Evangelist Torben Søndergaard's Wife Says Her Husband Was Not Arrested for 'Smuggling' or Any Other Crime

Lene Søndergaard, the wife of Pastor Torben Søndergaard, wrote in a blog post on Wednesday that her husband "has NOT been charged with weapons smuggling charges or any crime for that matter."

The latest update to the website Friends of Torben comes as Søndergaard, the Danish evangelist and founder of a ministry called The Last Reformation, has been detained by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) for more than two months.

He's now been locked up and separated from his family for more than 77 days. 

As CBN News reported on Aug. 29, Søndergaard, 45, said he was initially told he was arrested for suspicion of "smuggling weapons from Mexico to America." But he contends he was conducting ministry in Mexico, knows nothing about smuggling or weapons, and it's unclear what charges he's actually facing at this point.

Lene Søndergaard wrote in her blog update, "On July 3, 2022, a letter from Torben was posted on The Last Reformation's YouTube channel and Facebook page. At the time of that post, Torben had been detained for just few days."

In the letter, her husband described a conversation that took place between him and the agents who detained him.

"He narrated a specific comment the arresting agent said, '…they suddenly said that the real reason I was there was because they had been notified that I was smuggling weapons from Mexico to America, and I was in shock'," Lene wrote. 

"A few lines later Torben goes on to narrate his response to the agent, '…I have NEVER had anything to do with smuggling weapons.  I know NOTHING about smuggling weapons'," she wrote, highlighting his words. 

"The notion that my husband was involved in weapons smuggling is absurd. I have no idea how someone could even mistake him for being involved in such an activity," Lene continued. 

The evangelist's wife went on to explain that once her husband was able to get an attorney and obtained documentation from the agency, they were able to confirm he had not been charged with any crime. 

"There is ZERO reference to weapons smuggling or any other crimes in the documents that have been provided," Lene wrote. 

"It is unfortunate that Torben was misled by the agent who detained him," she continued. 

"Understandably, and as a result, the reason for Torben's detention has been very confusing. Torben has never been arrested and as absurd as it was, had no reason to doubt what a US government agent was saying," Lene noted. 

In his latest Facebook post on Sept. 10, Søndergaard gave an update, marking the 72nd day of his incarceration and asking his followers, "What season are you in?"

"One thing that has kept me 'alive' is understanding that this season I am now in is just a season - a season that is very important, but also a season that hopefully soon will be over. This has been an important season I needed. When we have our Luke 10 training school, on the first day I always talk about 'FRUIT times and ROOT times.' As I often say, for a tree to bear more FRUIT, it needs deeper ROOTS, and the same with us.  FRUIT times are the good times where life is easy, and we just see God doing amazing things, and we just see beautiful fruit. I have truly had that, these last years here in America," the evangelist wrote. 

"Yes, even the last few months, before all of this happened, were truly amazing!  We saw so much fruit in the spreading of the Gospel and seeing so many lives changed!  God opened so many new doors, and did so many new things, and I loved it!  Even the day before I got detained, we baptized over ten people and God did amazing things," he noted. 

Calling his time being confined a root season, "a season where I have needed to die to myself again and again - a season where I have sought God and His Word like never before - and in that way, it has truly been BEAUTIFUL and FRUITFUL in an amazing way!" Søndergaard shared. 

"I truly believe that when this season is over, I will see so much more fruit out there than I did before!" he continued. "Why? Because this has been our testimony the last twenty-five years! We have often had problems, and experienced persecution and slander from other people. As Jesus promised us, that is just part of our life. But, when we serve Christ, we will also have big seasons in our life where the ROOTS go deep."

The evangelist also thanked everyone for their prayers and the love shown to him and his family. 

CBN News contacted the Department of Homeland Security about Søndergaard's arrest and spokesman Mike Mearas said the agency "does not comment about any ongoing investigations."

Søndergaard's The Last Reformation is a worldwide movement that seeks to return Christianity to the Book of Acts. He also began the Jesus Center in Denmark, which trained disciples from 30 nations to spread this message around the world.  

Facing persecution in Denmark and possible arrest, Søndergaard, and his family fled with only their suitcases and sought political asylum in the United States in 2019. 

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