God’s Hostage: A True Story of Persecution, Imprisonment, and Perseverance by Andrew Brunson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
When Andrew Brunson and his wife answered a request to come to the police station in Izmir Turkey on October 7, 2016, Andrew didn’t realize that he wouldn’t see the inside of his home again for almost two years. That day, the threat of deportation morphed into two years of imprisonment for this U.S. citizen.
Twenty-one years earlier, Brunson had moved his family to Turkey to work with Turkey’s Christian community. He and his wife planted churches, established a House of Prayer, and worked with refugees. But now someone had leveled a charge against him.
In God’s Hostage, Brunson tells of his two years of imprisonment in graphic detail. We are with him in a crowded cell, built for eight but holding 20. We suffer through the stifling heat as he is surrounded by criminals who believe their devotion will secure their early release as they double down, reciting prayers and reading from the Koran practically 24/7. We feel his longing as he visits with his wife and occasionally children behind glass, watched and timed by guards. We understand his fear and despair as, in court case after court case, false witnesses fabricate accusations and evidence of terrorism against him.
Bleak as it is, Brunson’s story is also one of hope as through all the trials and uncertainties he grows and matures. I love how he sums up this time and how it affected him in the Epilogue:
“As I look back on my prison time… I see a pattern. I would get hit with a test, break and go low, and then work slowly toward a point of surrender to God, only to face a harder blow and go even lower. But each time, I started to climb again and eventually made it back to surrender—a deeper surrender, because now I was more aware of the price. There were many ups and downs, but there was a gradual upward trajectory. This was a choice” – p. 245.
This was an excellent read, recommended for people who love memoir and true stories of faith under pressure.
Brunson was released in October of 2018 and now lives in the U.S. He has parlayed his prison experience into a helpful video series “Prepare to Stand,” designed to help Christians prepare for persecution, whatever country or culture they’re living in.
Violet Nesdoly 