Friends gather in Yemen to remember lives of slain hospital workers

By Mark Kelly

SANAA, Yemen (BP) -- About 275 Yemenis, Americans and other internationals gathered Jan. 1 to remember the lives of three International Mission Board workers murdered Dec. 30 at the Baptist hospital in Jibla, Yemen.

In the auditorium of the International School in Yemen's capital, Sanaa, friends and co-workers of Martha Myers, Bill Koehn and Kathy Gariety shared memories of their lives, sang favorite Christian songs and quoted Scriptures close to their hearts.

"It was good for people who loved them to be able to remember Martha, Bill and Kathy, to honor the Christ they loved and served and to worship Him for the way He worked in and through their lives," said John Brady, who leads IMB work in Northern Africa and the Middle East.

"We were able to express our sorrow about their deaths and share the hope that gives us all meaning and the strength we need to move forward," he said.

People rose in turn to recall the way their lives had been touched by Myers, Koehn and Gariety, Brady said.

"People talked about the ways Bill encouraged them to be a leader, to think and listen and to care for the Yemeni people," he said. "They spoke about Martha's great passion for the Lord and the selfless way she gave herself to Yemenis, no matter what the cost. They praised Kathy's deep desire to serve people and the way she touched so many lives behind the scenes."

The grief and fond remembrances are shared by more than just American colleagues of the three, Brady noted.

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