Southern Baptist 32-year legacy lives on

Physician Martha Myers, hospital administrator Bill Koehn,
 and purchasing manager Kathy Gariety were killed Dec. 30, 2002
when a militant gunman burst into a room where they were holding an
early-morning meeting. He opened fire on them with a semiautomatic pistol,
 then moved to another room where he shot pharmacist Don Caswell twice.
 (Image courtesy of IMB)

Yemen (MNN/IMB) ― It's been just over decade since three Southern Baptist hospital workers were shot and killed in Yemen, and the Southern Baptist International Mission Board says one of the victim's passions is passing on to the next generation.

On December 30, 2002, a Muslim militant entered Jibla Baptist Hospital and shot Bill Koehn, Martha Myers, Kathy Gariety and Don Caswell. Myers died almost instantly, while hospital workers did their best to save Gariety and Koehn. Only Caswell survived.

Marty Koehn made it to the hospital before her husband passed away, and she was able to spend a few precious moments with Bill before he went to be with the Lord. After his passing, Marty realized there were many decisions to be made: would she stay in Yemen? Would she return to the United States?

Within 30 minutes of becoming a widow, she sensed an answer.

"Out of the blue, the Lord brought to mind Elisabeth Elliot's story," says Koehn. "I had never read the book, and of course the movie wasn't out at that point, but I had heard of [Elliot's] story, and the Lord reminded me of it.

"To me, it was His clear indication that I was supposed to go back to Yemen."

After going home to the United States to grieve and spend time with her two daughters, Koehn returned to Yemen -- a land where she and Bill had served for nearly 30 years. Upon her return, Koehn also found a role in which to serve: purchasing agent and warehouse manager for the hospital.

It had previously been filled by Kathy Gariety.

"To me, this was another indication God wanted me to go back," Koehn says. "That was the one job I could do because it required someone who knew both English and Arabic, and it was a nonmedical position.

"[The Lord] was preparing everything."
On December 31, 2002 -- the day after the shootings -- Jibla Baptist Hospital was transferred from Southern Baptist ownership to the Yemeni government. The government assumed responsibility of the medical facility in 2003 and continued to employ Southern Baptist workers until its closing in May 2007. Koehn chose this time to retire in Texas to be near family.

Bill and Marty's legacy is living on in a granddaughter who is considering the mission field. She had visited her grandparents in Yemen as a child and seen their ministry firsthand.

Pray that the Lord would guide her steps.

Yemen is in the Top 10 on the Open Doors USA World Watch List, a ranking of 50 countries where persecution of Christians for religious reasons is worst. Many Christians have been abducted, physically harmed and killed, and churches have been damaged or destroyed. Tens of thousands of Christians have fled Yemen.

Jordanian police arrest suspect in Christian teacher murder

Cheryll Harvey teaching. (Image courtesy of the
Southern Baptist International Mission Board)

Jordan (IMB/MNN) ―Jordanian authorities have arrested a suspect in the murder of 55-year-old Cheryll Harvey, a Southern Baptist representative in Irbid, Jordan.

A veteran teacher, Harvey's body was discovered in her apartment on September 4. Police reports indicate a 17-year-old Jordanian man confessed to stabbing her to death when she caught him stealing from her purse. Authorities say there had been some association between the two, as Harvey paid him for odd jobs on occasion. A trial date has yet to be set.

A Texas native, Harvey worked in Jordan for 24 years teaching English and other subjects. She founded the ESL language center a decade ago, where she taught in Irbid--Jordan's second-largest city and home to several universities. Her work was in connection with the Jordan Baptist Society. Harvey also had taught primary school-age children at the Jordan Baptist School.

According to a press release from the Baptist Press, teaching was a passion for Harvey. For her, it was a way to express the love of Christ to generations of Jordanian students.

"Cheryll was known throughout the village," recalled a co-worker. "She visited in the homes of all of her students. She even showed up at students' homes when they weren't expecting her.... Cheryll was all about the people. She spent a large portion of every year visiting her students, making sure that she went into the home of every single student."

A colleague asked Southern Baptists to pray for the many people touched by Harvey's life. "Cheryll was a gentle person who loved Jesus," he said. "She showed that love to Jordanians: first to the many children she taught in Ajloun and their families, and then to those in Irbid as she taught English... She connected with her people at the heart level. We pray that her witness continues to bear much fruit... Cheryll's life has crossed the finish line. She was faithful through the end of this life and to the beginning of her real life."

