Rivers of Blessing: Bruce Balfour tells his story

By Dan Wooding
Assist News Service

BRUCE BALFOUR, the 52-year-old Canadian evangelical who was acquitted of charges of spying for Israel by a Lebanese military tribunal last September, has told his side of the story in a new book called Rivers of Blessing: The Heart and Path of a Simple Servant (Guardian Books, Canada).

Balfour hit world headlines when he was arrested at Beirut Airport on July 10. At the time, he was the field director of Cedars of Lebanon, an interfaith humanitarian project that was planning to help replenish the mighty Cedars of Lebanon in the mountains of northern Lebanon.

Balfour said that after arriving at Beirut Airport at about 9:30 PM on a British Airways flight from London, he walked to the visa desk, purchased a 15-day visa (maximum allowed) and took it to the customs booth.

"When I presented my Canadian passport to the agent, he typed my name into the computer," writes Balfour. "He looked from the computer to my passport a few times, then looked at me and asked if I was Bruce John Balfour. I answered that I was, and he called some other police officers over, showed them my passport and the entry on the computer, and then pointed at me as if to say 'It's him.'

"Now this was not surprising to me, as I expected to be tagged for questioning when I arrived. I was asked to sit down on a bench, and from that moment, though unknown to me, I was under arrest. I expected to be questioned, and then released to go to my hotel. I had a friend waiting for me at the other end of customs to pick me up.

"What I did not know was that on April 2, Lebanese Prosecutor General Adnan Addoum, signed an arrest warrant stating that I had been convicted 'in absentia' of collaborating with the enemy. The enemy was Israel!

"An interesting twist to this is that I was re-convicted 'in absentia' on July 15, while I was sweating rivers as I diminished in a Beirut prison. 'Collaboration with the enemy' is the catch-all phrase used in the Islamic world to catch and persecute anyone they wish, when they do not have a legitimate charge against them.

"As I was going through questioning by police, who minimally understood English, and who tell you very little anyway, I could not understand fully what was going on. I thought that I would only be questioned, then let go. It took about one hour before I could convince the police captain to call my waiting friend. When he did this he explained to him about my situation, and then let me talk to him for a minute.

"He was very animated and fearful, and told me I was in big trouble. He started backing away from the whole situation for his own protection. This was how it was for everyone who knew me in Lebanon. I do not hold this against any of them, as any who supported me or acknowledged many contacts with me, were in grave danger. About midnight the airport was empty of passengers, and I was taken to a lower outside level, handcuffed, and put in an old transport truck, which I call a 'hell wagon.' Even though I still did not conceive what was really happening, a mild foreboding was growing in me.

"Months before, while I was still in Calgary, I began having dreams about being imprisoned. Nobody wants to believe such a thing, so I never took them very seriously. Now I began to wonder if it was coming to pass. I was not fearful, but just wondering as to what was ahead. See, God did not give us the spirit of fear, but of power, love, and a sound mind, 2 Timothy 1:7. Also, in Revelation 2:10, it says: 'Do not be afraid of what you are about to suffer, for the Devil is about to throw some of you into prison, in order to try you'; it continues in verse 11, to say: 'He who overcomes shall by no means be harmed by the second death.' We should not be concerned for our lives when we are truly walking in the light of His Word.

"After a wild, bouncy ride through the streets of Beirut, I arrived at the Immigration prison and was taken down a long corridor of concrete stairs to a very hot dungeon. After more than one hour of examining all the contents of my hand luggage (fortunately my checked luggage did not get on the flight from London), and some questioning, I was taken along a long corridor with packed prison cells of both men and women. I had asked for a private cell so I could rest up, but I did not understand the prison system very well yet. I was deposited in a cell about four metres by five metres (12 by 16 feet) which had about 30 to 35 men in it, and this was the least crowded of them all. Some of the men had been here for months already. A very tall Jordanian-American called me over and we began [a] conversation. He was there for having drugs.

"The heat and humidity was excessive. I was in long pants and began to sweat rivers; I got very little sleep. As people began stirring, I increased my campaign to get hold of the Canadian Embassy. By late morning my name was called, to come out of the cell. As the hundreds of prisoners cheered, I was under the impression that I would soon be let go, but it was not to be.

"I was taken to a room where two men began questioning me, but I refused to answer until they allowed me to talk to someone at the Canadian Embassy. Then I was taken to a small cell to be softened up some, and returned to different questioners, including a woman. They tried to get me to sign documents in Arabic and I refused. After some time I was returned to a small cell.

"When they tried to question me again and get me to sign documents, I refused. I was taken down into a courtyard, where there was a dark grey, small, old four-door car parked in the sun. The driver's seat was pushed far back. I had been handcuffed tightly behind the back, and the handcuffs were biting into the wrist bone. I was put in the back seat behind the driver's seat, the doors were closed, and they walked away. The car was pointing at a cement wall.

"The heat was colossal, and within two minutes I was almost dead. I began screaming, and slamming my body against the car door. When I felt I was about gone, someone came and opened a door, and then I was left to sweat longer. Upon returning to the interrogation room and being asked to sign a release form for my bag so I could be moved, I thought and prayed as to my next move.

"When you are in such a situation, you must ask for wisdom at all times to know how far you can go before you reach the point of no return. At that moment I believed that I could not push it any further without receiving severe harm, so I took the form (after I insisted they write in English beside the Arabic) and scrawled gibberish instead of my signature.

"I was taken back to the same car and we drove to another building where they brought a pretty young Lebanese girl to the car and put her in the back seat next to me. As we drove away she asked me why I had been arrested. She was cuffed lightly with her hands to the front. When I told her that I did not exactly know, she said maybe it is because 'you have been to Israel.' They were playing the 'good cop, bad cop' game. We arrived at the military prison and I was taken out of the car. The military prison is for men only. Why was she taken there with me?

"I was not allowed to call the Embassy from here either. The cell was a few rooms and connecting corridors, with concrete, but no separating bars. Again the heat and humidity were unbelievable, with very little air moving. Most of the men were in their twenties -- and I was a silver-haired, red-faced mountain man, and they wanted to hear my story. Only a few spoke some English, of the 40 or 50 who came and went during the next four days.

"The next day I found out that my story had been somewhat misunderstood, when I was asked why I cut down a cedar of Lebanon. I heard their stories and taught them the Word of truth, and some took a liking to me.

"During my time in the military prison, I continued trying to get a message out to the Embassy, but nothing worked. I was taking in only limited amounts of water and I was diminishing quickly. Hallelujah! Each day they said I would be taken before the judge but it was to destabilize me. One day a woman from the humanitarian group came to inspect the jail; she saw me and I tried to talk to her, but was not allowed."

Fortunately, Balfour was eventually able to get out a message about his situation. This was forwarded to us at Assist News Service, and we were able to alert the world about what was happening to him. Soon, literally millions of Christians around the world began to pray for his safe release. Their prayers were answered on September 1; he was acquitted of charges of spying for Israel by a military tribunal in Beirut. He was, however, convicted of "preaching the Bible boldly," and sentenced to one year in prison for his 'crime' -- but this was reduced to "time served."

Balfour finally left Beirut in freedom on September 3, on the 13th hour of his 55th day of captivity, and is now living back in his native Canada. In his book, he also talks about his wilderness wandering in western Canada, his previous time working in Lebanon with a group called Lebanon Aid, and how he lived on "miracles daily to survive."

For more information about Balfour's book, contact www.freedom_ministries.org or cedarsoflebanon2002@yahoo.com.