Missionary on His Prodigal Roots and Capture in Iraq

FROM DRUG ADDICT TO MISSIONARY

Joshua Bold was born in Clovis, NM, and raised in a Christian family. But he grew up with no personal relationship with God. He rebelled in his early teens which led to drug addiction and a very destructive lifestyle. By age 19, he was severely addicted to cocaine and meth, along with a myriad of other substances. His mother persisted in prayer, as did the girl he loved named Bevin. She eventually broke up with him as a result of his lifestyle.

On April 5, 2005, their prayers were answered. Joshua’s father urged him to come to a men’s conference in New Mexico, and since he was desperate, lonely, and at the end of himself, he went. At the altar, he prayed, “God, I’ve always heard ‘Jesus Saves,’ but I don’t need you to make me a Christian. I need you to save my life. If you will, I’ll give you everything and I’ll do whatever you tell me to do and go wherever you tell me to go. If you can save me, my life is yours.”  

Immediately upon praying that simple prayer, he says it felt as if a backpack of bricks was physically lifted off of his shoulders. Suddenly, his eyes were opened to see beauty and feel love for the first time in a long time. He explains, “In one moment, I was supernaturally freed from addiction with no withdrawals, and I instantly wanted to tell everyone about Jesus.”

Several months after being delivered from addiction, he attended Rhema Bible Training Center and married Bevin, the girl he previously lost. After graduating, they moved to Iraq to live as full-time missionaries among the Kurds. They lived in Iraq from 2008 to 2013.

MOVING TO IRAQ

During their time there, God did exploits, churches were planted, Muslims came to faith, and they fell in love with the culture and region Jesus came from. Yet, they had challenges. In October 2011, while with Bevin and his three-month-old daughter Haven, Joshua was captured. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time - an American dealing with some angry men. He was beaten, handcuffed, and taken to an underground room where he was strapped to a chair and interrogated. He begged for release, but they told him that he would never see the light of day and that he no longer had a wife and daughter. 

Joshua shares, “There are a lot of little details, but that same day after only a few hours of capture, I prayed another prayer for deliverance. I said ‘God, when I came here, I resigned my life, but I don’t think you want me to die this way, just because I’m an American. You are my deliverer, please deliver me!’”  

God showed him a vision of Christ on the Cross, begging for his forgiveness, even though he was sinless. And He spoke to Joshua that there is freedom in forgiveness. He appealed to the men who were beating him. “I told them I had come to Iraq to serve them with the love of God - not to fight them, and that if they killed me in anger, even in their religion, it is murder, and sin. I asked them to forgive me for anything I or my people had done to cause anger. I had been forgiven by God for my sins and did not want to be a cause of sin in their lives,” he says.  

This appeal enraged them, and they began to fight and argue amongst themselves. After a turn of events, they eventually brought in a bowl of water and rags, took off the handcuffs, washed the blood off of him, and said we are all forgiven. 

They walked Joshua to his vehicle where they had Bevin and Haven waiting, and quickly left. That upcoming Christmas, they traveled back home to the States and that’s when Joshua attended missionary training led by Howard Foltz. Joshua was blown away at his approach to unreached people groups and he asked Howard to mentor him. Thus began their partnership to reach the unreached people of the world.  

Joshua and Bevin went back to Iraq for another two years and saw many people come to Christ, but soon realized that as the locals accepted Christ, and started to share their faith, they were much more effective than foreigners, which also led to the work Joshua and his wife are doing today at AIMS. Now, under the mentorship and in the mantle of Dr. Foltz, they are mobilizing the church globally to raise up an army of near-culture (indigenous) missionaries to go to the unreached groups. They are seeing nearly three churches planted every day, and salvation and miracles in some of the hardest to reach areas!  

AIMS (Accelerating International Missions Strategies)

AIMS is committed to sending local missionaries who already know the language and culture of an unreached tribe to share God’s love and plant churches among them. Howard Foltz founded AIMS in 1985. He also co-founded the original World Teen Challenge and worked at Regent as professor of global evangelism for 37 years. After Howard’s passing on October 31, 2021, Joshua continues the mission as the President of AIMS.