Families of the 17 Christian Aid Ministries mission workers and children held hostage in Haiti since Oct. 16 thanked Christians around the world for prayers in a statement shared Oct. 21 by CAM during a day of prayer and fasting in support of the hostages’ release.

“God has given our loved ones the unique opportunity to live out our Lord’s command to ‘love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you’ (Matthew 5:44),” said the family members, who come from Amish, Mennonite and other conservative Anabaptist communities in Wisconsin, Ohio, Michigan, Tennessee, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ontario. “God invites us to call upon His name in the day of trouble (Psalm 50:15). We thank Him that He is God, and ask Him to hear our prayers and bring our families home.”

The families asked for continued prayers for the hostages, kidnappers and government authorities.

“Pray for the hostages, we desire their release and also pray that they could endure faithfully and display a spirit of Christ-like love,” read a CAM representative outside the Berlin, Ohio, headquarters. “Jesus, when nailed to the cross, said, “Father forgive them, for they know not what they do.

“Also pray for the kidnappers, that they would experience the love of Jesus and turn to Him. We see that as their ultimate need.”

Local media reports suggest many of the hostages are from the area in and around where CAM is located in Ohio. The Zanesville Times Recorder reported U.S. Rep. Bill Johnson’s congressional office said at least one member of the group is from Heritage Mennonite Church, part of Beachy Amish Mennonite Fellowship, in Byesville, Ohio. Johnson’s office said most of the other captives are from a neighboring congressional district that includes Coshocton, Holmes, Ashland and Tuscarawas counties, among others.

Another family is from Hart Dunkard Brethren Church in Michigan. The Detroit News reported five members of one family are from the church and arrived in Haiti around Oct. 10. A mother and her four children were kidnapped, while the family’s father had stayed at CAM’s base in Haiti and wasn’t with the kidnapped group when the incident occurred.