HOSTAGE READS BIBLE WITH PIRATE!

 By Kyung Lah, CNN, Wed., May 2, 2012

 A Filipino sailor believes reading the Bible with a pirate preserved his life during a ship-hijacking. It was over seven months ago, but, Antonio Plaza Orozco, clearly remembers being struck by the butt of the AK-47 and feeling the gunman's breath as he hissed: "I will cut your neck, I will throw you overboard."

Armed men hijacked the fuel tanker off the coast of Benin in W. Africa on Wed. Sept. 14, 2011. Orozco was the senior crewman aboard the ship named Mattheos 1 when it was boarded by a dozen pirates. The pirates’ leader asked for the highest ranking crewman; Orozco stepped forward only to be kicked and beaten. Orozco, who had been a seafarer for 22 of his 52 years of life, believed he was about to die.

For the next eleven days the multi-national crew of 25, including 14 Filipinos, were held hostage, but thankfully their lives were spared.

During those difficult days Orozco thought back to the training course he took at the Philippines.

The course involved simulations and classroom sessions that focused on dangers at sea, including surviving a hostage situation….

"I remembered, make friends with (the pirates)," says Orozco. "Don't make war. Be friends with them.” "Every day I told them, 'My brother, my brother, please don't kill us. Please, I have a family also. My son is in school.' One of the pirates, I thought he's a Christian, so we made a Bible study."

Bible Study Credited with Crews’ Survival

That odd situation, which saw the hostage studying the Bible with his pirate captor, Orozco believes led to his and his crew's survival.

Eleven days after their ordeal began the pirates took off with as much fuel and money as they could carry. The ship, Mattheos 1 was released on Sept. 24, 2011. The crew was fine. No ransom was paid, but the ship's fuel cargo was partially pumped out.