Evangelical leaders ask Haiti's ambassador for help with detained missionaries

Two conservative evangelical leaders met Thursday with Haitian Ambassador Raymond Joseph to express their concern about ten American missionaries being detained in Haiti for trying to take 33 children out of the country. Their attorney said Thursday that they had been charged with kidnapping.

In Washington, Rev. Patrick J. Mahoney, director of the Christian Defense Coalition and the Rev. Rob Schenck, president of the National Clergy Council, met with Joseph and told him the missionaries were not kidnappers or traffickers. Mahoney has worked with members of the Central Valley Baptist Church of Idaho on past projects, he said.

"We call for the immediate release of the ten American Christian missionaries now under arrest and detained in Haiti," Mahoney said. "The purpose for their being in Haiti is now clear. They sacrificed their own security and comfort to help the needy children of Haiti after the devastating earthquake last month. It is obvious that these missionaries are not traffickers or kidnappers but simply caring Christians sharing the love of God in the most difficult of situations."

Read his full statement and a letter sent to Joseph.