DEVILS LAKE, N.D. (KFGO-AM) - A medical missionary team from Devils Lake should be back home soon, several days after their release by Venezuelan authorities. The group is expected to arrive at 10 a.m. Tuesday at Fargo's Hector International Airport.
The four, including one doctor, were taken into custody last Wednesday and brought to a military base where they were repeatedly questioned. The group was allowed to leave and told not to return for two years. Pastor Bruce Dick, of Bethel Evangelical Free Church in Devils Lake, said they were able to communicate with their spouses through text messages and a few phone calls. He said they've stayed in Aruba since Saturday, "to kind of decompress and rest and from what I'm hearing it's been a home run for them, even connecting with a church in Aruba, so I think they're doing real well."
Pastor Dick said it's still unclear why the group was held or what they were questioning about. It came as a surprise because the church group has been conducting missions in Venezuela for 13 years. He said the group never felt in danger, that their captors were polite and allowed the missionaries to keep their cell phones. The incident comes amid growing tensions between the U.S. and Venezuela.