Tag Archives: Missionary

Famed Christian Missionary Elisabeth Elliot Joins Jesus

Elisabeth Elliot, who continued her ministry to the Auca tribe in Ecuador years after her first husband and four other missionaries were speared to death by the tribe in the 1950s, has passed away after battling dementia for the last decade.

Elliot was 88.

Elliot wrote about the loss of her husband when their daughter was only 10 months old.

“A year after I went to Ecuador, Jim Elliot, whom I had met at Wheaton, also entered tribal areas with the Quichua Indians. In 1953 we were married in the city of Quito and continued our work together. Jim had always hoped to have the opportunity to enter the territory of an unreached tribe. The Aucas were in that category — a fierce group whom no one had succeeded in meeting without being killed,” she wrote.

“After the discovery of their whereabouts, Jim and four other missionaries entered Auca territory. After a friendly contact with three of the tribe, they were speared to death.  Our daughter, Valerie, was 10 months old when Jim was killed. I continued working with the Quichua Indians when, through a remarkable providence, I met two Auca women who lived with me for one year. They were the key to my going in to live with the tribe that had killed the five missionaries. I remained there for two years.”

Tributes came in from around the evangelical world for Elliot, who authored the best selling book Through Gates of Splendor.

“Just like Jesus, and Jim Elliot, she called young people to come and die. Sacrifice and suffering were woven through her writing and speaking like a scarlet thread. She was not a romantic about missions. She disliked very much the sentimentalizing of discipleship,” said Pastor John Piper.  “The thread of suffering was not just woven through her words, but through her relationships. Not only did she lose her first husband to a violent death three years after they were married; she also lost her second husband, Addison Leitch, four years after her remarriage.”

“Other than my parents & Rick, no one has had a greater impact on my life than Elisabeth Elliott. Forever grateful,” Kay Warren noted in a tweet.

“On Earth, she married three times — her first two husbands preceded her in death — but from earliest childhood her deepest affections were for her Savior, and it was for Him that her soul yearned,” wrote Warren later in a tribute on her blog in which she talked about how she was first introduced to Elliot’s work as a teenager.

Court Awards $330 Million To Family Of Slain Missionary

In a landmark judgment against the nation of North Korea, the family of an American missionary who was kidnapped and killed by North Korean agents has been awarded $330 million.

Rev. Kim Dong-Shik, who had been taken by North Korean agents while he was in China, was taken in January 2000 and tortured to death in a prison camp in North Korea.   Kim was born in South Korea but a permanent resident of the United States.  He had been working as a missionary providing humanitarian aid and religious council to Christians who had fled North Korea at the time of his kidnapping.

The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia awarded $15 million to Kim’s son and brother along with $300 million in punitive damages.

“This is an important human rights decision that will be utilized in all political abduction cases going forward,” Israel Law Center head Nitsana Darshan-Leitner told The Christian Post.

The court ruled that when a foreign regime abducts an individual, it is the responsibility of the abductors to prove that the person has not been murdered.

“We are grateful that the court has found that once we proved the kidnapping of Rev. Kim by North Korean intelligence and brought human rights experts to testify about the horrific conditions in the political detention camps, the burden must be on Pyongyang to show was still alive after so many years,” Darshan-Leitner said.

Christian watchdog groups say around 100,000 Christians are being tortured and forced into hard labor at North Korean prison camps.

Christian Missionary Kidnapped In Nigeria Freed

An American missionary kidnapped in Nigeria has been freed.

Rev. Phyllis Sortor, a member of the American Free Methodist Church, was freed by a gang of criminals on Friday according to a church statement.

“Early evening Nigeria time, Friday, March 6, Phyllis Sortor, Free Methodist missionary to Nigeria, was safely released into the care of authorities and Free Methodist church leaders,” noted David W. Kendall, for the Board of Bishops in a news release to The Christian Post Friday evening.

“It appears she was kidnapped by a criminal gang, and there is no evidence this event is associated with terrorism or religion. Free Methodist leaders express deep appreciation to all who prayed for Sortor’s safe return.”

The criminals had asked for $300,000 as a ransom but the church did not comment on whether any ransom had been paid for the missionary’s release.

Sortor had travelled the world as a minister for Christ with her husband until his death in 2008.  After his death, she remained in Nigeria to focus on child care ministries.

American Missionary Kidnapped In Nigeria

An American missionary has been taken captive in Lagos, Nigeria.

Kogi state Police Commissioner Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi said that five men stormed the workplace of Rev. Phyllis Sortor and forced the woman out of the building.  The kidnappers are demanding a ransom of 60 million Naira (about $300,000 U.S.).

The kidnapping took place Monday and while Lagos is away from the main areas of operation for Islamic extremist group Boko Haram, police officials could not say the kidnapping was not related to terrorism.  They said it’s possible the group is connected in some way or could sell the woman to the terrorist outfit.

Sortor runs an organization that provides schools for nomadic children in Nigeria.

Commissioner Ogunjamilusi said that the attackers scaled a wall of the school and then fled into the nearby mountains.

North Korea Displays Imprisoned American Missionaries

Two American missionaries that have been imprisoned in North Korea for their faith were brought out for a “press conference” designed to have the government generate propaganda.

Kenneth Bae and Jeffrey Fowle were given five minutes with a reporter to send messages to friends and family along with pleading for the U.S. government to take steps to free them.

