HCJB WR Newsdesk:
U.S. Pastor Killed in Iraq When Terrorists Fire on Van
Posted by: newsdesk
on Tuesday, February 17, 2004 - 03:57 PM
Terrorists wielding automatic weapons opened fire on a van carrying four American ministers, killing one of them Saturday, Feb. 14. Pastor John Kelly of Curtis Corner Baptist Church in Wakefield, R.I., was mortally wounded while the other three passengers, Kirk Di Vietro, David Davis and Garland Carey, escaped with minor injuries. They were saved by the driver who managed to drive away from the attackers and deliver the pastors to an Iraqi hospital. The attack was near the village of Mahmodia, about half an hour south of Baghdad. The driver was not injured, but the van suffered considerable damage. U.S. Army personnel supervised the medical examinations and treatment of the injured men. They have been in contact with their families and are expected to fly home soon. The men were from a group of Independent Baptist pastors who volunteered to go to Baghdad to help a group of believers start a church. Team leader Robert Lewis said, My grief is without description. John Kelly was a great man. He served in the U.S. Marines, pastored for more than 25 years, and was a pillar of Christian manhood. He has certainly been a blessing to all with whom he has had contact.
Meanwhile, there is growing concern about lack of security in the Sunni Triangle and other areas of Iraq. At least 21 people were killed and many others wounded Saturday, Feb. 14, in the area shortly after the countrys Assyrian Christian community was warned that churches will become the next target of a terrorism. Reporters said the attackers fired rocket-propelled grenades and automatic weapons at the police station in a daring attack in the troubled town of Fallujah Saturday morning. Scores of prisoners held at the police compound were reportedly released by the attackers, Voice of America reported. The latest violence, which followed two suicide blasts last week that killed more than 100 people, underscored concern among especially minority Christians in the region about what they see as Muslim violence against them and those supporting the U.S.-led coalition. Local Assyrian Christian churches recently received threatening letters and leaflets. Nearly 1 million Assyrians are living in Iraq, the only group that still speaks Aramaic, an ancient Semitic language spoken by Jesus and his disciples. Many churches are responding to the anonymous threats and violence by reducing worship services and meeting only during the day. Some Iraqi Muslim organizations denied threatening the Christians. An official of Al-Hawza al-Ilmia, a powerful Shia movement, said his group condemns the threats against the Christian churches. (Independent Baptist Missions/Assist News Service)
