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Couple Held Hostage Tell Their Story

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posted: 114 DAYS 6 HOURS AGO
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(July 15) -- An elderly Virginia couple who were held hostage in their own home said their faith helped them survive the nine-hour ordeal.
Robert and Frances Belote had just finished their lunch on July 10 when a man burst into their Leesburg home, demanding money and threatening them with a gun, The Washington Post reported.
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Robert and Frances Belote
Marcus Yam, The Washington Post / AP

Robert and Frances Belote were held hostage for nine hours July 10 by a man allegedly at the end of the crime spree. In a Tuesday interview, the Belotes said their faith helped them remain calm and treat their captor with kindness.

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The intruder tied 83-year-old Robert Belote's hands behind his back and directed the couple into their windowless bathroom, police said. Authorities said the man, William Spencer, 49, had been on a crime spree before he invaded the Belotes' home.
"I said to myself, 'This is the end. This is it,'" Frances Belote, 82, said in the interview with WJLA-TV, the ABC affiliate in Washington. "But God was here. We felt his presence, and it gave us peace, and we were able to be calm."
After three hours, as the intruder rummaged through other parts of the house, Frances Belote locked the bathroom door and dialed the police on the cell phone she had in her pocket. The man overheard the end of the conversation and beat the door down.
"When he busted the door open, I was afraid he was going to do us in at that moment," said Robert Belote.
Spencer attempted to flee, but when he spotted a police officer outside the house, he fired a single bullet into the wall of the house, then went back inside and barricaded himself in with the Belotes, authorities said.
"I put my hand on [Spencer's] shoulder and told him that he'd gotten himself in a heck of a mess," Robert Belote said. "He said, 'I know.'"
The Belotes, who are Baptists, said they appealed to Spencer on religious terms. Frances Belotes also gave Spencer some cereal to eat and a pitcher of iced tea.
Before the intruder ultimately surrendered to police, with the encouragement of the Belotes, he gave the couple $140 from his pocket. They turned the money over to the police.
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Survival Stories
Jamie Neale, a British teenager who was rescued in Australia after being missing for 12 days, said he was a "total idiot" to go hiking in the Blue Mountains unprepared. Neale, 19, told Australian TV he left for the hike on July 3 with only two bread rolls and a small bottle of water.
Mark Kolbe, Getty Images
Mark Kolbe, Getty Images
The Belotes said they do not think Spencer ever really intended to hurt them and they do not hold a grudge. "I guess I'll be a little more careful with locking my doors now," Robert Belote said.
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2009-07-15 16:10:49

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Kcdgenius

10:10 AMJul 17 2009

and regarding the woman in the story, asking the intruder if he knew jesus. All she was doing was attempting to pull him back under the control of his childhood indoctrination. If this was an arab country, she would be asking him about Allah, in India she would be asking him about the Buddah. Mythology IS mind control. If you believe you have to be good or Santa wont bring you presents, you WILL be good. That doesnt mean the mythology storys are true, it simple means that controlling people through lies and fabricated myths WORKS. Is that what you want controlling YOUR life? Lies and fabricated myths?

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Kcdgenius

10:07 AMJul 17 2009

Momprayn SAYS:"..... Please - I say again, the root problem for unbelief is pride - people don't WANT to really know the truth --- because they don't want to acknowledge there's a "higher power" to answer to...." THIS IS DIRECTLY from the bible, one of the traps designed to keep people under its control. Saying you know other people's motives is incredibly arrogant. EVERY religion teaches that those who do not conform and obey are evil, some to the point that they should be killed (read the old testiment, massive genocide committed by the hebrews). Stick to the facts, there is NO evidence the world was ever fllooded, and there is ton of evidence that proves it NEVER WAS.

