A Pentecostal church pastor on Sunday celebrated his safe return home to Massachusetts
after he and another churchgoer were abducted in Egypt then released unharmed last
week.
The Rev. Michel Louis gathered with about 1,500 family and friends at
Jubilee Christian Church in the Boston Mattapan neighbourhood. He thanked the governor,
the mayor, federal legislators and others who lobbied for his release.
Speaking
in his native Creole, Louis said he was treated fairly by his captor, and even served
the country's traditional hot tea. He said they were fed but did not eat much because
they weren't accustomed to the food, and he went for days without a shower.
The
group was on a trip to retrace Jesus' steps through the Holy Land. The pastor said
when the gunman entered the bus July 13 on a road to Mount Sinai and threatened to
take 39-year-old Lissa Alphonse of Everett, he told the man to take him instead.
But
the kidnapper, Jirmy Abu-Masuh, took them both and a tour guide. Abu-Masuh demanded
the release of his uncle, who was being detained by Egyptian police on suspicion of
drug possession.
Abu-Masuh released all three captives July 16 after he said
he was promised that authorities were working on his uncle's release.