Authors Henry O. Arnold and Ben Pearson crawl behind the eyes and into the minds and hearts of the eight European, American, and Australian missionaries the Taliban held captive in Kabul for 105 days in 2001. The result is Kabul24, a story to which readers are willing hostages to the suspense-filled end.
The nightmare begins on August 3rd, the day Dayna Curry and Heather Mercer, two Kabul Shelter Now International workers, bring over the Jesus DVD for an Afghan family to watch. They do this after the family has expressed an interest in Christianity and asked to see the video.
That afternoon, not realizing they have been set up, both girls are ambushed by Taliban soldiers while in their taxis. The next day six more Kabul SNI workers (two men and six women total) are rounded up, along with sixteen Afghan Christians who also work for SNI. Others flee the country.
The imprisonment of the eight is described in chilling detail. We do get to know each of the players a little, but the story is told mainly through the eyes of Georg Taubmann, a German who takes responsibility for the others. (Though there are 24 hostages, the story is mainly about the eight foreign missionaries; the 16 Afghans are imprisoned separately.)
Arnold’s and Pearson’s storytelling is masterful. Though we know at the outset that the hostages will eventually be freed, we are kept on edge of our seats as the eight are shuffled from one prison to the next by captors who are jittery and unpredictable with Kalishnikovs always at the ready. Things go from bad to worse after the 9-11 attack when western bombing of Afghanistan begins. The events of the eventual liberation at the end of the story are the most nail-biting of all.
In addition to being a gripping read, the book is also inspirational. The characters of these men and women come to light as they deal with their captors and each other day in and day out, under conditions that range from extreme boredom to life-and-death danger. Both the men and the women (who are held in different parts of the prison though eventually allowed some interaction) set up routines which include Bible-reading, sharing their thoughts and feelings, worship, and prayer. This focus on the spiritual aspect of the situation changes the cast of even the most discouraging of developments. Witness, for example, the reaction of the eight after 9-11 when Afghanistan is under foreign attack and all other westerners have left the city:
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