Three Christian missionaries delivering Bibles in the Middle East have gone missing after they were discharged from a hospital where they were treated for injuries inflicted on them by "Muslim extremists."
Pastor Paul Ciniraj, the director of Bibles For Mideast, revealed the information to WND on Tuesday. He identified the missing missionaries as "pastor Stephan, pastor Samuel and evangelist James."
Ciniraj said his organisation delivers Bibles to underground house churches at various locations in 17 countries in the Middle East. However, he declined to disclose their exact locations and operations for security reasons.
He said the three missionaries were admitted to a hospital because of "a brutal attack by Islamic extremists" on Sunday night.
"Some people came by a bus [stop] ... and saved them from the extremists and admitted [them to] the hospital," he said.
Early Monday morning, they asked to be discharged from the hospital despite their serious injuries since they sensed they were being stalked inside the facility, Ciniraj said.
They told their supporters they would be home in about 45 minutes, saying they were inside a "fake taxi," an unlicensed public transport vehicle, where there were two other passengers, which is fairly common in that area.
"But our pastors did not reach home. ... We tried to get them by mobiles several times, but [there was no response]," Ciniraj said.
The Bibles For Mideast director said they searched all the possible places where the missionaries could have gone but did not find them.
"We suspect they are kidnapped or abducted by [the] car driver himself with his friends who traveled as fellow passengers. We suspect they are terrorists. God knows," he said.
Bibles For Mideast reported on Sunday night that the three missionaries were attacked while on their way home from a prayer service.
Muslim extremists "jumped out on the pastors from a dark corner and brutally [beat] them with iron pipes. The attackers were shouting the slogans of Thakbir 'allahu akbar,' and telling themselves 'kill them,' when they were beating the pastors," the organisation reported.
