Andy Dietz was on a Christian missionary trip to Budapest when he was kidnapped by members of the Hungarian mafia as part of a blackmail plot. What might have ended in fatal tragedy, however, became an event that would strengthen and define his faith.
Dietz has been a Christian all his life and has even released albums and toured the world as a gospel singer. Entering the ministry, first as a student minister and eventually as a missionary, seemed like a natural progression of a life dedicated to faith.
The fateful Budapest trip started off like any missionary visit -- in fact it wasn't even Dietz's first time in the city. Being kidnapped may not have been on the agenda, but, as Dietz explained to HuffPost Live host Nancy Redd, it became an important opportunity to reconnect his faith.
"I didn't have time to even think to pray," Dietz said. "I didn't have time to say, 'Okay God, what are you doing here?'"
"On my plane ride from Amsterdam to New York City [following the kidnapping] I asked God, 'Why did this happen to me?' That was the first time I really got to talk to him...He spoke to me very quietly and said, 'As desperate as you were to live, I want you to be that desperate to know me.' It changed my life completely."
Dietz went on to write the book 'Kidnapped in Budapest', to recount the harrowing events that changed his life. Watch the HuffPost Live interview above.