18 Feb 2004

BAGHDAD, Iraq--A Rhode Island pastor on a two-week trip with about 10 other ministers to explore starting a church in Iraq was killed when gunmen ambushed his taxi just outside Baghdad.

The pastors were on their way back from a sightseeing trip to Babylon. The shooting appeared to be random, targeting an SUV full of Americans but not motivated by religious conflict.

Baptist Press reports John Kelley, 48, was pastor of Curtis Corner Baptist Church, an independent Baptist church in South Kingstown, R.I. Three other ministers, including David Davis of Grace Bible Baptist church in Vernon, Conn., and Kirk DiVietro of Grace Baptist Church in Franklin, Mass., were injured and treated at an Iraqi hospital.

Kelley, a former Marine, is survived by his wife and four children.

"Pastor Kelley was willing to give his life so that people would hear the message that Jesus had," said Roland Vukic, a member of Kelley’s congregation, according to the Associated Press. "He was just that kind of man."

The Boston Globe reported that Kelley’s wife, Jane, received a bouquet of flowers her husband arranged to be sent on Valentine’s Day. Several hours later she learned of his death.

The group, led by Pastor Robert Lewis of Cumberland, R.I., was working with an Iraqi pastor to open the first Baptist church in the country, according to The Boston Globe.

An estimated 750,000 Christians indigenous to Iraq are a small minority among the primarily Muslim population of 25 million.

While missions agencies such as Samaritan's Purse and World Vision have been involved in Iraq, private parties are discouraged.

"We have a very strong travel warning that tells people not to go to Iraq, that it still remains a dangerous place," said Richard Boucher, a State Department spokesman.

Ruby Burke, director of membership services at Baptist World Alliance, a coalition of about 200 Baptist unions, said she is not aware of any official missionary groups sent by the large conventions.

"A lot of times people will just go on their own, in some other guise, perhaps even as a business person or something like that," she said. "None of this is official."

Sam Stricklin, a pastor at First Baptist Church in Warwick, Mass., who traveled to Iraq last month, said Kelley's trip was risky from the outset. Stricklin said during his trip to Iraq he surrounded himself with Arabic-speaking friends and rarely went out in public. He was advised never to leave Baghdad.

"My understanding is that this group was way too much on their own and did not know what they were getting into and should never have been allowed to leave Baghdad," Stricklin said.