missionary

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Missionary Revered in Catholic Nation Is Headed to Prison

American ex-priest Richard Daschbach, 84, found guilty in East Timor of sexually abusing young girls

(Newser) - A defrocked American priest accused of sexually abusing orphaned and disadvantaged young girls under his care in East Timor was found guilty Tuesday and sentenced to 12 years in prison, in the first case of its kind in the staunchly Catholic nation. Richard Daschbach, 84, who spent decades as a...

Haitian Gang Frees 3 Abducted Members of US Charity

But 12 from Christian Aid Ministries remain kidnapped

(Newser) - Updated: Three more missionaries from a US-based charity have been released by their kidnappers in Haiti, reports the Washington Post . That leaves 12 members of Christian Aid Ministries still in captivity. All 17 were kidnapped by the 400 Mawozo gang in October. Five children were among those taken, though no...

Haiti Gang Kidnaps 17 US Missionaries, Including Kids

The Christian group was on a bus headed to the airport

(Newser) - A group of up to 17 US missionaries from a Christian group was kidnapped by a gang in Haiti while en route to the airport in Port-au-Prince. Per the New York Times , Haiti officials confirmed the kidnapping, with few details, after Ohio-based Christian Aid Ministries sent a voice message about...

Young Mormon Missionary Dies on Swiss Hike

Annabelle Nielsen of Utah, 20, fell down a steep incline

(Newser) - A 20-year-old Utah woman has died in a hiking accident in Switzerland, where she was serving as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Annabelle Nielsen was hiking with five other missionaries when she slipped and fell down a steep incline, a rep for the Mormon...

Crash Kills US Woman Who Left Tech to Fly Relief Aid
US Pilot Dies Flying COVID
Test Kits to Villagers
the rundown
May 18, 2020 11:40 AM CDT

US Pilot Dies Flying COVID Test Kits to Villagers

Joyce Lin is killed in remote Indonesia

(Newser) - A pilot in a small plane went down in a remote part of Indonesia last week, and the fatal crash is making headlines in the US. It turns out the pilot, the sole person on the plane, was an American missionary named Joyce Lin who was flying COVID-19 test kits...

What He Thought Would Keep Him Alive: a Football, Fish, and God

More on the final hours of John Allen Chau, killed by hostile Sentinelese

(Newser) - The young American, paddling his kayak toward a remote Indian island whose people have resisted the outside world for thousands of years, believed God was helping him dodge the authorities. "God sheltered me and camouflaged me against the coast guard and the navy," John Allen Chau wrote before...

He Yelled: 'Jesus Loves You.' The Remote Tribe Killed Him

More on US missionary John Allen Chau, killed by hostile Sentinelese tribe

(Newser) - Forgiveness is the call of the day from the family of John Allen Chau, the US missionary killed last week by a hostile tribe on India's North Sentinel Island. The BBC reports that the Chau family posted an Instagram photo Wednesday of their "beloved son, brother, uncle, and...

US Prisoner Caught in Venezuela Riot: 'WHAT DO WE DO'

From prison, Utah's Joshua Holt begs US government for help in social media posts

(Newser) - As Venezuela gears up for its presidential election Sunday, the economic and social turmoil there continues. But for one American, trapped in the Helicoide prison in Caracas, the stakes are especially high. NPR and CNN report on the plight of Utah's Joshua Holt, a Mormon missionary jailed there in...

DA: Teacher With Missing Teen May Be Posing as Missionary

Tad Cummins may have fled to Mexico with girl, district attorney says

(Newser) - Tad Cummins, the Tennessee teacher believed to be on the run with 15-year-old student Elizabeth Thomas, may have fled to Mexico with the girl, investigators say. Maury County District Attorney Brent Cooper tells ABC News that the 50-year-old Cummins, who allegedly kidnapped Elizabeth more than two weeks ago, is a...

