Two Texans among Baptist missionaries killed, hurt in Iraq_32204

Posted: 3/19/04

Jean & Larry Elliott		Carrie & David McDonnall		Karen Watson

Two Texans among Baptist missionaries killed, hurt in Iraq

By John Hall

Texas Baptist Communications

MOSUL, Iraq–A husband and wife from Texas were among the four Southern Baptist missionaries killed and one critically injured in a March 15 drive-by shooting in Iraq.

The International Mission Board team was in Mosul, Iraq, exploring the need for water purification and other humanitarian relief projects.

Reports indicate unidentified assailants opened fire on the missionaries' vehicle with automatic weapons and rocket-propelled grenades. Two European humanitarian aid workers were killed in a similar drive-by shooting the following day in a distantly removed part of Iraq.

David McDonnall, a 29-year-old member of Travis Avenue Baptist Church in Fort Worth, was fatally wounded in the attack. Four U.S. Army surgeons spent about six hours trying to save him, but McDonnall died onboard a military helicopter.

Carrie Taylor “Niki” McDonnall, 26, sustained multiple gunshot wounds. After emergency surgery in Baghdad, she was airlifted to a hospital in Germany, where she was in stable condition.

The McDonnalls, students at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, had served with the IMB since November 2003.

Missionaries who died at the scene of the attack were Larry Elliott, 60, and Jean Dover Elliott, 58, of Cary, N.C.; and Karen Denise Watson, 38, of Bakersfield, Calif.

The Elliotts had served with the IMB in Honduras since 1978 and transferred to the Middle East in February 2004.

Watson, who was single, had been with the board since March 2003.

Michael Dean, pastor of Travis Avenue Baptist Church, said the church was stunned to hear two of the congregation's former youth workers were shot.

Members held prayer vigils in small groups soon after they heard the news, as did a small group of students at Southwestern Seminary left on campus during spring break.

“To have this happen to someone we served with, worshipped with, prayed with has been a real shaking experience,” Dean said.

The McDonnalls understood the risks they were taking by going to Iraq but felt called to the work, the pastor said.

“They were very aware of the danger,” Dean said. “It meant a lot to see them marching off to serve the Lord.”

In a prepared statement, IMB President Jerry Rankin said: “In times like this, there are no words that will take away the pain of a loved one's violent death.

“Everyone in the IMB family and everyone who loves Southern Baptists' overseas workers are grieving with the family members and co-workers of these precious souls.”

Officials at the mission board encouraged Christians to pray for the families, friends and churches of those who died or were injured.

Clyde Meador, IMB executive vice president, told reporters at a March 16 news conference: “We're grieving about the situation. … Our hearts are broken.”

For security reasons, Meador did not indicate if other IMB personnel are in the area, but he said workers would continue carrying out their missions.

“Certainly this affects morale, but our folks are there because God has called them to a lost world,” he said.

The attack in Iraq is the deadliest tragedy in 157 years of Southern Baptist missions history. Eight IMB missionaries have been killed by terrorists in the past 14 months.

The deaths came 14 months after three IMB mission workers were murdered by a terrorist at the Baptist hospital in Jibla, Yemen.

One year ago, an IMB missionary was killed by a terrorist's bomb at the airport in Davao City, Philippines.

Greg Warner of Associated Baptist Press contributed to this report.