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Missionaries Kidnapped

17 Missionaries kidnapped in Haiti, includes a 8 month old infant

Agang in Haiti has kidnapped 17 Missionary members from the United States and Canada, and they are demanding $17 million in ransom for their release.

The FBI, who are working with the Haitian officials, have apparently been in contact with the gang that is holding the missionaries as hostages. The search and rescue is entering the fourth day.

Some new information is now coming forth about the missionaries, including that there are five children there, their ages are 3, 6, 14, 15. There is also an 8 month old infant with the group.

Ned Price, with the State Department Spokesperson, said, "This is something we have treated with utmost priority since Saturday."

State Department officials are on the ground now in Haiti. They are working towards securing the safe release of the missionary hostages who found themselves kidnapped at gun point while they were heading home from the orphanage in Port Au Prince.

The missionaries are from the Ohio group Christian Aid Ministries, who says they're a "Channel for Amish, Mennonite, and other conservative Anabaptists groups and individuals to minister to physical and spiritual needs around the world."

After the assassination of Haiti's President this year, there have been a lot of criminal gangs taking over the streets and now kidnappings are taking off.

Some of the aid groups' volunteers are sharing what it has been like on the streets in Haiti. They said, "It used to be targeted, but now the whole population is targeted. Everyone is a target and no one is safe."

The gangs are now in control of half of the capital city of Port Au Prince and they're growing stronger. A lot of aid groups are finding it hard to send in supplies to those people who need them.

Not only is the

Christian Aid

Ministries praying for the release and safety of the missionaries, but they're also asking believers to pray for the hearts of the kidnappers, that they would change their lives and be changed by the love of Jesus Christ.

Murder rate is up in US

The FBI has reported the biggest US murder hike in 60 years, at least 21,500 killed

The FBI has reported that 2020 had been the most deadliest year in 60 years.

The world is dealing with COVID-19 as well as riots and many other situations out there. Then comes a report that murders are hitting an awful high. Over 21,500 people were killed in the United States last year.

Some of the possible reasons that are coming to light are the pandemic and higher gun sales. But another reason is that there is a high number of police officers that are leaving all across the United States.

An annual report on the murders by the FBI shows us the murders in 2020 have spiked to about 30% from what they were in 2019. That is around 5,000 more murders and it is continuing to rise. The report also said that in addition to the murder rates, mass shootings are also at its highest level since the 1990's. Also, another grim statistic is gun violence was also up with children as it went up during COVID. 5,100 children were shot and 1,300 were killed. Jason Rantz, a Seattle Conservative said, "People in communities need to start speaking up and getting angry."

No matter what people may think, murder is not just a big city problem anymore. In 2020, it was an ongoing problem in the rural areas as well as it had increased 20% in the country. The State of Louisiana has now led for the 32nd straight year. Jason Rantz said, "When you decide to defund the police, when you decide to make proactive policing nearly impossible and you run out of police officers, guess what happens?"

Jason Rantz also said that the shocking hike in these violent crimes is a straight response of the murder of George Floyd, gangs and also the defunding of the police force. Because of all this, the confidence of the police is at an all time low. Consequently, police retirements hiked to 45% and the resignations also rose up to 18% in 2020. He said, "Why would anyone want to be a cop in 2020 and 2021? Why would anyone want to sign up for a job that's being made difficult and more dangerous on purpose?"

With the murder hike yet climbing, senators have been difficult as they are working to pass bipartisan federal police reform. But it didn't pass as it was not passed last week. Sen. Tim Scott (R-SC) says that he is still waiting at the table after Democrats would not finalize the bill. As a result, more than 20 big cities have drastically reduced their police budgets by a whopping $840 million across the country. Sen. Tim Scott said, "When you tell local law enforcement agencies that you are ineligible for federal money, that's defunding the police. When you reduce funding for police, you actually lose lives in the community."

Murder rates could be much higher; at the time data wasn't completed. Roughly 3,000 police departments country wide hadn't submitted their crime data to the FBI last year. This year 2021 has seen a 16% increase in murders so far.