The North Carolina Values Coalition presents a special project called the Carolina Values Summit to equip you to resist growing attacks on religious freedom. We are honored to announce that Pastor Andrew Brunson, the American missionary pastor who was arrested and held captive for over two years in a Turkish prison, will return to his native state of North Carolina to share his story and deliver the keynote address.
This Christian leadership event is for Pastors, Christian Leaders, and Executive Directors of our state’s faith-based nonprofits, schools, and ministries.
Dr. Andrew Brunson is the former missionary pastor who held prisoner for over two years after a failed coup d'état attempted to toppled Turkish President Erdogan.
- Born in Black Mountain, North Carolina
- Studied at Wheaton College, Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, Erskine Theological Seminary and University of Aberdeen.
- Lived in Turkey for 23 years and the pastor of Resurrection Church, a small evangelical Presbyterian congregation.
- Held for over a year without any charges and at times held in a cell with 21 others in a cell that was made for eight prisoners.
- Vice President Mike Pence said Brunson was arrested due to this Christian faith and there was no credible evidence against him.
- Brunson lost over 50 pounds while in prison
- He faced life in prison for the political charges of supporting a terrorist organization and for political espionage in association with the coup d'état.
- President Trump insisted that the Turkish government free Brunson and eventually Trump levied stiff trade tariffs on Turkey and accused the government of holding a Christian pastor hostage with no credible evidence of a crime.
- In the recently released John Bolton book, ‘The Room Where It Happened’, the former national security advisor detailed the personal diplomacy conducted by President Trump to secure the release of Pastor Brunson.
- Bruson was released two months after the trade tariffs were imposed.
- Pastor Brunson is the author of his prison memoir, God's Hostage: A True Story of Persecution, Imprisonment, and Perseverance (2019)
