Mission Trip/Missionary Security
Local pastor killed in Florida beating
NEWPORT NEWS, Va. (WAVY) – A Newport News pastor was murdered during a mission trip to Florida. Police say Apostle John Henry Bowser was beat to death with a hammer Tuesday morning. Officials arrested Terrence Wright, 24, of Atlantic Beach, Fla., after he drove the victim's car to a police station and confessed to the [...]
Local Member Of The Church On The Way Safe After Kidnapping
A member of The Church on the Way in Valencia is now back home uninjured with his family in Granada Hills after being kidnapped Thursday in Mexico. Kyle Bauer, who is reportedly a grandson of the founder of The Church on the Way in Van Nuys, was not harmed during the kidnapping, according to Pastor [...]
Somerset church group hijacked on mission trip
Despite being kidnapped, robbed and left for dead in the forests of Guatemala, the short-term mission group from Riverside Church in Somerset, Wis. said they feel blessed. “We are just grateful to be alive,” said Rev. Bill Hieb, leader of the mission trip and pastor at Riverside Church. The mission trip was supposed to run [...]
Pa. Church Ordered to Pay $10K Fine for Fake Kidnapping of Teens
A southeastern Pennsylvania church has been ordered to pay a $10,000 fine and its youth pastor ordered to do community service after a March 2012 mock kidnapping in which he and fellow church members interrogated 17 teenagers in an unconventional lesson about the dangers of missionary work. On Thursday, Jan. 24, Judge Andrew H. Dowling [...]
Boston minister, Everett woman freed in Egypt
The son of an abducted Dorchester minister — released today after days of being held hostage in Egypt — said he is “exuberant” to hear that his father has been freed. “I want to hear my father,” an emotional Rev. Jean Louis said at an impromptu press conference outside his family’s Dorchester home, where relatives [...]
Abduction of Hub pastor tests faith of family, flock
Family and parishioners of Dorchester minister Michel Louis, taken hostage last week on a pilgrimage to Mount Sinai, voiced gratitude yesterday for high-level efforts in Washington, D.C., and expressed faith that Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, now in Egypt, will do what she can, but added they see a higher authority at work. “We know [...]
SE Pa. church holds mock kidnapping on youth group
A southeastern Pennsylvania church subjected members of a youth group to a mock kidnapping and interrogations without telling them it was staged, and the outraged mother of one 14-year-old girl has filed a complaint with police. The pastor of the Glad Tidings Assembly of God in Middletown said the church is "so saddened" that the [...]
Mexican violence scares off U.S. aid missions
MEXICO CITY – For two decades, a community hospital in Colorado sent a medical aid mission each year to a remote city in northeast Mexico, treating tens of thousands of low-income residents for free. Dozens of U.S. doctors and dentists, backed up by even more nurses and technicians, would repair cleft palates, take out gall [...]
Violence in Mexico curtailing faith-based missions
McALLEN, Texas (AP) — John and Wanda Casias knew the risks of being missionaries in one of Mexico's most violent, cartel-dominated regions, their children say, but they refused to curtail their work and instead put their ministry ahead of their safety. The couple's slaying this week during a home invasion comes as missionary groups are [...]
INLAND: Churches canceling Mexico missions
As drug-related violence continues to ravage parts of Mexico, a mounting number of churches in the Inland area and nationwide are canceling missions for fear that volunteers might get caught up in the maelstrom. Riverside’s Grove Community Church, which has been going to Mexico for 35 years, recently canceled a planned trip for this month [...]
Violence in Mexico Impacts Cross-Border Missionary Work
CORPUS CHRISTI – Just one day after two Texas missionaries were found murdered in their home in northern Mexico, churches here in Corpus Christi say they are also being impacted by the drug violence in that country. Local pastors say violence is forcing them to cut back their charitable works in Mexico. "It's so close [...]
Two North Texas missionaries found dead in northern Mexico
LEWISVILLE — Two missionaries from North Texas were murdered in their home outside the violence-plagued northern industrial city of Monterrey, Mexico, the U.S. Embassy and their family said Wednesday. The U.S. State Department identified the couple as American citizens John and Wanda Sue Casias. “I’m going to miss her, because she’s so loved,” their daughter [...]
Church Leaders Kidnapped in India
A staff-member and two church leaders from a California-based church planting ministry have been captured in western India. Over this past weekend an Empart Church Planter and two church leaders (names withheld for security reasons) were taken by force on their way to an evangelistic outreach event. Empart transforms communities by training local people to [...]
Colombian gang apologizes for robbing suburban church group
COLOMBIA— A group of west suburban students experienced an unlikely apology after they were robbed in Colombia. 16 high school students and chaperons from Glen Ellyn Bible Church traveled on a two-week long mission trip to Bogota. About half of the group was going to a children's center to deliver supplies when they were robbed [...]
Staring death in the face: Local pastor on a mission trip takes a terrifying turn
When E. Roger Ammons of Cleveland was thrown into a car at gunpoint by four large men and driven to parts unknown in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in Africa, his death was the only thing that appeared to be a certainty. But as suddenly as death pressed down on his life, his life [...]
Connect With CSI
Connect with us on the following social media platforms.