IMB President Tom Elliff also appealed for prayer.

"We pray for her immediate family members in Texas and for her family members and friends around the world, but especially in Jordan," Elliff said. "The impact of Cheryll's life will live on for eternity. For Cheryll's assailant and his family, we pray God's mercy and grace to invade the dark corners of his heart. For us, Cheryll's death brings us face to face with the urgent importance of our work. With every word, thought and action we must glorify the One who purchased our salvation."

Harvey is survived by two brothers who reside in Texas. Funeral arrangements are incomplete pending the ongoing police investigation of her death. It was not immediately clear if she would be buried in Jordan, or if her body will be repatriated to the United States.

Christian worker murdered in Jordan

Jordan (IMB) ― Jordanian authorities are investigating the death of Southern Baptist worker Cheryll Harvey whose body was discovered in her apartment in Irbid, Jordan, on Tuesday, Sept. 4. Foul play has been confirmed in the death of the 55-year-old single woman from Texas.

Harvey had served the Jordanian people for 24 years, demonstrating the love of Jesus Christ through teaching English and other subjects in connection with the Jordan Baptist Society.

"Cheryll was greatly loved by both our personnel in the Middle East and by her many students," IMB President Tom Elliff said. "We are faced once again with a sobering reminder of the brevity of life and the importance of faithfully serving the Lord to the very end of our time on earth. Cheryll has left for us a great example that we should follow.

"She...will always be remembered for her quiet and unassuming spirit, as well as her passion for sharing the Good News," Elliff said.

Harvey was a member of College Heights Baptist Church in Plainview, Texas, and grew up attending First Baptist Church in Sudan, Texas. Family and colleagues in the United States have been notified and await word about the circumstances surrounding her death. Harvey is survived by two brothers who reside in Texas.

"As with any event such as this, it is imperative that we remember Cheryll's surviving family members and friends," Elliff said, "and that we lift them up in prayer during these days. We best honor her by giving honor to the Lord Whom she so faithfully served."

Robert Roecker, pastor of First Baptist Sudan, said the church is in a "state of shock." Harvey had visited her childhood church several times since Roecker became pastor, offering slideshows of her work in the Middle East.

A friend of Harvey's relayed to him that "Cheryll talked about how when she retired she might just stay in Jordan. She just really loved it there and loved the people."

"The thing that always astounded us was when you heard her speak she was just a meek and mild person with just a soft voice," Roecker recalled. "It's not the picture you have in your mind of someone who is on the front lines in Jordan. To have that courage and faith was amazing to us. The folks who knew her here were always saying how surprised they were at what was God was able to do through her."

LaDelta Vernon, Harvey's third-grade teacher who would often talk to her when Harvey came home on occasional furloughs, said she always imagined that the quiet, well-behaved girl with the distinctive laugh would grow up and raise three daughters. As it turned out, she never married. She was a helper, Vernon said, so her teaching English wasn't a surprise. Her teaching it in the Middle East was, however.

"She was a good student. If she was your friend, she was your best friend. She didn't talk behind people's back. She was just a sweet, sweet girl," Vernon said. "She was doing what she wanted to do, what God called her to do."

As Egypt marks one year since revolution, Christians look past surface tension to real need

Photo by Ramy Raoof,
 Demonstrators heading to Tahrir
 Square in January 2011

Egypt (IMB/MNN) ― Egypt's new lower house of parliament just held its first session two days ago, after completing an historic election that put Islamic groups in the legislative lead.

A year ago, Cairo was in turmoil as thousands of angry protesters clashed with government soldiers and tanks.

While the square seems calm, there's an energy that leads Christian worker to note the region's volatility.

Lucy Hamilton (not her real name), with the Southern Baptist International Mission Board says the Arab Spring was the manifestation of the tension in the region. "In Egypt at least, there's a revolution attitude of ‘I can do what I want' because people are disillusioned and desperate, and the police force is unable to keep up with petty crime problems."

The changes in Egypt haven't been as deep as many expected, but they have still made a region-wide impact, says Nik Ripken (not his real name), who has served 25 years with the International Mission Board and is an expert on the persecuted church in Muslim contexts.

