kidnapping

The released members of Christian Aid Ministries are safe, the Ohio-based church organization said Sunday, after they were kidnapped by a Haitan gang in October.

Missionary groups like Christian Aid Ministries, hit by a gang abduction in Haiti over the weekend, say they won't be intimidated — but they have little protection.

Kidnappings for ransom have become tragically commonplace in Haiti as violent gangs take control of much of the country. On Saturday, one of those criminal groups abducted 17 foreigners who were in Haiti doing aid work for a Christian missionary organization.

Last week's abduction of a Haitian-American church leader in Haiti is a reminder that the country's kidnapping crisis may be an even bigger threat for visiting expats.

The Haitian-American head of the Seventh-Day Adventists' Inter-American division, and his daughter, were abducted Christmas Eve in Port-au-Prince.

The international community is pressuring Haiti to hold long overdue parliamentary elections. But the country is dealing with an out-of-control kidnapping wave.