Presbyterian minister Reverend Benjamin Weir, in his book Hostage Bound, Hostage Free, reveals what it was like to be held hostage. He was captured on the streets of Beirut by a group of Shiite Muslim extremists, in May, 1984. Weir was imprisoned for sixteen months. During those torturous months he was often chained and held in solitary confinement. Weir’s devout faith and trust in God sustained him during those perilous times.

One routine in particular sustained Weir’s reliance on Jesus. Weir realized that if he dared to stand on the toilet, always in fear of being caught, he could look out the window. Doing so, he could see beyond the Bekaa Valley to the Lebanon Mountains. The snow covered mountains and rays of early morning sunlight strengthened his faith. Weir con- fessed, “That sight…