Dear brothers and sisters,

We suggest you all to pray for our 23 Korean brothers and sisters who were kidnapped by the Taliban in Afghanistan:

Mon Jul 23, 1:47 PM ET

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (AFP) - Taliban militants on Monday extended the deadline for their South Korean hostages by another 24 hours, but told the government to put them in direct contact with Korean negotiators.

"We've extended the deadline by another 24 hours" until 1430 GMT Tuesday, Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP by telephone from an undisclosed location, minutes after the previous limit expired.

The rebels have threatened to kill the South Koreans unless 23 Taliban prisoners held by Afghan authorities are released and Seoul withdraws its 200 soldiers from war-battered Afghanistan.

South Korea has dispatched a crisis team, led by Vice Foreign Minister Cho Jung-pyo, to Kabul and has repeatedly stressed that it will pull out its troops who are serving with a US-led coalition by year's end as planned.

"We tell the Kabul administration to put us in direct contact with the South Korean delegation," Ahmadi added.

"The Kabul administration is not honest in the talks. The talks which have taken place so far have not had any result," the rebel spokesman said.

The new deadline came shortly after the Taliban said that a German hostage and four Afghan colleagues, whom they had earlier said were executed, were still alive.

The militant group demanded the release of 10 Taliban prisoners in return for freeing the German and Afghan captives.

They threaten to execute them on July 24 at 10:30am EST.

Please pass it on and pray.

"Dear Father, we lift up our brothers and sisters to you in Jesus' name, please protect them, and may you change the minds of the hostage-takers. May your name be glorified. In Jesus' name, Amen."

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Father of lights, every good and perfect gift is from YOU!!!
Vater des Lichts, alles was gut und Vollkommen ist, kommt von DIR!!!

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..Fight all your battles on your knees in prayer and you'll never lose.

Father, I stand in the gap for these people! Free them from the hand of the enemy and bring them solidly into Your Kingdom. Stay the hand of death and make a way of escape for each of them. Bring their captors into repentance and show them Your Goodness and Mercy and bring them also into Salvation through Jesus. Thank You Jesus for making a way for them. AMEN!

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Father of lights, every good and perfect gift is from YOU!!!
Vater des Lichts, alles was gut und Vollkommen ist, kommt von DIR!!!

These monsters are controlled by principalites and powers and rulers of darkness in high places.

I tear this mess down and proclaim that Jesus is Lord of the earth and all will bow their knee to him!

Jesus, please rescue these people and stop the evil of these dark forces around the world!!!

In Jesus' Name, Amen.

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Dear all,

The body of one of the hostages, Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu, aged 42, was found. He was shot 10 times.
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Rev. Bae Hyung-kyu, one of 23 South Koreans kidnapped by the Taliban, poses for a photo before leaving for Afghanistan on July 13. (Sammul Church/Yonhap/Associated Press)


The remaining 22 South Korean hostages are alive, a Taliban spokesman and an Afghan police chief said Thursday, a day after the body of one captive was found riddled with bullets.

"They are safe and alive," Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, who claims to speak for the militants, told Reuters by telephone from an unknown location. "They [the Afghan government] have given us hope for a peaceful settlement of the issue."

General Ali Shah Ahmadzai, provincial police chief of Ghazni province, where the hostages are being held, also told Reuters that he believed the hostages were safe.

"I was awake all night and if the Taliban had killed any of them I would have known," he said. "No, they have not killed any of the hostages and we are trying to contact the Taliban for resumption of talks."



The South Korean Christians are pictured before leaving for Afghanistan on July 13.
(Sammul Church/Associated Press)

On Wednesday, the body of one of the male hostages was discovered in the Mushaki area of Qarabagh district in Ghazni province with 10 bullet holes in his head, chest and stomach.

South Korea's Foreign Ministry identified the victim as 42-year-old Bae Hyung-kyu, the chief of the Korean Foundation for World Aid, a non-governmental organization.

Earlier, Ahmadi said the hostage was shot and killed around 4 p.m. local time (7:30 a.m. ET) after negotiations to free the captives stalled. He also set a final deadline of Thursday at 1 a.m. (4:30 p.m. ET Wednesday), after which the remaining hostages, 18 women and four men, would be killed.

A police official said militants told him the hostage was sick and couldn't walk and was therefore shot.


The South Koreans were captured at gunpoint from a bus in Ghazni province on July 19. They were en route to Kandahar when their bus was hijacked about 160 kilometres from Kabul.