"I believe that the Arab Spring and what has happened in Egypt has begun to redefine the Arab if not the entire Muslim world," Ripken says. "What has happened to Mubarak has so terrified the leaders of countries like Yemen and Syria,  and of course we saw what played out in Libya -- that no dictator or leader is now willing to participate in a peaceful transition to a more democratic or less corrupt form of government."

The people seem to want something as different as possible from the leadership they've had, Ripken notes, adding that this may mean a more Islamic form of government.

Because Egyptian people don't feel like they have gotten the jobs, economic improvement, new opportunities or respect, not much has changed in their view. Proving Ripken's point, the winners of the elections came from the Muslim Brotherhood and the ultra-conservative Salafi al-Nour party.

But with this, much like Tahrir Square on its peaceful days, things may not be exactly as they appear, says Ripken. "This is not necessarily a bad thing from a believer's point of view, because having conversations concerning faith and religion are more important for us than conversations about government and corruption." Ripken continues, "Often it is in the most conservative of Muslim hearts that we are finding God appearing to them in dreams and visions and sending them on a spiritual pilgrimage that can last for years, where they secretly read the Bible many times and have quiet discussions with followers of Jesus Christ."

Hamilton says a sense of hopelessness in the government can bring them to Christ, too.

"We hear that many are turning to the One whose Kingdom is just and merciful and has no end," she says. "The church in Egypt also seems to be waking up as never before. It is great to watch Him use His church in the work of revolutionizing hearts."

In the light of this, Ripken says, "We want to pray that we will take every opportunity we can to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, give that cold cup of water in Jesus' name. We must pray for the absence of fear for both believers in country and those from the West who are seeking to meet the needs of both the body and soul inside these countries." 

Pray that people will have access to the Gospel through any means possible. Ripken concludes with this thought: "Now we have time to prepare the next generation for going to people groups and countries that have experienced massive change."

Yemeni women burn veils in protest for freedom

Yemen (MNN/IMB) ― In the last couple of weeks, Yemeni women in search of more rights have set fire to their veils in protest.

"Here we burn our makrama (veils) in front of the world to witness the bloody massacres carried out by the tyrant Saleh," read leaflets handed out by women present at a recent demonstration, according to The Associated Press.

It's a traditional Bedouin tribal cry for help from the women of a nation that has faded from headlines. But International Mission Board workers are holding out hope that these protests will be what leads these women to Christ.

IMB reports that Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh has long said he would step down from his 33-year rule, but he doesn't seem to be going down without a fight. In late September, government gunfire killed dozens of demonstrators, and rockets hit a protest camp. The bloodshed hasn't slowed down in October.

And women have been right in the middle of it all, begging for democracy and freedom, says IMB. One Yemeni woman, Tawakkul Karman, was even named as a joint winner of this year's Nobel Peace Prize for her activism for women's rights.

"What do they want? Well, what do we all want? We want lives filled with joy. We want the freedom to pursue the things we enjoy, and we want to experience the kind of love found only in a family," said Beth Judson, a Christian worker who spent some time in Yemen in the past. "This is what they want as well."

The theme of their dreams, however, is starting to change with a new generation, Judson said. "More recently, I think there has been a shift taking place in what the younger generation of girls wants out of life. Many of their mothers only ever thought about getting married and having sons. Though this is still very important to many of the high school and college-age crowd, they are also starting to explore new and perhaps unconventional paths for their lives."

The average age for marrying is rising for women because they sometimes fear their husbands might keep them from going to college, she explained. "Most of the women who are protesting have at least some education and are lobbying for their own rights--a freedom that was once reserved only for men."

It's a yearning Judson prays will put them on a journey to finding freedom in Jesus Christ -- a permanent freedom they can't find in expanded civil rights or career opportunities. "My desire is that these women find the joy that they are searching for," said Judson. "The joy and satisfaction they seek comes only from being set free from the chains of sin and death and being robed with the righteousness of Christ."

It is a lasting joy and not a temporary one they seek, Judson said.

"A new government, or a degree from a well-respected university, or a job will not give them what they are looking for," she said "Only a relationship with their Maker--the One who loves them and created them for fellowship with Him--can fill them with the joy they seek."

Judson asked believers to pray for God to move among these women, and for believers to boldly share their faith.