"FOR PASTOR BRUNSON, THE WAIT CONTINUES..." - Tony Perkins, Washington Watch, July 18, 2018; https://www.frc.org/updatearticle/20180718/pastor-brunson-wait-continues [AS I SEE IT: Why is it that the previous administration (unlike this one) as well as the mainstream media (as far as I can tell) has ignored what has happened to this innocent American? I praise God for the Trump administration and many members of Congress becoming more and more involved in seeking his release. As fellow believers, Christians esp. need to be involved in at least praying for our brother in Christ and his family. And if you haven't done so yet, please sign the petition asking for his release at the top of every blog post. - Stan]
Those tears didn’t subside earlier today, when the Brunsons got the agonizing news that Andrew wouldn’t be released after all. The hearing, his third since being falsely accused in 2016, went horribly wrong. Instead of being freed, as some local papers had predicted he would be, Pastor Andrew was transported back to his cell – where he will be 24 hours of every day for who knows how long.
The team of Americans who came to support Pastor Brunson were stunned. Most of them, including Kristina Arriaga, my colleague on the U.S. Commission for International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), had flown for hours hoping to witness the joyful reunion of Pastor Brunson and his wife, Norine. Instead, the trial ended suddenly, adjourning until October 12. Kristina watched as “for nearly two hours during the hearing, former church members testified against Pastor Brunson, making vague, unsubstantiated accusations. When the judge asked Brunson to reply to the witnesses, he said: ‘My faith teaches me to forgive, so I forgive those who testified against me.’ Only one witness from the defense was allowed to testify.” [This sounds like Jesus standing before His false accusers; unbelieveable! - Stan]
As his few visitors over the torturous two years can testify, the conditions in the cinderblock jail in Kiriklar are bleak. Pastor Brunson is “the only American, the only English speaker, and the only Christian in the prison,” Kristina wrote after seeing him last November. “He lives in a world of physical isolation and psychological dislocation.” A gaunt and paler version of his former self, she talks about his depression and shock he struggled through.
At home, leaders from both sides of the aisle are doing everything they can to force Turkey’s hand. In a rare spirit of cooperation, they’ve ratcheted up the pressure through a series of new sanctions and a bill blocking the sale of F-35 fighter jets. But even now, with the world watching, Kristina points out, “The government of Turkey continues to make a mockery of justice in its treatment of Pastor Brunson.”
For Jacqueline and her two brothers, the last two years have been a painful blur. Through graduations, weddings, and everyday life, there’s always one empty chair at the family table. “I’m still waiting to wear the wedding dress that I got almost a year and half ago. I’m still waiting for my dad to walk me down the aisle. I’m still waiting for that father-daughter dance.” Her mom, Norine, has been reluctant to have the kids visit Turkey, terrified that they’d also be detained. The one time she did, Jacqueline said, they sobbed the entire time.
“I will never forget any moment of the day we got to visit. I remember hearing my dad’s voice for the first time in a year as they brought him into the room. I remember how broken, tired, and desperate he sounded as he tried to fight to meet in a room where he could hug and hold us for the only hour he would have seen us the whole year. It was hard to fit words in because the emotions were too strong… He hated having us kids see him that way.”
In her testimony begging for Congress’s help, Jacqueline talked about how her dad dreaded facing the cold winter in a prison that wasn’t insulated. “That he was already concerned about the winter in the middle of August shows how hopeless he was… He’s been changed by this experience. My whole family has been changed.”
Although they’ve all been able to communicate with Pastor Andrew through letters, Jacqueline told me yesterday on “Washington Watch” that’s it’s been a difficult separation. But in her dad, she says, she sees a big change from even last year. “At the start, of course, this was very difficult for him to process this. ‘Why is this happening to me? I’ve been serving people in an overseas country for 23 years, telling people about God. How can this be my fate?’ But now I’ve seen that he’s really come to terms with it and said, ‘God, my life is in your hands. I want to glorify you however you see fit.’ He’s really submitted to God in this.”
Your prayers – and the prayers of Christians across the country -- are certainly helping. When Kristina delivered the thousands of names of people who signed our prayer pledge to Mrs. Brunson on Tuesday, she said they were visibly moved. Knowing that his greatest fear is being forgotten, Kristina said the U.S. Consul would be seeing Pastor Brunson tomorrow and would work to get the nearly 50 pages of names who pledged to pray for him into his hands. For an in-depth look at the trial, don’t miss my interview with Kristina on today’s “Washington Watch.”
[italics and colored emphasis mine]
As of July 27, Pastor Brunson has been taken from prison and placed on house arrest. This is one step closer to his reunion with his family. Let us keep praying for this man! When he says, "God, my life is in your hands. I want to glorify you however you see fit" - God is glorified.
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