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Momprayn

09:38 AMJul 17 2009

Re the ark, etc. - many proofs re "Global Flood" --- see previous posts for the sites. Couldn't just move to a "high site" -- the flood covered all mountains! There was no "safe place". They have found many fossils, etc. on these high mountains. Please - I say again, the root problem for unbelief is pride - people don't WANT to really know the truth --- because they don't want to acknowledge there's a "higher power" to answer to. Use your brain - just because you don't want to will not make it true! You'd have to know everything about everything to state that (what arrogance). Unbelievers - do you not ever ask yourself "what if I'm wrong?"..........hell is for eternity w/no second chance.

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Momprayn

09:30 AMJul 17 2009

Research other scientists, archaeology proofs re dinos -the one that shows human print alongside dino, called "Alvis Delk Cretaceous Footprint" on the site creationevidence.org (see for yourself): http://75.125.60.6/~creatio1/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=4 8&Itemid=24 Won't hear this reported because of the dominant secular scientists/media. Also proofs re determining age is incorrect. Bible: Also over 300 detailed prophecies re Jesus in Old Testament. Other abundant proof that Bible had to have come from God; not man. Go check this out yourself!!!! Isn't that the only, wisest way to find out the truth on anything???!!! You can't say it's not true if you don't even study ALL the info about it (all l"sides") - from ALL scientists, etc. Be honest.

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Momprayn

09:19 AMJul 17 2009

Just saw the live interview. Left out some details -woman asked the thief "do you know Jesus?" He said when he was little but He had left him & now he's really "messed up"/bad & He won't come back. She told him that's where He was wrong -he left HIM (not vice versa -& could bo back). AMEN!! To all out there -the same! Jesus is weeping & waiting...He still loves you -NOTHING you have done can keep you away from His love & will be forgiven if you just drop your pride & ask God to see the "truth"-satan is your real enemy & tells you these lies. Rebel! Re Bible/God, etc. -can be proven beyond reasonable doubt w/honest study! Scientific info, proofs: allabouttruth.org AND creationevidence.org AND answersingenesis.org. Check out scriptures re earth being "round"(circle), Job 26:7, in "space" Isaiah 40:22 ! Human footprint found alongside dino(see creation site). As Jesus said "You will know the TRUTH & the TRUTH will set you FREE!"

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Kcdgenius

08:57 AMJul 17 2009

Equipsource1 WROTE: "..ISAIAH 48:17-18...." Star Trek 6 " Why does God need a StarShip" - Captain Kirk. Why does God need an ark? -KCDGENIUS

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Kcdgenius

08:55 AMJul 17 2009

LueGal39 SAYS:... The bible says that a thousand years is as a day to God....in the Texas hill country and find fossils of sea creatures all the time. ..." So you are saying a communtiy college grad student can teach me calculus, but GOD could not teach the writers of the bible to count past 1000?! BS! A day is a day. the 4th commandment says to rest every 7th DAY because god created the world in 6 DAYS and rested on the 7th. They use to execute people for breaking this commandment. As for the fossils, goto wikipedia and read up on moutain formation. If Noah only experienced a local flood, and god made him build that stupid ark, instead of simply heading to the high ground, then god must be a real shiit. Sorry, you cant spin it backwards, there was NO global flood, the authors fabricated the whole story.

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Equipsource1

07:59 AMJul 17 2009

ISAIAH 48:17-18

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hmsox

01:55 AMJul 17 2009

I wish they believed in handguns and blew they guy's face off.

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LueGal39

10:50 PMJul 17 2009

As to the existance of God; He would not be bound by time as we know it. The bible says that a thousand years is as a day to God. That is about as far as the writers could count. Therefore, it could be a billion years is as a day. I live in the Texas hill country and find fossils of sea creatures all the time. This land has been under water at some time. I'm sure that Noah didn't know how big the earth is. If the world as he knew it was flooded--then to him whole earth was flooded. Different cultures all over the world have stories of a great flood--strange.

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An elderly couple say their faith helped them survive when an armed intruder held them hostage in their Virginia home. Robert and Frances Belote say they felt God was with them throughout the nine-hour ordeal. They remained calm and treated their captor with kindness, serving him iced tea and cereal.