Episode 8: The Bravest Mom in the World Set Free: Ingrid Betancourt

This is just horrifying. This mom was kidnapped at gunpoint and held captive for six years in the jungles of South America. I have a feeling this will be a heavy, heavy one. Here we go.

Ingrid Betancourt

Oprah has a copy of Ingrid's book, Even Silence has an End, and says it reads like fiction, because the material is so incredible. Ingrid was a Senator running for President of her native Colombia. The FARC is a terrorist group known for their kidnappings and use of violence to create political intimidation through fear. On a routine campaign stop, Ingrid's car was stopped and she and her campaign manager, Clara Rojas, were kidnapped at gunpoint.

For the first year and a half, she was held in a tiny cell with Rojas. They slept mostly on plastic sheets on the ground. Ingrid repeatedly tried to escape, despite not knowing where she would go. Oprah likens this to slaves in American history who craved freedom so deeply that they also would try to escape despite having no where they would go.

After the break, we're shown how dangerous the jungle is. Snakes, jaguars, leeches, crocodiles, piranhas, hundreds of types of tarantulas--ugh. Makes me never, ever want to go there. Ingrid was forced to live in the wild that way for six and a half years. She describes how her skin was every day a living hell due to pain from the barrage of insects. She also says that, after every attempted escape, her living conditions would become worse and death became a better option than life if she could not escape. Additionally, she felt that staying alive was worse for her children because her death would allow them to move on but her living kept their lives in limbo, waiting. The FARC would tape and release videos proving she was alive.

Faith and Family
Oprah asks Ingrid if, facing the possibility of imminent captivity, if her faith was strengthened. Ingrid says she discovered the Bible, that before she thought it was a very boring book. Oprah quips, "Yeah, until you meet Jesus and then it's not so boring anymore. Then you go, 'I like this book.'" Ingrid said that at first she had a very strong reaction against God, one of, "Why me and why my father?" Her father died one month exactly after she was abducted; she loved him very deeply and was not able to say good-bye. As we go to break Ingrid is in heavy tears, still mourning the loss of her father.

After break, we see the story of her mother and children, Melanie and Lorenzo, who were 16 and 13, respectively, at the time of her kidnapping. They were relocated to France and continued to fight for her release, and she was able to hear messages from them over a Colombian radio show. Ingrid says that memories of her children's kisses were her lifeline. Her daughter Melanie describes the inability to move on, because not knowing if her mother was dead or alive meant she had to hold out hope. Ingrid's mother says that the only thing she could do was go to the Colombian radio show every day and tell her daughter that she loved her.

We are so blessed in America; could you imagine living in a place where political turmoil is such that there is a major radio station broadcast every day to the nation where family members of those kidnapped can try to get messages out to them? How horribly sad.

Criticism from Fellow Hostages
After the break, we get to hear from some of Ingrid's fellow hostages. After her release, Ingrid was celebrated as a hero and even honored by French President Nicolas Sarkozy. However, a man named Keith Stansell says that Ingrid was arrogant and horrible, taking more than her fair share of food and being generally selfish because she felt that, "She was her and she deserved it." Her fellow captive and former campaign manger Clara Rojas wrote in her memoir that Ingrid went, "...from being a role model... to someone who represented death, becoming extremely apathetic and bitter." In Vanity Fair, another fellow hostage, Gloria Polanco, said, "Let's not make symbols and icons out of women who aren't."

Oprah tells Ingrid that she knew, while reading Even Silent, others wouldn't like the book. Oprah learned that everyone else would be punished every time Ingrid tried to get away. Additionally, when the captors took everyone's radios, Ingrid hid hers, knowing that the other hostages might get in trouble for her act of rebellion. She acknowledges that they didn't like her then or now, and says she understands why: she wasn't perfect. Upon being asked if she was arrogant and selfish, Ingrid says she feels that she was afraid of her fellow hostages. Oprah asks if this was projected as arrogance and selfishness, and she says yes, it probably was. She also doesn't hold anything against them, and loves them, despite the ways they feel about her.