Unnamed Western officials said Wednesday that some of the remaining 22 hostages had been freed and taken to a U.S. base in Ghazni. The officials said they did not know how many had been freed, but South Korean news agency Yonhap put the number at eight.

Marajudin Pathan, the governor of Ghazni province, denied the reports and said the militants were still holding the remaining hostages.

"No one has been released, and there has not been any exchange," Pathan told the Associated Press. "They are still in Taliban custody."

He said authorities were in contact with the kidnappers to try to secure the Koreans' freedom. The militants gave a list of eight Taliban prisoners they want released in exchange for eight of the hostages, Pathan said.

The report of the death came after the passing of an earlier deadline, also announced by Ahmadi, which he said was set after the Afghan government failed to respond to the militants' demands.

It was reportedly the fourth deadline set by the Koreans' Taliban captors since they were abducted last week.

Afghan security forces have surrounded a region in Ghazni province where about 70 armed militants are thought to be holding the hostages. The Taliban have warned any use of force by government troops will put the hostages at risk.

The insurgents reportedly extended their previous deadline so they could negotiate directly with officials from the South Korean government.

South Korean officials have said they'll remove the contingent of military engineers and medics at the end of the year, as originally planned.

Though some of Ahmadi's statements turn out to be true, he also has made repeated false claims, calling into question the reliability of his information.

Conflicting reports over German reporter
Earlier Wednesday, the provincial police chief said he thought talks to free the Korean hostages had been on a positive track and said the new threat was a surprise.

"I don't know why they've suddenly changed their mind," Ali Shah Ahmadzai said. "My message to the Taliban is to use tolerance and be patient. This [killing hostages] is against the Afghan culture."

Meanwhile, there were conflicting reports Wednesday about whether a German journalist and two Afghan colleagues were kidnapped the day before in eastern Afghanistan.

An Afghan governor was quoted as saying that the three were released Wednesday after being abducted in Kunar province, but the German magazine Stern told Reuters that the reporter had contacted them and told them at no point were he or his colleagues taken hostage.

The fate of other foreign hostages is unclear. Two German engineers and five Afghans were kidnapped last Wednesday from southern Afghanistan. There were conflicting reports on whether one of the German hostages was killed.

With files from the Associated Press

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Please continue to uphold the other 22 brothers and sisters in your prayers. Ask your churches' leadership to start round-the-clock prayers for them.

"Oh Lord, I know that Rev. Bae is in your arms now, safe from harm now and in Your everlasting love. But Lord, comfort his family, and bring the rest of the hostages home. May your martyr Rev Bae's witness touch the hearts the of the culprits, and soften them so that they will kill no more. May Your name be glorified. In Jesus' Name, Amen."

Father God, I pray for Your eternal purposes to be acoomplisherd in the lives of all involved here. I ask that You would save those who are doing the evil, and regenerate them into those who love and do good in Your Name. I pray You would send angels to minister to and attend the brothers and sisters in The Lord. Turn this situation for everyone's best and for Your glory. May a mighty hedge of protection be around these hostages. Bring them to deliverance and freedom. Set them apart for Your purpose and plan. Send them forth into the eternal destiny You have for them. I ask and pray these things, in Jesus Name, amen.

~JeriRose~

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24 But let him who glories glory in this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD, exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. For in these I delight,” says the LORD. (Jeremiah 9:24)

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Father of lights, every good and perfect gift is from YOU!!!
Vater des Lichts, alles was gut und Vollkommen ist, kommt von DIR!!!

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Lord Jesus Christ-

We pray for these Korean captives, that you touch thier hearts and minds with peace and feel your presence. We pray a hedge of protection around them to keep them guarded and safe, that you might facilitate thier safe return as you know best for this situation. In Jesus Name- Amen!!

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Warrior of God

Dear all....

The latest deadline has just passed. Please pray if you happen to be reading for our brothers and sisters.

*****deleted by akabezalel*****

"Dear Father, have mercy on your children, and have mercy on me, a sinner. Hear our pleas, please let your Korean children go free and find mercy in the eyes of the hostage-takers. There are 18 sisters in the group, please comfort them, guard them, and may Your Spirit go with them. In Your Son Jesus' precious Name. Amen"

God keep and strengthen thier hearts, deliver them from pain, terror, anguish, and fear. Give them peace right now Father in the name of Jesus Christ. Allow them not to faint or give in, no matter what the outcome, give them preseverence to serve you. God thine will be done in this situation. In Jesus name. Amen