread and water—and some rice toward the end—caused him to lose 30 pounds. Al said many villagers make do with only bread and water.

After 52 days, the guards packed up to return down the mountain, mistakenly thinking someone had paid Al's ransom. When they learned of their mistake, they moved him indoors to keep him through the winter.

Several nights later, Al said he heard a knock on the door and voices speaking English. Al said he was returned to Kabul "safe and sound, thanking God for my life." He returned to the United States on Oct. 20.

Gladys said on Oct. 27 that there was no ransom paid for Al.

"God knew my heart and soul and was able to understand even my most demanding cries," said Gladys. "I felt much peace through this ordeal; peace that came from God."

After their message, Terry Shue, pastor, led a service of cleansing from the trauma and healing of their memories for Al and Gladys and their family.

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