In June of 2022, Torben was suddenly imprisoned! For me and many others, a shocking event! Because there appears to be no legit reason for this! How could this happen!?
Torben is a good friend and I have worked intensively with him in recent years. That collaboration began when we lived in Denmarken in 2015-2016. I got to know him well during that period and got an insight into his personal life. I have to say that this is a man with his heart in the right place, with love for God and people. With tremendous vision and boldness for making Jesus known. That inspiration has brought freedom to many people. They now have a (deeper) relationship with God and have been delivered from a sinful and empty life.
But a good number of people also took offense at him. Torben would be “too much of this,” “too little of that”. Or they feel hurt by some of his statements.
Now Torben also has his shortcomings. But … I have those too. Don’t we all have them?
Especially now that Torben is imprisoned, many people openly give their opinion about Torben. Or some people are very silent, because they have their opinions about him, and because of that they look the other way. They seem blind to a simple fact: Torben has been wrongfully detained for over six months, without charges. That’s wrong! Bad, unjust. And as a Christian, as a follower of Jesus, that should do something to you.
The big question is: Why was he locked up?
The answer: Because it’s possible!
If a immigrant poses a “threat to national security,” he can be detained without the intervention of a judge.
Let me explain. There are a number of people who seriously hate Torben, for various reasons. (You don’t have to search long on Youtube to see photoshopped pictures meant to belittle Torben, ridicule him, etc)
These people – inspired by “evil spirits in the heavenly realms” – managed to raise suspicion with U.S. government officials about Torben.
But now I hear you say: suspicion is not enough to disappear behind bars for so long, is it?
Yes it is. Torben, in fact, is an immigrant – of which there are many in the United States. If a immigrant poses a “threat to national security,” he can be detained without the intervention of a judge. So just an opinion of an individual officer is enough to land in jail.
This legislation was created in response to 9/11, among other things, and has allowed the U.S. government to act quickly against terrorists before they launch an attack. This can be very useful in many cases. While the suspects are detained, some things can be figured out further and investigated.
He is being held under anti-terrorism laws. Without those laws, this would not have been possible.
Torben was put in the administrative box ‘danger to national security‘.
As a result, he is now trapped. And now he can legally be held indefinitely. At least as long as his asylum claim continues (which is usually a process of years). Even in case of a decision of a judge to deport him, he may have to wait months in captivity for that. He is thus at the mercy of an unjust system.
So Torben is being held under anti-terrorism laws. Without those laws, this would not have been possible.
And then you feel how wrong this is.
Because both friends and enemies alike understand that this is absurd. This is simply an abuse of legislation by certain people to ‘deal’ with Torben and his ministry.
Unintentionally, by doing so, they will actually boost the gospel. Just like Paul had to appear before kings and emperors, Torben’s case eventually will get so much attention that God uses it to progress his Kingdom. There is nothing new under the sun.
Torben still sounds excited and full of good cheer of what is to come! It always builds me up to hear his experiences from within those walls.
I still speak to Torben regularly when I get another call from ‘Baker County Detention Center’ in Florida: ‘This call will be recorded and maybe monitored. Press 1 to accept‘.
Then I sometimes think: how did we end up here!?
Torben still sounds excited and full of good cheer of what is to come! It always builds me up to hear his experiences from within those walls.
But it’s tough for him! Especially since he doesn’t know how long it will take. For months I have heard him say, “I have high hopes of being released next week. Meanwhile, his birthday has passed, his wedding anniversary, Christmas and New Year’s Eve are behind him. Terrible for him and his family.
If you are reading this and you have your own personal feelings against Torben, because you may have had a bad experience, or a disappointment, or you disagree with a particular approach or doctrine, I want to say to you: it’s time to get over it and open your eyes to what’s going on here. And to stand up for a brother who is suffering a great injustice. Many of you reading this would not be where you are today without Torbens’ efforts and surrender to God.
You can help by:
- To pray for justice in this situation. That Torben will be released soon
- Point people to correct information (I’ve posted some videos below for you to share)
- support Torben and Lene financially, especially for an ongoing lawsuit that will need to shine light around the imputations. This is a very expensive undertaking in the US.
Learn more about Torben's situation
Check out the FriendsofTorben.com website.
One Response
Torben is a great every day normal Guy who has been doing great work in equipping many hundreds of people in how to do the work of evangelists .A much needed work in this present age . That doesn’t make him a perfect person or without error in business practices . I observed he is a person who lived with “his heart on his sleave”. ( he spoke things out publicly and quickly without proper considerations ) And often had to walk back some of those words and some of the actions -though some still hang as question mark in the air . I also observed him get obviously influenced by each new circle of people around him . He seemed to move on from circles of people around him once they got to know him well enough to be comfortable with bringing council to bear on differing aspects . and that cycle seemed to repeat a lot over the 7 years i observed .- BUT- , this just reiterates my point that he is not some super Christian but ” a Normal Christian guy ” AND our brother in the lord .And for this LATTER reason alone we must hold him up in prayer for both healing from what he went through .so that there may be forgiveness on all fronts . (i beleive it is of import that all ongoing law suits be dropped inline with sincere forgiveness . So that all may move forward in the work of the gospel that is Before us all . For we cannot preach forgiveness of sin if we do not practice forgiveness of sin. So may the lord bless Torben in all his perfect will For Torben. may he heal his heart and continue to use him & teach him and may Christ Jesus be fully formed in him as in us all who sincerely beleive . thank you for your supportive article .