“Right now, what I can say to my friends and family is continue to pray for me and continue in efforts in getting me released from here,” Bae told reporter Will Ripley.  Bae has been facing a sentence of 15 year hard labor for “hostile acts to bring down the government” although those “hostile acts” were never presented to anyone.

“The only hope that I have is to have someone from the U.S. comes,” Bae said.  “But so far, the latest I’ve heard is that there has been no response yet. So I believe that officials here are waiting for that.”

Bae’s family says he’s suffering from diabetes along with heart and liver problems.

Fowle told reporters that within a month he could be sharing Bae’s cell at the labor camp.  He said his treatment so far has been “good” although he was speaking with North Korean officials sitting beside him.

Southern Baptist Convention Elects “Radical” Head Of International Mission Board

The Southern Baptist Convention announced the election of a “radical” as the head of their International Mission Board.

Pastor David Platt, author of the book “Radical” and an fierce advocate for international missions, was elected to had the IMB for the denomination’s 16 million members.

“I believe Southern Baptists want to come together for the spread of the Gospel,” said Platt.

“While the world is becoming more hostile and anti-Christian in some places, it’s as if [young missionaries’] passion is growing equally to go to those hard places,” David Uth of the IMB presidential search committee told Christian Post. “That’s where we hear young couples saying they want to go, that they want to be radically obedient to what God has called us to do for the nations. The passion is there. How do we equip them and resource them? How do we incorporate strategy that’s effective? David is going to address that in a way that’s going to bring maximum impact.”

Pastor Rick Warren, whose church is non-denominational but is a member of the Southern Baptist Convention, said he was “thrilled and excited” by the appointment of Platt and LifeWay Research president Ed Stetzer called Platt “a leader whose private life matches his public face.”

“Even in a generation where religious pluralism, moral relativism, and biblical skepticism are increasing, there is still power in the Word by His Spirit so He is still drawing people to Himself,” Platt told CP. “I can’t think of anything particularly creative or innovative that I am or we are doing, apart from proclaiming His word and trying to authentically live it out. I believe that when we are faithful to do that then the Lord will draw people to Himself. I think God has designed this whole picture so that only He can get the glory for success in bringing people to Himself.”

American Missionary Imprisoned In North Korea Suffering Failing Health

Relatives of Kenneth Bae, an American missionary who is wrongfully imprisoned in North Korea, say that his health is failing and that North Korean authorities are endangering his life.

Bae has been suffering from liver problems and the North Korean government has not been providing him with adequate health care.  The authorities continue to send Bae to hard labor camps instead of hospitals where American officials have been told he will be transferred.

His family and friends say that the North Korean government has still not shown any evidence to back up their claims he was committing “hostile acts to bring down the government.”  An associate says the only possible thing that happened in Bae took pictures of something he shouldn’t have seen.

“The most plausible scenario I can think of is that he took some picture of orphans and the North Korean authorities considered that an act of anti-north Korean propaganda,” Do Hee-youn of the Citizens Coalition for Human Rights of North Korean Refugees told Christian News.

The State Department says they continue to be “gravely concerned” about Bae’s health.

Denver Area Pastor Dies In Mission Trip Accident

Congregations throughout the Denver, Colorado area area mourning with Grace Community Church who lost their pastor in a tragic accident while on a mission trip.

Pastor Terry Broadwater was in the Himalayas with his son and other church members conducting services.  The pastor and the mission team would hike to small towns in the high peaks and minister to the villagers.  The church said the pastor apparently slipped during one of the hikes and fell off a cliff.

“It is with extremely heavy hearts we share the news that, as a result of a climbing incident, Pastor Terry Broadwater went to be with the Lord today while on a mission trip to India,” Church leaders said in a statement. “Terry was on the trip with his oldest son and several members of Grace’s leadership and pastoral team. At the time of the accident Terry and the team were in a remote part of the Himalayas.”

“Due to the location, further details are taking time to be developed and efforts in country are being coordinated between Terry’s family, local Indian police, Grace leadership, and the U.S. Embassy in Delhi.”

The trip was said to be a way the pastor melded his passion for hiking and being outdoors with the gospel.  He had been married to his wife Jo Ann for 32 years and leaves her behind with three children.

Slain American Missionary Celebrated

An elderly American missionary stabbed to death in Haiti last week has been remembered as a champion of those in need and a tireless worker for spreading the truth and love of Jesus Christ.

George Knoop, 77, a former Chicago area teacher before becoming a missionary to Haiti, was attacked inside his home in the Haitian capital May 13th.  Friends say that Knoop was able to make a cell phone call after the attack but was unable to speak; by the time they reached the home he was dead.

Officials say they have no suspects in the murder.  Investigators say the incident was likely a crime of opportunity as a computer was stolen from the home and the murder weapon was a knife that had been in the home.

“I studied the Bible with him and he helped me a lot,” Charles Ronald said at the memorial.  “He was generous, helping people, paying for their school, their rents, their food.”

Pastor Larry McCarthy of Moody Church Chicago, who was Knoop’s pastor, said that when the retiree moved to Haiti he sold his home, his TV, his car and his clothes so he could spend everything helping the people of Haiti recover from the devastating 2010 earthquake that left more than 200,000 people dead.