Tennessee Missionary Murdered in Haiti

Unknown gunmen shot Roberta Edwards, kidnapped 4-year-old child with her

(Newser) - A Tennessee missionary known as "Mom" in the children's home she ran in Haiti was gunned down behind the wheel of her car Saturday night, and a child around the age of 4 with her was kidnapped, Haiti's National Police tell NBC News . Per witness and official...

US Missionary Kidnapped in Nigeria; $300K Demanded

Unclear who armed men behind Phyllis Sortor's kidnapping are

(Newser) - Five armed men stormed a school in Nigeria yesterday morning and kidnapped an American missionary there, reports NBC News . The Rev. Phyllis Sortor, a Washington state native working with Free Methodist World Missions at the Hope Academy, was apparently targeted as she was the only one taken and no one...

Spanish Train Driver Bragged About Speed

Francisco Garzón Amo imagined flying past authorities: report

(Newser) - The driver of a Spanish train that derailed yesterday, killing at least 78 people , has now been arrested—and his Facebook posts probably won't help his case. One photo posted to his account shows a speedometer reading of 125mph, along with a note that it "has not been...

N. Korea Confirms American Being Held

Pyongyang 'plans to use missionary as bargaining chip'

(Newser) - North Korea has confirmed that it has been holding an American citizen in detention since last November, the AP reports, and is preparing to bring charges against him. Pyongyang names the man as Jun Young Su, and says he was arrested for committing a crime against the country and he...

After 43 Days in N. Korea Prison, a Ruined Man

One year later, Robert Park still struggles

(Newser) - On Christmas Day 2009, Robert Park crossed into North Korea, shouting "South Korea and America love you." After spending 43 days in detention, he was released . That was one year ago, but his ordeal is far from over, reports the Washington Post . The Christian missionary says he lost...

US Missionary Shot to Death in Mexico

Husband says gunmen in pickup truck fired at them

(Newser) - A female missionary from the US was fatally shot in Mexico yesterday, the AP reports. Husband Sam Davis drove his wife, Nancy, 59, back over the border after gunmen in a pickup shot her in the head after trying to stop their vehicle, he told police. Davis drove against traffic...

American Accuses North Korea of Sexual Abuse

Park, released Feb. 6, in a mental hospital

(Newser) - The Korean-American missionary who was released Feb. 6 after six weeks’ imprisonment in North Korea has suffered a mental breakdown due sexual abuse while he was in custody. Robert Park, 28, has been in a California mental facility for more than two weeks, his pastor tells Chosun Ilbo , after he...

US Missionary Freed by N. Korea Heads Home

Robert Park arrives in Beijing pale, silent

(Newser) - Looking pale and drawn, his eyes almost closed, American missionary Robert Park headed home today after six weeks in detention in North Korea. Park, who crossed the border from China to North Vietnam on Christmas Day to protest religious suppression, made no comment as US consular officials met him in...

N. Korea Confirms American Detained

Missionary Robert Park held for entering country illegally

(Newser) - North Korean officials have confirmed that a Korean-American activist has been detained for entering the country illegally. Missionary Robert Park, 28, traveled to the communist nation to call attention to the regime's human rights abuses, according to supporters. The Arizona resident slipped across a frozen river into the country from...

Island Apologizes for Eating Missionary

South Pacific community hosts kin for reconciliation event

(Newser) - In one of the stranger meetings we've seen lately, descendants of a British missionary and the descendants of cannibals who killed and ate him 170 years ago got together yesterday to bury the hatchet. It seems the South Pacific island of Erromango, now predominantly Christian, has been feeling bad about...

Pope Canonizes Father Damien
 Pope Canonizes Father Damien 
Oct 11, 2009 2:44 PM CDT

Pope Canonizes Father Damien

Belgian missionary, four others elevated to sainthood

(Newser) - Father Damien, the Belgian missionary who ministered to leprosy victims on the Hawaiian island of Molokai before contracting and dying of the disease, was canonized today. The 19th-century priest, the founder of the Little Sisters of the Poor, and three others were elevated to sainthood in a ceremony that drew...

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