Friday, Jan. 3, 2003

IMB representatives killed in Yemen

From staff and wire reports

JIBLA, Yemen - Colleagues and friends of three American hospital workers killed in a Dec. 30 terrorist attack in Yemen gathered the next morning to bury two of the victims and celebrate their lives and ministries.

The bodies of physician Martha Myers, 57, and hospital administrator William Koehn, 60, were buried, as they had requested, on the grounds of the Jibla Baptist Hospital where each worked for more than 25 years. The remains of Kathleen Gariety, 53, were being returned to the United States.

They were shot by a suspected Islamic fundamentalist.

After the service, most of the 13 American mission workers and their families left for the relative safety of San'a, the Yemeni capital, for "a time of healing and grieving together," a spokeswoman said.

Six remained behind in Jibla - including Donald Caswell, 49, who was injured by the lone gunman and required surgery, and Koehn's wife, Marty. They were expected to join the group later. Some workers plan to return to Jibla when it's deemed safe.

Officials of the International Mission Board (IMB) said its work in Yemen will go on despite the tragedy, but the hospital likely will be transferred to a Muslim charity as previously planned. "The transfer is still in process, but with three deaths, the discussions understandably have stopped," said IMB spokeswoman Anita Bowden.

Annette Fairchild, and her husband, Bernie, worked with the three slain workers. The Fairchilds, who now live in Raleigh, served as missionaries in Jibla from 1987 to 1997.

Annette Fairchild said one of Koehn's relatives told her the gravesite will be a testimony to help people remember what the missionaries did.

"The legacy they left isn't just known to a few," she said. "It's known worldwide now."

Ken Clezy, an Australian surgeon who works at the hospital, remembered Koehn as "a fine administrator, fair and well-liked by the Yemenis."

"He had a heart of gold and did a lot for orphans and prisoners, as well as the truly poor around here," Clezy said. "He was fearless and had no thought of leaving during the civil war of 93-94 or the Gulf War."

In a statement, Koehn's stateside family said the Kansas native "died doing what he was called to do."

"Bill and Marty were in Yemen because of their love for the Lord. We're saddened by this news, but we understand that this does not reflect on the people of Yemen as a whole. We have found them to be gracious and kind."

Martha Myers was an obstetrician and gynecologist from Montgomery, Ala., who worked at the Jibla hospital for 25 years.

Fairchild described Myers as "kind of the Mother Teresa of Yemen."

"Martha was always there (at the hospital) late because she couldn't turn people away," Fairchild said. "She was a very giving person and she really, really loved the Yemenis."

Clezy described Myers, his surgeon colleague, as "a legend, known all over Yemen."

"She was generous to a fault, if there is such a thing in Christian terminology. She was a radiant, relaxed Christian."

Myers, who was single, was responsible for immunizing "hundreds of thousands" of Yemeni children, said John Wikman, a former missionary who previously served at the hospital.

Kathleen Gariety of Wauwatosa, Wisc., also single, managed the medical supplies for the hospital for 10 years. On her infrequent trips home to Wisconsin, she would collect donated medical supplies to fill a shipping container for the hospital. Churches in the Lakeland Baptist Association, including her home congregation of Layton Baptist Church in Milwaukee, helped with the collection.

Gariety was the most vocal advocate for keeping the hospital in the hands of Christians, colleagues said.

"She pleaded with people to try to save the hospital," Wikman said. "When she said the local Yemeni people wanted the hospital to stay, she knew what she was talking about because the nationals really confided in her ... She worked with a lot of the nationals in her job. She had the pulse of the folks, even more than the doctors did."

Jibla Baptist Hospital, founded by Southern Baptist mission workers 35 years ago, is the only full-service hospital in the poor, rural area around Jibla. It is staffed by 180 local workers, 13 Southern Baptist mission personnel and about 20 other international workers.

Although the hospital is popular among most local residents, some extremists see it as a Western intrusion and an affront to Islam. The gunman, who confessed and surrendered to Yemeni officials, said he shot the American workers "to cleanse his religion and get closer to Allah."

Lee Hixon, the hospital's assistant administrator, declined to speculate on the shooter's motive.

Even before the attack, as the IMB moved to close or transfer the hospital, some of the mission workers had made plans to leave Yemen or transfer to other jobs in the country. But others say they plan to return to Jibla.

At 6:30 a.m. on the morning of the shooting, the hospital mission workers gathered for their regular morning chapel service. Clezy, the Australian surgeon, read Hebrews 11:4, which talks about the faith of Abel, Adam's son. "By faith, he was commended as a righteous man, when God spoke well of his offerings. And by faith he still speaks, even though he is dead." (NIV)

"About an hour later, our friends were dead," Clezy said. "We pray that, like Abel, they will still speak."

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