The phone call

London The phone rang at 09:00 in the morning. The other end was my mother's voice. Calling from Pakistan, an aura of calm settled in. A calm that was in itself unsettling, like the one before a thunderous storm. In seconds, her voice croaked and she started crying.

"Beta," she said. "Your father's missing. Some men took him."

Worst was yet to come. She told me he hadn't been abducted just today but was missing since December 7th, 2007. For a week no one mentioned any such news to me and in moments I felt lost in the guilt of my own ignorance. Since then I have had a few people indicating links to news stories over the internet.

• "Pakistan Church Leader Kidnapped; Christians Killed". BosNewsLife, December 13, 2007
• "Christians appeal for recovery of leader". The News International, December 12, 2007
• "Christians appeal for safe recovery of Dr. Rejinald". Regional Times, December 12, 2007
• "APMA for recovery of Dr. Reginald". The Frontier Post, December 11, 2007
• "Kristillisen sairaalan ylilääkäri kaapattiin Pakistanissa". Suomen Lähetysseura, December 11, 2007
• Dilawar Khan Wazir "بنوں: مشن ہسپتال کا انچارج اغواء". BBC World Service, December 10, 2007