Guest Speaker: Arcata First Baptist Church
Listen to Jeff speaking from his heart about his life and time in captivity to the congregation at Arcata First Baptist Church in Humboldt County.
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The Reality of My Freedom: Human Life is Sacred and Those Who Treat It as Anything Less Must Be Stopped
On March 20, 2023, two men got out of a battered Toyota pickup in a remote area near the northwestern border of Niger. One was French journalist Olivier Dubois and the other was an older American man with a shaggy beard and unkempt hair, walking unsteadily on a cane. That […]
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AP News: ‘It was hell’: Hostage freed after years in Africa recounts ordeal and frustrations with US response
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Islamic extremists drove up to the American missionary’s home in Niger under the cover of evening, gunning down two guards who stood watch. Jeff Woodke recalls seeing the muzzle blasts and hearing the screams before being thrown into a pickup truck that then sped away. So […]
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CBS News: Hostage freed after years in Africa recounts ordeal and frustrations with U.S. response
The Islamic extremists drove up to the American missionary’s home in Niger under the cover of evening, gunning down two guards who stood watch. Jeff Woodke recalls seeing the muzzle blasts and hearing the screams before being thrown into a pickup truck that then sped away. So began more than […]
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Statement: Secretary Antony Blinken
“Honored to meet with Jeff Woodke, who was held hostage in West Africa for over six years. I am inspired by the Woodke family—they never gave up, and neither will we. @StateDept will not stop working to bring home all U.S. nationals held hostage or wrongfully detained overseas.”
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Guest Speaker: Telios Christian Fellowship, Arcata, CA
Telios welcomes the Woodke’s as they hear Jeff’s first hand account of God’s faithfulness & the power of prayer.
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North Coast Journal: ‘When the Lord Restored Our Fortunes’ The mission, capture and liberation of Jeffery Woodke
It was toward the end of a small press conference in the Fireplace Room of Arcata First Baptist Church, where McKinleyville’s Jeffery Woodke was offering his first public remarks since being freed March 20 after being held hostage by kidnappers in Western Africa, when a local reporter rose to ask […]
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North Coast Journal: ‘I Was a Hostage’: McKinleyville’s Jeff Woodke Talks About His Six Years Held by Al-Qaeda in Africa
In his own words, McKinleyville’s Jeffrey Woodke was held captive “a long time.” “Six years, five months, five days and 12 hours, give or take a few minutes, I was hostage,” he told a handful of reporters this afternoon in the Fireplace Room of Arcata First Baptist Church during a […]
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Jeffery Woodke Post-Release Press Conference
On Friday, March 31, 2023, McKinleyville, Calif., missionary Jeffery Woodke addressed reporters 11 days after his release from captivity in Niger, where he had been held hostage for six years, five months, five days and 12 hours.
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Statement: President Joe Biden
Today, I am gratified to share that American Jeff Woodke was released from captivity in West Africa. Jeff was kidnapped while serving people in the Sahel as an aid worker, and I am grateful that he will soon be reunited with his wife, Els, and their family after spending more […]
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