Ingrid said that, after a long time of being treated like animals by the guerrillas, she began to see herself act like an animal. She didn't want to lose her humanity. She recounts once in the dark, 4 am, being told to count off. When it came to her, she said her name. Her reason was that she wasn't merely a number, she's a human. But to the others, it could seem that she was saying she was an important big deal. Additionally, whenever they heard things on the radio about the hostages, her name always came up. She basically says this wasn't up to her and she was just glad to hear that their situation was still being talked about. She also ends by saying that she does feel she fell in love with a fellow hostage named Mark.

The Escape
Operation Checkmate came when Colombian military members hacked into the FARC communication system and commanded that the hostages be moved. They were loaded onto a helicopter, not knowing they were being rescued, but once in the air they were informed by the special forces that they were now rescued and free. Ingrid says the people were jumping and celebrating so much that she thought they were going to cause the helicopter to crash. Ingrid describes being so frightened because there was no preparation for it, just suddenly their dreams had come true.

Ingrid describes getting to see her children again, how she had sustained herself for those many years simply trying to imagine her children as they might look grown up. When she describes the moment she got to see her children again she breaks into tears, unable to speak, and we go to break.

Ingrid's Life Today
In a video clip, Ingrid talks about how, more than two years later she still wakes up amazed that she's in a bed with a roof over her head. She loves being able to buy fruit and vegetables after six and a half years, and simple freedoms like going for a walk is of immeasurable greatness to her. Since she spent most of her time chained to a tree, I can't imagine the simple joy of walking out in the open air wherever you please.

She shows us around her local church. It has a picture of a saint she prayed to named Guadalupe. She also talks about how she loved reading the Bible, and how precious the passage in Romans where Paul talks about Jesus being sufficient in the midst of suffering. She loves how Paul said that, "the more fragile he was, the more stronger [sic] he was," because that was exactly how she felt.

Back in the studio, Ingrid tells Oprah that her greatest lesson learned has been that in the midst of feeling like she was less than an animal that she realized she had the freedom to choose what kind of person she wanted to be. She says that no matter how busy we are, we don't have to put it off--we can choose to start today, to become that person that we want to be.

After plugging Ingrid's "incredible" book (and O Magazine's October issue, where Ingrid and her story are featured) Oprah thanks Ingrid for her time and we're done.

Gospel Filter Review
Today I want to hit on three short things.

First, I have hit on this before, but God doesn't cause evil. We don't know why, in His sovereignty, He doesn't choose to stop it all of the time (though I'm certain He does stop many things we never see), but He never causes it. I wrote about this in a previous post, so you can read about it there. Go to this link, then hit ctrl+F and type in evil. Skip to the second instance (the first is part of the word "revilers"). There is a short paragraph and a link to a clip about why we know God is only good and doesn't cause evil. He did not cause this to happen to Ingrid and we can praise Him for keeping her alive, sane, and setting her free.

Secondly, I don't question the validity of Ingrid's faith. Only God knows her heart. But the Bible does make very clear that we don't need to pray to saints or anyone else. It's worthless. There is one mediator between God and [wo]man--the Lord Jesus Christ (I Timothy 2:5). So any prayer to God through Jesus God hears, but praying to a saint means that prayer isn't heard. I pray that Ingrid learns this truth and only prays to God through the only one who can be her intercessor, Jesus.

Finally, we don't choose to be good people. We cannot on our own. If asked, Ingrid might explain that her choice to not be an animal or horrible person came through strength in Christ. I'm not saying that she doesn't believe that. But based on the statement that she chose to be a good person, I must go to the Bible which says that left to ourselves, every intent of our heart is toward evil and away from God (Genesis 6:5, Jeremiah 17:9). We can't do anything with pure motives that will glorify God unless we do it through the strength of Christ; in our weakness and recognition that He alone is strong is Christ most glorified (II Corinthians 12:9-10). This is true for us now and always, and I pray that Ingrid is living out this truth and that she is not glorified for her strength but that Jesus' grace and strength made to her in her weakness gives Him the glory.

Short review today! But hopefully on point :)

Up Tomorrow
American Hiker Sarah Shourd (held captive in Iran and now in her first television interview) and the Craigslist Rape Victim.