The wife of a Hudson pastor who is in a Philippine jail charged with human trafficking has been allowed to meet with her husband.
Karen Randall posted a message on Facebook alerting supporters of the six-hour visit inside the jail.
Karen Randall said some of the time was spent talking about how their work at a small orphanage they founded in the country could lead to charges of human trafficking against the pastor who lives in Stow and two other men. She said the charges were levied by people they know in the country.
“Tom and I have talked more than once trying to answer questions we have about what went so wrong in these relationships,” she wrote. “But it is too painful. Here we are sitting on a plastic bench in an open visiting area with constant noise, people milling around, several small dogs and cats looking for food, guards signing you in and out and searching the food you are carrying in, smells from cooking stoves or small garbage fires, and constant cigarette smoke.
“It is so real, but so not real.”
Karen Randall said her husband Tom, who works part time at Christ Community Chapel of Hudson, is “holding his own in a very tough situation.”
“There are two large holding cells about the size of a living room and there are up to 40 men trying to sleep, eat and entertain themselves all day,” she described the conditions in the jail. “They are out in the more open visitors area during visiting hours or on other rare occasions. A set of bars separates these two large cells from the visitor area. A small area there [about as wide as a typical sidewalk] is where men sit and talk and smoke.”
Karen Randall said the support both in the Philippines and elsewhere has been a blessing.
“We had lots of visitors and it was wonderful to give and receive hugs from so many loved ones,” she wrote. “We had Filipinos, Americans and Australians all around our table. Some we have known since 1979 when we moved here and others we have known for less time but they are all loved family to us.
“We cried some, tried to laugh some, and more than one story from the past was shared,” she went on. “Even in the quiet tears of these dear ones we sense such love and support.
“We feel well loved by God’s family.”
Karen Randall asked for continued prayers for the charges to be dropped and for her husband’s health to remain strong as he suffers from respiratory issues.
Supporters in Hudson have reached out to Ohio lawmakers and federal officials to pressure the Philippine government to release Randall. A Facebook page, Free Tom Randall, has attracted nearly 22,000 followers since his arrest on Jan. 12.
Before getting to visit with her husband, Karen Randall said she was moved by a note that her mother had written her that included Psalm 36.
“These words jumped out at me today: ‘Your unfailing love, O Lord, is as vast as the heavens; your faithfulness reaches beyond the clouds. Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, your justice like the ocean depths.’”