John Kelley

From the news reports:

A Rhode Island pastor who was helping Iraqi Christians start a church was killed in a Valentine's Day ambush near Baghdad. John Kelley, 48, pastor of Curtis Corner Baptist Church in rural Wakefield, was killed last Saturday ...

"Pastor Kelley was willing to give his life so that people would hear the message that Jesus had. He was just that kind of man," said Roland Vukic, a church member and a close friend of Kelleys ...

Kelley was part of a small group of ministers who went to Iraq Feb. 6 to help Iraqi Christians start a church in Baghdad. Kelley had planned to return tomorrow. Doug Pettit, assistant pastor of Grace Bible Baptist Church, said the pastors did not go to Iraq seeking converts. "They were going to ordain a pastor," help organize the church "and offer some training," said Pettit

CNS 20 Feb 2004