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Life in Ecuador calls for precautions By Melissa Martin QUITO, Ecuador � Brent Ullom drives his family around in a well-worn car and uses caution if he gets caught near a strike or street demonstration in this troubled country�s capital city. The former Butte Falls resident realizes the increasing danger of living in South America. Ullom, 36, is a counselor for HCJB Radio in Ecuador, where he lives with his wife, Ruth, and their three children. News of the three Gold Hill men kidnapped four months ago in Ecuador�s jungle is broadcast regularly on local radio and television and often makes headlines in Quito�s daily newspapers. "We take precautions," Ullom said in a recent telephone interview, "but most of the time I feel perhaps even safer than I do in the United States." The Oct. 12 kidnapping of Gold Hill�s Arnold Alford, Steve Derry and Jason Weber and seven other oil workers near the Colombia border is part of a growing trend. In Colombia, rebels raised more than $328 million from kidnappings between 1991 and 1994, according to a 1995 Colombian government report. That�s why westerners take precautions, such as not buying expensive cars and being discrete with video cameras or other items considered a sign of wealth, Ullom said. "Most of the robbing or kidnapping happens throughout the rich class, but being missionaries, we are considered a richer class," Ullom said. In his work as a counselor, Ullom meets expatriates � oil company employees from the United States or England who now live in Quito. "They tend to be a little more nervous because they have so much invested in their business here," Ullom said. "The older missionaries are not given into fear," he said. "They�ve seen it so many times that they don�t pay attention. They say, �So what if there are riots.� They just go on with their everyday lives and know it will pass." Ecuador has a peaceful history, yet it�s feeling more pressure from Plan Colombia, a U.S. effort to crack down on cocaine production and distribution in Ecuador�s northern neighbor. "Ecuador has been an oasis of peace all these years," said Harold Goerzen, an HCJB spokesman in Colorado. HCJB operates the world�s largest, non-governmental, shortwave radio station. Based in Quito, the powerful station has its own hydropower plant, runs two hospitals, employs 400 Ecuadorians and places 300 missionaries in Latin America, Asia, Africa and Russia. "Unfortunately, the Colombia crackdown on drugs is coming over the border," Goerzen said, "into a remote jungle area that has few roads and is not patrolled." Quito is about three or four hours from the northern provinces of Sucumbios and Orellana, where kidnappers are believed to be holding the hostages and where oil company representatives delivered a reported $13 million ransom on Thursday. Oil companies paying ransoms increases the danger for everyone living in Ecuador, the nation�s joint chief of staff told a Quito television station recently. It�s also a concern for mission agencies, which have a no-ransom policy to protect all missionaries and to avoid contributing to groups that violate human rights. "It presents some concern for those of us here because that�s several million dollars that criminals have to use for whatever crime they do," Ullom said. "It shows it is a lucrative business. "But at the same time, I could not imagine how the family members would feel and what they are thinking. I would not judge anyone who wanted to get their family free." By its definition, being a missionary is a dangerous job. "Ultimately, our confidence is that the Lord has placed us here and he promised to take care of us," Ullom said. "That�s not to say that missionaries are free from problems. But we know when we go through them, the Lord is with us." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.