Seventh-day Adventist Pastor Kidnapped By Gunpoint While Having Church Live On Facebook Has Been Freed

A Haitian Adventist pastor and three other members who were kidnapped during a Facebook live service on April 1, 2021, are free again.

The four, according to Adventist Review, were released unharmed in the evening of April 4, 2021, more than 72 hours after the incident.

“We are full of joy and happiness because everyone is safe and sound,” Figaro Greger, local church elder and founder/director of the Adventist Gospel Krèyol Ministry, said in commenting on the release.

The service was taking place at a studio owned by the Adventist church in Diquini, Carrefour, on the outskirts of the capital city of Port-au-Prince when gunmen entered and took four members, including the pastor.

Haiti has been rocked by rising violence in recent years, especially by runaway kidnapping-for-ransom incidents which have paralyzed the economy and Haitian society.

Gunmen kidnapped a Haitian pastor and three others during a ceremony that was streamed live on Facebook, media reported on Friday, with the footage widely shared on social media in a country plagued by soaring violence.

In the video, two choir members can be seen singing a hymn before they suddenly drop their mics and cower by the side of the altar. As piano music continues to play, a man wielding a rifle enters the screen and is seen taking them away. https://youtu.be/7I7OzTuPfXQ Click here to see the

The incident, streamed on Facebook and YouTube on Thursday evening, took place at the Seventh-day Adventist Gospel Kreyol Ministry Church in Diquini on the outskirts of the capital Port-au-Prince, according to the Miami Herald newspaper.

Gregory M. Figaro, whose father, Greger Figaro, is the founder of the ministry, told the Miami Herald that eight to 10 gunmen arrived in two vehicles and kidnapped the pastor and three others, including a pianist.

“If this can happen, then anything is possible in the country because there is no respect for any institution, whether it’s a church or school,” Figaro said, according to the Miami Herald.

Haiti has been rocked by rising violence in recent years, especially by runaway kidnapping-for-ransom incidents which have paralyzed the economy and Haitian society.