Heather Mercer

Heather Marie Mercer (born 1976) is an American who was one of 24 aid workers arrested in August 2001 by the Taliban in Afghanistan in connection with the Antioch International Movement of Churches and Germany-based Christian aid organization Shelter Now International.[1] She, along with seven other Western aid workers and their sixteen Afghan coworkers, was arrested on August 3, 2001, and put on trial for violating the Taliban prohibition against proselytism.[1][2] She was held captive in Kabul until anti-Taliban forces freed her in November 2001.[3] She co-authored a book with her fellow captive, Dayna Curry, published in 2002 and entitled Prisoners of hope: the story of our captivity and freedom in Afghanistan.[4]

  1. ^ a b "International Religious Freedom Report 2002". U.S. State Dept. – Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. Retrieved December 29, 2018.
  2. ^ Arnold, Henry O.; Pearson, Ben (2009). Kabul 24: the story of the Taliban's capture and imprisonment of eight western aid workers in Afghanistan six weeks before September 11, 2001. Nashville, TN: Thomas Nelson. ISBN 9781595550224.
  3. ^ "Uncertainty heightens for 2 U.S. women, other aid workers held in Afghanistan". Baptist Press. Archived from the original on December 2, 2013. Retrieved November 4, 2014.
  4. ^ Dayna Curry; Heather Mercer; Stacy Mattingly (2003). Prisoners of Hope. New York: WaterBrook Press. ISBN 1578566460.