Our mission began when co-founder and director, missionary Russell Martin Stendal, was released from 142 days of captivity by Marxist guerrilla rebels in Colombia, South America.  Advised to leave the country and never return, Russell decided to stay in Colombia with his wife and family and began a work of reaching out to the rebels that had held him hostage. He realized during his captivity that the men and women who had taken his freedom from him were in more bondage than he was, and while there were many people praying and striving for his release, no one seemed to care for these men, women, and children imprisoned in the dark, violent, and hopeless life of civil war.

Deep within the Colombian jungle, tied to a tree, Russell wrote a book entitled Rescue the Captors, a memoir of his ordeal dedicated to his captors. The distribution of Rescue the Captors throughout rural, war-torn Colombia began a work of reconciliation and peace amidst areas of overwhelming darkness that has grown to include many more materials, resources, and projects. 

Over the years, this endeavor of “changing a nation one heart at a time” has spread, with friends, partners, and allies worldwide, who witness and take part in the unorthodox work God is doing in the most unlikely places and among the most unlikely people. We invite you to also be a part. After all, it only takes one willing heart to make a difference.