Story number 1 for 16 Nov 2001

(Afghanistan)–Our newscast begins today with the incredible story of eight aid workers in Afghanistan who were detained by the Taliban on charges of promoting Christianity. The group finally reached safety on Thursday, plucked from a field in Afghanistan in the dead of night by U.S. helicopters and spirited out to Pakistan. Voice of the Martyrs’ Todd Nettleton revealed their connection with the group. “Some of the literature which was confiscated from the Shelter Now workers had been printed by the Voice of the Martyrs offices in different countries. So, that was kind of the direct connection. All of us have been praying and hoping that they would be released.” Nettleton says the other answer to prayer was nothing short of the impossible. “U.N. sources in Islamabad are reporting that the 16 Afghan workers with Shelter Now were released on Tuesday, when Kabul was liberated. To be very honest, I didn’t know if we’d ever hear from these people again. So, to hear that they’d been released is just an absolute miracle.”